Albert

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Background

Neptune is a conceptual music app I designed while envisioning how to bring back the intimacy that is lost today in music sharing. Instead of sharing links to streaming services, Neptune users can share music with friends by listening to the same music together simultaneously.

UX Problems

01

How can sharing music in the age of streaming be more social?

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As music consumers subscribe to multiple streaming services for different music, how can Neptune unify the segmented experience of music streaming?

03

How can Neptune strike a balance between personal and group listening?

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Problem

How can sharing music in the age of streaming be more social?

Solution

Neptune replicates the physical interaction of sharing and listening to music with friends in the same room. A Neptune user can either listen to music alone or invite friends to a listening session, in which songs can be collectively added to a queue and listened to simultaneously.

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Neptune requires signing up with Facebook to limit the music sharing amongst friends.

Users can listen to music alone or together with friends by either creating or joining a listening session.

A listening session is a temporary channel where users can add songs to a queue and listen to music simultaneously.

To create a session, the session host must add up to three songs to the session queue.

The host can then invite their friends and initiate the session.

Once the session begins, listeners granted with DJ access can add songs to the queue and continue the session.

Session invitees are initially granted with DJ access, however the session host can grant or deny access to any listener.

Sessions are public to Facebook friends and can be joined without request. However, listeners without an invite must receive DJ access to add songs.

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Problem

As music consumers subscribe to multiple streaming services for different music, how can Neptune unify the segmented experience of music streaming?

Solution

Neptune in itself is not a streaming service but a hub that consolidates all music streaming. Instead of switching between apps for different songs, users can sync the accounts of their favorite streaming services to Neptune and listen in one place.

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To play music on Neptune, users must sync their accounts from music streaming services to Neptune.

Once the accounts have been synced, users can browse through every catalogue of music on each streaming service.

Music from different streaming services are added to a single queue so that all music can be streamed on Neptune.

Friends with subscriptions to different streaming services can listen to even more music together than alone.

03

Problem

How can Neptune strike a balance between personal and group listening?

Solution

On Neptune, listening to music alone is just as important as listening to music with your friends. The UIs for personal and group listening are visually and functionally parallel and navigating between them is simple and accessible.

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The main page conspicuously displays the user's personal queue and a button to join or create a session.

The session button is accessible in the same location on the personal player as well.

Transitioning between personal and group listening is seamless.

Users can easily exit a session and return to personal listening.

Discreet notifications avoid interrupting the user from listening to music.