Role: UX Designer / UX Researcher
Team: Independent
Tools: Figma, Google Sheets, Miro
Duration: 4 weeks
The Hook
Creating playlists should be fun and effortless, yet many Spotify users feel overwhelmed by the process. This project challenged me to explore how AI could simplify playlist creation while keeping it personal, engaging, and aligned with users’ moods and contexts.
The Context
Spotify, with over 600 million users worldwide, is the leader in music streaming, but the market is increasingly saturated, with competitors like Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Deezer constantly innovating.
Over a few months, I independently explored how AI could enhance the playlist experience, handling research, ideation, prototyping, and testing. My goal was to design a feature that could fit seamlessly into Spotify’s existing mobile experience while addressing real user frustrations.
The Challenge
The core challenge was understanding how to make playlist creation easier without sacrificing the personal touch that users value. Many Spotify users struggle to create playlists that match their mood, activity, or a specific context, often abandoning the process because it feels time-consuming or cumbersome.
Adding to this complexity, the feature had to integrate naturally into Spotify’s familiar interface, respect technical constraints, and strike a delicate balance between AI-driven automation and user customization. It wasn’t just about designing a cool feature; it was about solving a genuine problem in a way that felt effortless and emotionally resonant.
The Process
I began with a UX audit using Nielsen’s heuristics, which revealed major issues in minimalism and aesthetic consistency. Key actions were buried, patterns were inconsistent, and users had to overthink every step. A quick 1–5 survey on luxury car forums confirmed the problem: 70% found the interface less intuitive than competitors, and 80% said essential information was hard to find.
Next, I interviewed five users to uncover motivations and friction points. They wanted intelligent guidance, coherence, and a sense of control. Using JTBD, I defined three imperatives: feel in control, receive tasteful guidance, and move seamlessly.
From there, I designed low-fidelity concepts that reduced cognitive load and made the car the hero. Remote tests focused on high-abandonment tasks: submitting the purchase form, retrieving a configuration code, and accessing a PDF.
Results highlighted pain points After user testing like bidirectional dropdowns, opaque retrieval flows, and overly heavy forms.
Iterations centered the car, removed distractions, and simplified navigation. I introduced a dedicated “Retrieve” entry, grouped actions in a sliding panel, and redesigned the form for speed and clarity. Dropdowns were replaced with clean panels, spacing improved, and rounded corners softened the tone.
To validate impact, I ran an A/B test replicating previous tasks. Users completed flows faster, reported less effort, and described the experience as clearer and more premium. When returning to the old version, frustration spiked—confirming the redesign solved structural, not superficial, issues.
The Solution
The final design centres the product and reduces cognitive effort at every decision point. The core narrative is simple: explore with confidence, configure with guidance, finish without friction. Visual hierarchy leads with the vehicle, content density is controlled, and key actions live in one predictable place.
The primary “Enquire to buy” path removes unnecessary fields and uses crisp microcopy to keep momentum, while complementary actions—overview, PDF, and code retrieval—sit within easy reach for users who are browsing or pausing. The result is a premium interface that looks and feels Bentley, yet behaves with modern clarity.
The Impact
User tests showed faster completion, fewer hesitations, and higher perceived quality. Qualitatively, participants called the new flow “less overwhelming” and “more coherent,” and several remarked that it finally “felt like a luxury brand online.” Based on the reduction in cognitive load and clearer action structure, the redesign is projected to lift final-step retention from 0.2% to approximately 25% within six months, improving configurator throughput and sales team lead quality.
The Refection
This work reinforced a core principle: luxury doesn’t have to mean complexity. The right balance is achieved by elevating the product, curating choices.