OffTop

OffTop

OffTop

04
RESPONSIBILITIES
USER RESEARCH
USER RESEARCH
UI DESIGN
UI DESIGN
UX DESIGN
UI DESIGN
UI DESIGN
DELIVERABLES

User Research

Slide Deck

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Conducting user research to help the music creation company, OffTop, develop features to reposition themselves in the marketplace.

PROBLEM SPACE

OffTop, a music creation platform, sought to pivot its target audience from casual creators to professional musicians—specifically those engaged in remote collaboration. Their existing platform lacked features tailored to professional workflows, risking market relevance. Our goal: identify pain points in remote collaboration and design solutions to make OffTop indispensable for serious musicians.

Research

With OffTop’s remarketing desire in mind, we conducted a week-long field study with professional musicians. Our goal was to collect data and evaluate how OffTop can improve its services for remote music creation, while still maintaining its app's market visibility.


Analysis

For data analysis, we used the affinity diagram to uncover themes from the field study. Which helped us establish three main pain points: communications, efficiency in workflow and comfortability

INSIGHT 1

Troubles in communications

Messaging platforms and file sharing sites (e.g., Facebook Messenger and Google Drive) lack audio playback features, while communicating audio edits through text can lead to miscommunication.

One participant noted:
“In person, I can make a small suggestion and hear the result right away. But remotely, I might make the same suggestion and have to wait a whole day or two to hear the results. Sometimes, I don’t even like the changes made, which results in a huge waste of time”


Troubles in communications

Messaging platforms and file sharing sites (e.g., Facebook Messenger and Google Drive) lack audio playback features, while communicating audio edits through text can lead to miscommunication.

One participant noted:
“In person, I can make a small suggestion and hear the result right away. But remotely, I might make the same suggestion and have to wait a whole day or two to hear the results. Sometimes, I don’t even like the changes made, which results in a huge waste of time”


INSIGHT 2

Efficiency in workflow

We observed that efficiency in workflow suffered due to the time-consuming nature of repeated transferring and importing/exporting of files. Furthermore, the participants found it much harder to work remotely when everyone was bound to their own schedules and never fully present. One participant mentioned:

One participant noted:
“Reimporting the sound files into a new DAW was annoying and time consuming, especially since we were using different software.”

Efficiency in workflow

We observed that efficiency in workflow suffered due to the time-consuming nature of repeated transferring and importing/exporting of files. Furthermore, the participants found it much harder to work remotely when everyone was bound to their own schedules and never fully present. One participant mentioned:

One participant noted:
“Reimporting the sound files into a new DAW was annoying and time consuming, especially since we were using different software.”

INSIGHT 3

Comfortability vs motivation

In the context of working from home, striking a balance between comfort and motivation is crucial, particularly in this field. Participants experienced typical advantages of remote work, but they expressed frustration with the time-consuming process of receiving and loading files, which hindered their creative flow and motivation.

One participant noted:
“I would often lose motivation and inspiration during this project because it just took too long to download, import, export and upload files each time.”

Comfortability vs motivation

In the context of working from home, striking a balance between comfort and motivation is crucial, particularly in this field. Participants experienced typical advantages of remote work, but they expressed frustration with the time-consuming process of receiving and loading files, which hindered their creative flow and motivation.

One participant noted:
“I would often lose motivation and inspiration during this project because it just took too long to download, import, export and upload files each time.”

SOLUTION

After identifying the pain points through the field study, we added three new features to enhance collaboration and improve usability for the end users.

After identifying the pain points through the field study, we added three new features to enhance collaboration and improve usability for the end users.

After identifying the pain points through the field study, we added three new features to enhance collaboration and improve usability for the end users.

Timestamp Notes

To reduce miscommunication, we created a timestamp commenting feature to improve communication between musicians. Threads can be initiated under individual comments to promote detailed discussions without cluttering the interface.

To reduce miscommunication, we created a timestamp commenting feature to improve communication between musicians. Threads can be initiated under individual comments to promote detailed discussions without cluttering the interface.

To reduce miscommunication, we created a timestamp commenting feature to improve communication between musicians. Threads can be initiated under individual comments to promote detailed discussions without cluttering the interface.

Real-time listening

To improve the current remote workflow for musicians, we created Live Listening. This feature enables real-time file editing and instant recording sharing among collaborators, eliminating the need for repetitive file downloading, importing, exporting, and uploading to make minor changes.

To improve the current remote workflow for musicians, we created Live Listening. This feature enables real-time file editing and instant recording sharing among collaborators, eliminating the need for repetitive file downloading, importing, exporting, and uploading to make minor changes.

To improve the current remote workflow for musicians, we created Live Listening. This feature enables real-time file editing and instant recording sharing among collaborators, eliminating the need for repetitive file downloading, importing, exporting, and uploading to make minor changes.

Collaborative folder

Finally, we added a collaborative folder feature to the app, enabling artists to receive files on their phone and record ideas instantly. This feature also allows users to manage their files, version history, and stems, all in one application.

Finally, we added a collaborative folder feature to the app, enabling artists to receive files on their phone and record ideas instantly. This feature also allows users to manage their files, version history, and stems, all in one application.

Finally, we added a collaborative folder feature to the app, enabling artists to receive files on their phone and record ideas instantly. This feature also allows users to manage their files, version history, and stems, all in one application.

Outcomes

This project reinforced the importance of grounding design in user research. By testing assumptions early, we avoided investing in superfluous features—instead delivering tools that directly addressed professional musicians’ needs. The result? A roadmap to reposition OffTop as a leader in remote music collaboration.