UXANALYSIS:

SPOTIFY

Mia Yancich
SI 110
Infomaven #2
March 28, 2019
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ININTRODUCTION
TRO D U CTIO N
User experience, commonly referred to as UX, is a person's
perception and feelings towards every interaction they have when using a
product, system, or service (Jerome). A good experience requires that the
product has value, usability, adoptibility, and desirability. In this report, I
will evaluate Spotify, a digital music, pod cast, and video streaming service,
and its overall UX by applying Jakob Nielsen's Heuristic Evaluation.
Heuristic evaluation is a systematic review of user interface, UI, and its
compliance with Nielsen's curated usability principles, or "heuristics" (7).
This usability test incorporates direct observation and identification of
problems that cause tasks to fail. This evaluation is imperative to UX
because it determines whether or not a system is successful and offers
ways to improve it.

Spotify is currently the world's largest drive of revenue to the music

business, as it offers over 40 million songs and 3 billion playlists (3). Users
can discover, manage, and share songs for free, or upgrade to Spotify
Premium to access exclusive features. Throughout this report, I evaluate
how and why Spotify's information system for mobile devices is successful,
and how its socio-technical design leads to that success. I argue that
Spotify successfully works because of its aesthetically pleasing design,
ability to fix mistakes, generation of trust and uniquess, and overall
functionality.
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NIELSEN'S 10 HEURISTICS FOR USER
INTERFACE DESIGN

1. Visibility of System Status

2. Match Between System and Real World
3. User Control and Freedom
4. Consistency and Standards
5. Error Prevention
6. Recognition Rather than Recall
7. Flexibility and Efficiency of Use
8. Aesthetic and Minimalist Design
9. Help Users Recognize, Diagnose, and
Recover from Errors
10. Help and Documentation

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 V ISIBILITY
Users can access their
Queue and see what is
about to play next. By
pressing on a song and
dragging it up or down,
users can directly
manipulate the order of
items. When selecting songs
to play next or add to the
Queue, the white check next
to the song is a good
indicat ion that the system is
acting the way the user
wanted to. The same check
appears when editing songs
within a playlist.
4 t imes.
AW A REN ESS
When the user accesses his
or her own account, the
system explicitly states the
number of friends or
musicians the user is
following, the number or
followers, and the number
of playlists the user has. The
system also communicates
in bold let t ers that the
account has public playlists
if other users want to see
that specific user's
generated playlists. This
allows the user to be aware
of t heir social st at us at all
H EU RISTIC 1 :
V ISIBILITY O F SYSTEM STATU S

DoesSpotify let the user know what isgoing on?

On the app, there are 3 sections the user can refer to:

1. Home

2. Search

3. Library

The user can access their status within each section by simpling
clicking on what section they want to enter into.

Overall, Spotify effect ively expresses st at us and encourages

communicat ion because the system enables users to know if their
actions were effective, where mistakes were made, and how they
can fix it.

Rating Excellent

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H EU RISTIC 2 :
M ATCH BETW EEN SYSTEM A N D
REA L W O RLD

Is Spotify's design system based on language and concepts familiar to the

user?

Spotify demonstrates that t he sit e knows it s users and cares about

t hem. The system especially acknowledges them as important by
generating playlists specifically made for the user. Nowadays, users
read less and less but are still bombarded with more and more online
options. A system which applies this second usability heuristic
ensures that it will "st ay relevant , build t rust , and inst ill feelings of
familiarit y, which will lead to loyal users" (5). This might explain why
Spotify has an average of 207 million monthly active users (3).

Recommendat ion: In order to avoid confusion for beginning music

listeners, Spotify could define "Queue" during the user's set up
process as something that means "Up Next."

Rating Good

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N ATU RA L A N D LO GICA L
O RD ER
Spotify aligns these symbols in a way that appears most
logical. Most listeners are aware of t hese symbols
because they are implement ed in most music syst ems.
The white arrows are positioned in a way that
corresponds to the system's outcome. The Forward
arrow skips to next song, whereas the back arrow
either restarts the song or goes back to the previous
song. The green heart is a universally known symbol
that indicates a liking for something, and in this case,
the user's liking for the song.

SIM ILA R LA N GUA GE

Spotify utilizes terms like "Queue" and "Playlist"
that are familiar to the average music listener. The
term "Your Daily Mix" creates a sense of familiarity
and trust in the user that encourages cont inuous
list ening. In addition, it proves that the system
accurately pays attention to what type of music the
user likes. "Discover Weekly" acknowledges the
user as important and unique because it
recommends new songs the user may like.

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Rating Excellent

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 HEURISTIC 3:
USER CONTROL AND FREEDOM
Does the user have the ability to easily fix mistakes and
complete tasks without hassle? Can the user leave an
"unwanted state?" (6) Most often thisrefersto undo and redo.
By clicking on the heart symbol, users can add a song to
their library. If users accidentally click on this feature, they
can simply unclick it and a not ificat ion inst ant ly pops up
stating the song has been removed from their library. The
system is quick t o rect ify a mist ake by using simple and
short statements, like "Saved" and "Removed," to notify
the user of a mistake.

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Spotify sticks to a number of basic conventions. Menus
and logos sit exactly where the user may expect them to
be. For example, they use a magnifyer icon to signify the
Search section, a house
C Oicon
M PAtoNsignify
Y NAM the
E Home section,
and book icon to signify the Your Library section (as seen
on the left most photo). Additionally, Spotify does not
break consistency because it utilizes the same terms
throughout its system, instead of switching between
terms. For example, it always says "Queue" and does not
switch it up with "Play Next." Another way Spotify stays
consistent is by always showing the song playing at the
bottom of the screen no matter what the user is doing on
the app. The song never disappears (as seen in the middle
and right most photo).

Rating Good
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 HEURISTIC 4:
CONSISTENCY AND STANDARDS

Are words, situations, and actions

within the system consistent, and do
they follow platform conventions?
(6).

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HEURISTIC 5:
ERROR PREVENTION

Does the system prevent errors from occurring?Does it confirm the

user'sactionswithout being repetitive?

This system is effectively designed in a way that prevents

errors from occurring in the first place because it clearly
different iat es opposing but t ons, such as the save and delete
buttons, and spaces them apart from each other. Additionally, it
checks for problems before they occur by presenting users
with confirmat ion opt ions to make them aware of the outcome
of their choice.

Rating Good

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First, users must go out of their way to delete a playlist,
which great ly reduces t he chance of an error
occurring in the first place. If users find themselves in a
situation in which they have pressed the delete button,
the system asks for confirmation before deleting the
content. The confirmation notification lists the amount
of songs a playlist contains to make the user aware of
t he magnit ude of the consequence of their choice. The
same notification pops up when trying to remove a
downloaded song.

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"Does the system promote recognition by making
information and interface functions visible and easily
accessible?" (6)
According to Jakob Nielsen, recognit ion refers to our
ability to recognize a piece of information as being
familiar, while recall means the retrieval of related
details from memory. Recall involves fewer cues than
recognition (2).
Spotify generally promotes recognition over recall by
providing additional information on tasks, or in this
case, songs or playlists the user last left off on. The
most prominent example is that the system has a link
to the user's search hist ory and recent ly played in
order to retrace their surfaces. This int erface gives
ext ra help t o t he user when in need. One minor issue,
however, is that Spotify cannot remember searches
offline, so the user cannot access anything searched
when not connected to the Internet.

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 HEURISTIC 6:
RECOGNITION RATHER THAN RECALL

Rating Good

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Rating

Average

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HEURISTIC 7:
FLEXIBILITY AND EFFICIENCY OF USE

Is the system flexible and can it cater to all types of users, whether
they are experts or novices?Can the individual user tailor the system
to hisor her own needsto speed up the interaction process?(1)

One way the interface allows for flexibility is that the user can
go to Settings and adjust t he music qualit y, playback, explicit
cont ent , and not ificat ion t o fit t he user's preferences. For
example, the user can choose to turn on features like Stranger
Things Mode or Behind the Lyrics, which provides a storyline on
the song's lyrical content. However, Spotify automatically sets
these arrangements and does not let the user know they can
adjust these settings until they go and look for it on his or her
own. Additionally, there is no advanced set t ing available,
perhaps because Spotify standardizes all of its settings so that
each user begins at the same level.

Recommendat ion: Spotify may want to consider implementing

a feature in the set up process of an account that enables the
user to adjust the music quality, etc. to fit their desires.
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 Rating

Excellent

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HEURISTIC 8:
AESTHETIC AND MINIMALIST DESIGN
Is all the presented information necessary, useful, and
aesthetically pleasing?

On the Home page, Spotify provides

everything a user needs and a bit of
additional recommendations to
spur the user's curiosity without
overwhelming them. The system
also uses album covers to designate
the song, and then inserts the name
of the album in smaller font below.
This method, of magnifying the
album cover art instead of just
listing songs, is extremely effective
because it is visually pleasing.
Instead of being distracting and
detracting from user experience,
this feature enhances the interface.
Additionally, the extra units of
information appropriately compete
with the other relevant units of
information and diminishes their
visibility. Also, the system maintains
a familiar color scheme throughout
the app: black, green, and white.

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HEURISTIC 9:
HELP USERS RECOGNIZE, DIAGNOSE, AND
RECOVER FROM ERRORS

When errors are unavoidable, does the system notify users of

the error?
Is the error message explicit, polite, precise, constructive, and
does it avoid obscure code? (6)

Recommendat ion: The system should be more t ransparent

when the system is loading. Sometimes the app presents "..." on
the screen for a while, and it's unclear what exactly is happening.
However, because "..." is commonly used in most information
systems, most users understand that the system is still loading.
Spotify should be careful so it does not aggravate its users and
make them impatient.

Rating Good
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When offline, the system notifies userd with precise
wording that the system is offline and polit ely says "Go
online and try again." When the system is not working, a
message appears saying "Something went wrong" and
encourages the user to not give up by trying again. This
example proves the system notifies the users, reduces the
work required to fix the problem, and educat es t he user
what is happening during the process in a precise and
polite way (6).

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Settings on Mobile App (above) vs. Help and Support
Page on Computer (below)

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HEURISTIC 10:
HELP AND DOCUMENTATION

Does the system provide help and instructions that are

understandable and readily accessible when needed?

Unfortunately, Spotify fails t o provide adequat e

help and document at ion on the mobile app. Users
must search Spotify support on the Internet in
order to receive help. There is no direct link within
Settings or app overall. This is a major flaw in the
system because most Spotify users interact with
the system on mobile devices. If users are to access
the support page on a computer or online, Spotify
provides links to articles that may be helpful.
However, this is a time consuming process that
does not always provide the answers users are
looking for.
Recommendat ion: Add direct link to Support page
within Settings of app for mobile devices.

Rating Poor

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 SPOTIFY DOES MANY THINGS W ELL
1. Visibility of System Status
2. Match Between System and Real World
3. User Control and Freedom
4. Consistency and Standards
5. Error Prevention
6. Recognition Rather than Recall

8. Aesthetic and Minimalist Design

9. Help Users Recognize, Diagnose, and Recover from Errors

AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT
7. Flexibility and Efficiency of Use
10. Help and Documentation

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 IN SUM M ARY
Spotify is a well balanced
information system due to its
effective socio-technical
design, and needs only minor
improvement. Spotify can
consider advancing the social
aspect of its design by making
it easier for users to share
their music and continuing to
curate recommended
playlists and stations.

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References
1. Batchu, Vamsi. ?10 Tips on How to Conduct a Perfect
Heuristic Evaluation.? Muzli - Design Inspiration, Muzli -
Design Inspiration, 25 Mar. 2018,
medium.muz.li/10-tips-on-how-to-conduct-a-perfect-heuristic-evaluation-ae5f8f4b3257.
2. Budiu, Raluca. ?Memory Recognition and Recall in User
Interfaces.? Nielsen Norman Group, 6 July 2014,
www.nngroup.com/articles/recognition-and-recall/.
3.?Company Info.? Spotify, Spotify AB, 31 Dec. 2018,
newsroom.spotify.com/company-info/.
4. Derome, Jennifer. ?User Experience: What Is UX??
UserTesting Blog, UserTesting, 15 Mar. 2019,
www.usertesting.com/blog/what-is-user-experience/.
5. Kaley, Anna. ?Match Between System and Real World: 2nd
Usability Heuristic Explained.? Nielsen Norman Group, 1 July
2018, www.nngroup.com/articles/match-system-real-world/.
6. Nielsen, Jakob. ?10 Heuristics for User Interface Design:
Article by Jakob Nielsen.? Nielsen Norman Group, Nielsen
Norman Group, 2005,
www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/.
7. Nielsen, Jakob. ?Heuristic Evaluation: How-To: Article by
Jakob Nielsen.? Nielsen Norman Group, 1 Nov. 1994,
www.nngroup.com/articles/how-to-conduct-a-heuristic-evaluation/.

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