As part of Northwestern’s Bay Area Immersion Program, our team collaborated with Amazon Music on a 10-week design practicum focused on disrupting their platform to develop innovative ideas for future use. Our challenge was clear: help Amazon Music better attract and retain Gen Z users, particularly in comparison to competitors like Spotify.
Our team quickly recognized that Amazon Music lacked the social components that make music inherently communal. This inspired our core mission: transform Amazon Music from a simple streaming service into a vibrant social music playground that fosters community and connection.
We framed our approach with two key questions:
To ground our work in real user needs, we conducted 20+ in-depth interviews with college students aged 18-22. An overwhelming 85% reported regularly sharing music with others, uncovering a profound insight: for young people, music sharing isn't just a feature - it's an essential way to connect, bond, and express themselves.
Key User Insights
User Personas
Our research led to the development of two distinct personas:
Lurking Louise
Louise enjoys her personal music library but sometimes finds it repetitive. She turns to platforms like Spotify and Instagram to passively discover new music by exploring what friends are listening to and sharing.
Social Sally
Sally is passionate about sharing music. She's always first to post comments about new releases from her favorite artists via Instagram. She sees music as a crucial way to express herself and connect with others.
Armed with these insights, our team organized multiple brainstorming sessions using whiteboards and collaborative digital spaces. This approach allowed us to explore diverse concepts and identify the most impactful solutions.
1. Profile Accents
We designed a system of badges and customizable profile pages to add personalization to Amazon Music, transforming it into another form of self-expression:
2. Social Feed
A dedicated platform where fans can connect, share recommendations, and discuss music, forming genuine communities around shared interests.
3. Mixtape
A feature allowing friends to listen to music together and create shared playlists:
4. Event Page
A centralized sandbox within Amazon Music that:
After 10 weeks of in-depth research, brainstorming, and prototyping, we presented our ideas directly to Amazon Music executives at their San Francisco headquarters. Our goal was to inspire potential implementation and spark new directions for the platform's future.
This project reinforced the value of keeping the design process playful and engaging. Whether developing inherently fun concepts or bringing them to life through mini skits and personal anecdotes, embracing a sense of joy and creativity was essential to our success. I learned that truly enjoying the process - and fostering a dynamic collaboration with the company - is the best way to stay energized, inspired, and innovative throughout the design journey.