ABC LISTEN RADIO
Our team collaborated with Australia's ABC Listen to design a digital-first radio station. This station aims to prioritize meaningful digital interaction and engagement, delivering a unique and immersive radio experience tailored to the needs of today’s audience.
Team
Xing Gao
Manman Zhang
Chengyu Wang
Wenhao Wang
Tool
Figma
My Role
Data Visualization
User Interview
Journey Map
Ideation
Timeline
20 Sep - 20 Oct 2024
Collaboration Project
User Experience Design
User Interface Design
Design Brief, Goals and Challenges
As audience habits increasingly shift towards short-form platforms like TikTok and other digital media, traditional broadcast radio has lost some of the direct connections that listeners once valued. To address this, ABC is exploring the concept of a truly digital-first radio station that reimagines user engagement.
The goal is to create an intuitive and immersive platform that fosters active participation and a sense of ownership among users. However, challenges lie ahead, including the need to overcome user apathy, implement effective moderation for a safe environment, and stand out from popular audio platforms by offering distinct, value-added features. Our aim is for ABC to redefine the digital radio experience and reconnect with its audience in a meaningful way.
ABC Listen Background Research
Size
Age
The age group 45-54 has the highest size, indicating strong engagement from middle-aged listeners
ABC Radio holds a strong position in the Australian market, and it is viewed as a trustworthy source of information
User Research
Personalized
Features
Lack of functionality leads to limited use and engagement. User feedback requires more personalization features. Create personalized functional experience according to needs to enhance the attractiveness and user stickiness of the app.
Target Group
Aged 35-55
Scatter plots can locate the most valuable user groups based on data distribution to design targeted solutions based on their specific needs
Competitor Analysis
Cons
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ABC Listen needs to add more detailed functions to meet the multifaceted needs of radio users
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Strengthening the connection between users and ABC Listen, as well as fostering connections among users themselves, presents a significant challenge
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Lack of personalized content makes it difficult to mobilize users’ subjective initiative
Pros
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The interface is relatively simple and easy to use
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The content is more in line with the needs of local Australian users
Categorized Insights
Brainstorming
Low-Fidelity Prototype
(Version 1)
LIKE
Other’s Clips
My Clips
Popular Clips
Smart Recommendations
Smart Island
New Interaction
Collect your favorite clips by clicking on the LIKE icon
New Interaction
Listen to other people's favorite clips by clicking the button
Liked clips will appear on Your Listen Page
When a clip gets a lot of likes, it will appear on the Home Page
The system will track played podcasts while the screen is off and recommend clips in a floating window when the user unlocks the screen
While using another app, users can click their favorite clip through Smart Island
User Testing
Save a clip from a radio
Locate the clips saved by other users
Find and listen to a clip you previously saved
Locate hot radio clips and click to listen
Like a clip using the Smart Island
Understand what the floating window is for
Conclusion: The clip-based concept has great potential but requires deeper thought and consideration for successful implementation.
Concept Optimization
Think more creatively and explore innovative possibilities for clip functionality:
Clip Consumption: How do users want to consume clips? Are they interested in creating personalized stations, scheduling clips for later, or other features?
Live Clipping: How should clips function for live radio listeners?
Clip Functionality: Beyond clipping, how might users engage with clips through sharing, saving, editing, or combining clips?
Community Features: How do users want to interact with clips created by others?
High-Fidelity Prototype
Based on the test results, we optimized the prototype by adding more visuals and interactions
User Journey Map
Analyzed the user journey map of the high-fidelity prototype from the first version and identified design opportunities
User Flow
Radio Clips
Radio Clip is an innovative feature for ABC Listen that empowers users to create personalized audio content by clipping broadcasts with precision and ease. In today’s fast-paced media landscape, listeners often encounter insightful and engaging moments during broadcasts but lack tools to save and share these trusted resources. Our solution allows users to mark and save interesting clips, revisit important information later, and record their thoughts on the content.
The feature also supports social sharing, enabling users to easily share their clips with friends or across social media platforms, thereby enhancing interaction and community engagement.
Our goal is to significantly boost user engagement and interactivity, establishing ABC Listen as a true digital-first radio station.
LIVE RADIO
PAST RADIO
RADIO CLIPS
Capture Your Moments
Users can mark and save interesting clips at any time during listening, so that they can check information in the future.
Don't miss the hot clips! jump to check them quickly
A node for your clipping
View the clips you have created before
Capture your favorate clip instantly
Build Smooth Experience
After successfully creating clips, it will pop up automatically.
The pop-up provides share, edit, and comment options and can be closed if unused, enabling flexible user engagement while ensuring a smooth experience.
Write the comment here to share your thoughts and feelings
Edit Page
Share Page
POP-UP REMINDER
EDITTING CLIP
Enhance Your Clips
Adjust by selecting the text for greater accuracy.
Use Quick Select to select an entire paragraph with one click.
EDIT
SHARING
Share Your Favorites
Sharing meaningful clips with friends or on social media platforms enhances interaction between users.
SHARE
SHARE BY VIDEO
YOUR LISTEN
COMMENTS
Share How You Feel
High-quality comments on clips are filtered through a strict moderation system, with a push mechanism to enhance user interaction.
This feature fosters a sense of achievement for users whose contributions are recognized, boosting engagement and ownership.
HOMEPAGE
Discover your top clips and see how many listeners have engaged with your clips.
Boost Ownership
SETTINGS
CLIP REVIEW
YOUR CLIPS
CLIPS OVERVIEW
HEADSET
GESTURE
Clip Anytime
Like to listen to ABC Listen while driving, commuting, or having it on as background audio at home?
Now you can use headsets to capture clips effortlessly, so you never miss the chance to create clips when your mobile phone isn't accessible. This feature broadens your options for capturing clips, enhancing both timeliness and accessibility.
Emphasizing personalization, users have multiple touch interaction options for clipping and can customize the duration of their clips.
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Double click
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Kneading
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Sliding
Critical Reflections
Reflection on the Design Process
Throughout this project, I learned the value of focusing on core functionalities and refining ideas rather than overloading the design.
Initially, our design included too many features, diluting the app's purpose. By iterating on user feedback and prioritizing core solutions, I gained a deeper understanding of design thinking. Flexibility and agility proved essential throughout the process. We adjusted our competitive analysis to focus on more relevant competitors, ensuring we aligned with ABC Listen’s goals. This taught me the importance of adaptability and pivoting based on new insights to solve the right problems effectively.
CHALLENGE
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Unnecessary Features: Too many unnecessary features diluted the app's core focus.
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Competitive Analysis: Initially, we included TikTok and YouTube, but they primarily focus on video content, which doesn’t align with audio-based platform.
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Shallow Interview Questions: Initial questions lacked depth, which affected the quality of insights gathered.
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Interview Location Bias: Interviews conducted in a public park may have introduced bias, as participants had similar leisure habits, limiting diverse perspectives.
SOLUTIONS
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Client feedback and user tests helped us prioritize core functionalities and remove excess features. We consistently referred back to the design brief to stay aligned with the project’s goals.
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We refocused our analysis on more relevant competitors like Spotify, Himalaya FM, and Little Universe, which are better aligned with the audio space, making the comparison more precise and valuable.
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We quickly refined the interview questions immediately to improve the depth of responses, which greatly enhanced both the relevance and quality of the data we collected.
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Expanding locations for future interviews is necessary to gather more varied feedback.
Next Steps for Future Improvement
Develop a comprehensive digital interactive prototype to enhance user experience and functionality
Design a detailed secondary testing plan to evaluate usability and user engagement effectively
Conduct the testing plan in diverse locations to find a target group as the sample for more accurate insights
Iterate features and visual design based on feedback collected from both the tests and client input to ensure continuous improvement
Conduct A/B testing for various versions of features to identify which ones resonate most with users
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