SPOTIFY FOR PODCASTS

Enhancing navigation, accessibility, and customization for podcast listeners.

Watch a visual presentation of this project.

Areas
UX research, Competitor analysis, Wireframing, UI design, Prototyping

Platform
Mobile (iOS / Android)

Duration
5 weeks

Overview
Spotify is one of the most popular audio platforms in the world — but its podcast experience lacked visibility of key tools, meaningful customization, and accessibility options. This project focused on rethinking the podcast experience to surface essential features like queue and chapters, add personalization, and improve accessibility. Over five weeks, I conducted user interviews, competitor research, and usability testing, then designed a prototype introducing new features such as Notes & Chapters, a customizable homepage, and a podcast-specific equalizer.

The Team
Lead UX designer.

Feedback was gathered through peer critiques and usability testing to simulate a real product design review process.

My Role
Lead UX Designer — responsible for research, concept development, and final prototype.

  • Conducted interviews with podcast listeners to uncover pain points

  • Synthesized findings into personas and user flows

  • Produced wireframes, interactive prototypes, and high-fidelity designs

  • Ran usability tests and iterated based on user feedback

The Challenge

Podcast listeners on Spotify struggled with hidden features, limited customization, and poor accessibility. Commuters, in particular, found navigation frustrating and abandoned the app mid-journey.

Design Goals

  • Surface key tools like queue, chapters, and autoplay toggle

  • Add accessibility and customization options (equalizer, transcripts, notes)

  • Reduce taps and friction for core podcast tasks

  • Create a smoother, more inclusive experience for diverse listening contexts

Approach

To deeply understand how listeners interact with Spotify’s podcast tools (and where frustrations lie), I interviewed 8 frequent podcast users: 4 Spotify listeners, 4 users of competing apps (Overcast, Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts).


Participants included:

  • Julia, marketing professional commuting daily (Spotify user) — values hands-free controls, clear chapter skipping

  • Courtney, student who listens mostly at home — wants detailed notes and transcripts

  • Tyler, parent listening while multitasking — frustrated by small tap targets and buried settings.

  • Sam, visually impaired listener using screen-reader features — noted missing alt-texts, low contrast

Research & Discovery

Key Insights

  • Users couldn’t find their queued episodes quickly — queue was 3-4 taps deep, with low visibility

  • Chapter navigation was largely absent; for long podcasts, listeners had no control over jumping between sections

  • Settings and customization features (skip length, skip silence, equalizer) were hidden or not obvious

  • Accessibility issues: too small tap targets, text contrast low in some UI elements, lack of visual feedback when controls selected

  • Commuters especially disliked hitting wrong UI elements while in transit

Persona — Julia
A marketing professional who listens daily on NYC subway commutes.

  • Goals: Keep music & podcasts on one platform, bookmark chapters/notes, control playback

  • Frustrations: Queue buried, no chapters, no autoplay toggle

  • Opportunities: Streamlined navigation, customizable controls, better episode visibility

Ideation & Wireframes

I translated findings into sketches and low-fi wireframes to validate structure and control placement.

  • Chapters & Notes: Added tabs to the Now Playing screen for quick navigation and bookmarking

  • Navigation: Moved Queue to primary nav; added larger, customizable skip buttons

  • Customization: Introduced a podcast-specific equalizer and adjustable skip intervals

Testing & Iteration

I built a clickable Figma prototype and conducted 6 moderated usability tests with participants drawn from the research pool (commuters, home listeners). Key tasks included:

Findings → Changes

  • Accessing the “Queue” from main screen and adding/removing episodes

  • Jumping between chapters within a long podcast episode

  • Changing settings: skip interval, autoplay toggle, enabling equalizer

  • Finding notes/transcripts for previously listened episodes

Key Improvements

Pain Point

  • Hidden Queue

  • Missing Chapters

  • Buried Settings

  • Small Skip Buttons

Expected Impact

  • Fewer taps, faster playback

  • Easier episode navigation

  • Less friction, faster setup

  • Better commuting usability

Design Solution

  • Moved queue to bottom nav

  • Added persistent Notes & Chapters tab

  • Surfaced Autoplay + EQ in top-level panel

  • Added customizable skip intervals + larger tap targets

Final Designs

Notes & Chapters — Bookmark moments, add notes, and jump between sections.
Video Playback — Seamlessly switch between audio and video episodes.
Customizable Home — Drag and drop sections to tailor your podcast dashboard.
Seeking & Autoplay — Adjustable skip lengths and a clearly surfaced autoplay toggle.
Podcast EQ — Spoken-word equalizer for noisy environments.

Notes & Chapters tab added to the player for fast navigation and bookmarking.

Seamless audio↔video switch while maintaining controls.

Personalize your home with drag-and-drop sections

Adjustable skip intervals; large tap targets for in-transit use.

Homepage Layout update

Autoplay and Podcast EQ surfaced in a top-level panel.

Outcomes & Reflection

Prototype-Level Outcomes

  • Taps to access Queue reduced from 4 → 2 on average

  • All 6 test users rated navigation “much easier” or “very easy” post-redesign vs pre-redesign

  • Users expressed strong positive feedback for Notes & Chapters — described them as “very helpful” for organized listening

  • Time to perform common tasks (like adjusting skip length) dropped by ~30% (estimated from prototype flow).

Next Steps

  • Run a broader test with frequent podcast listeners and commuters

  • Track engagement with Notes/Chapters and home customization

  • Explore transcripts and “trim silence” options; expand accessibility checks (labels, VoiceOver)

Reflection

Designing for real listening contexts (commuting, in-bed, multitasking) pushed me to think carefully about visibility, tap targets, and minimizing taps. Surfacing core tools first (queue, chapters, autoplay) delivered meaningful improvements in usability.

In future versions, I’d like to:

  • Expand testing to include users with disabilities (visual, motor, hearing) to ensure accessibility across edge cases

  • Prototype and measure transcript features and “trim silence” for long episodes

  • Explore adaptive UI based on listening context (e.g. larger controls when in transit, different themes for low-light or night)

  • Collect quantitative metrics via analytics if this were productized: task completion rate, drop-off points, daily usage of new features