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For this IXD Main Workshop, I was giving the task of modifying or creating a new feature for a streaming service (music, video or gaming). After researching current streaming services, I was drawn to music streaming as it is a service is use daily. In particular, I wished to make amendments to the music streaming service, Spotify- an app which I am most familiar with and which is also currently the most popular of its kind in America and Europe. I began to research and create sketches that incorporated digital realities to create an entertaining music streaming that was able to fulfil the users desire to listen to music whenever and where ever- while also incorporating visual elements like album art and physically interacting with the product which create a sense of sentimentality and entertainment. I decided on focusing on creating an Augmented Reality interface which utilised the Meta glasses to create a reality that incorporates the users environment and digital applications which can be manipulated and navigated through hand gestures.

I decided that to optimise the users experience, I would take advantage of voice command features used on Apple (Siri) and Amazon (Alexa) products which allow the user to by pass navigating through unnecessary menus as they must do on Spotify’s mobile and desktop software. The user is therefore able to command the device to open for example, their album library through instructions like “Show me e.g. Taylor Swift’s most recent album“. As shown in Fig 1.1, a list of their albums with show in a carousel, allowing the user to swipe through the specified search to find their desired album. I think that I was able to successfully enhance the user’s experience and interest of album art which I had wished to revitalise, as they are able to view individual tiles at a larger scale than can be viewed on the mobile app. I included a mock-up clip (Fig 1.2)  in which the album art in motion when the user interacts with it, an example of how I wished to renew the interest in creating exciting album art while also modernising it for a contemporary consumer so that it is possible for it to potentially integrate itself within their environment. I continued to adapt from my earlier research, this time inspired by the touch navigation used by Apple’s iPod ‘click wheel’, a feature I thought would be an exciting, interactive form of navigation through the selected albums tracks that reflects the physical disc spinning and also previous digital devices. The use gestures in a downwards, circular motion to scroll through the tracks (shown in motion in Fig 1.5).

Overall, I was really pleased with my outcome- I think that I created an entertaining music streaming experience for users that pays tribute to previous music listening devices, creates a sense of sense of familiarity and sentimentality while also showing how these features can be adapted to build an entirely new environment through augmented reality. While I was able to reflect many features of Spotify’s interface like the heart which indicates a track has been ‘liked’; the font; and some feedback elements- if I were able to improve this outcome, I would focus on creating a greater interface inventory and modelling the mock-ups closer to the original service.