SquadUP
A New Perspective to Good Music
Overview
SquadUP is a single platform to connect people ages 19+ in the underground house music community, and to promote local Canadian artists innovatively. In the app, users can share their experiences by posting content on their feed or uploading different music playlists, podcasts and even recommend artists.
Role & Scope
Role: UX and UI Designer and Content Creator
Timeline: 27 Weeks (Oct. 2021 - Apr 2022)
Medium and Tools: IOS app (Adobe XD, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Figma)
Team: Individual project with an agile workflow
Approach
Secondary Research to support rationale
Usability Testings
Competitive analysis
Social Media Strategy
"By the end of the 80s house was so much more to a whole generation. It was a type of music, a lifestyle, a culture and a phenomenon that would go on to take the world by storm and shape global youth culture"
-Alon Shulman and Paul Oakenfold (2019, p.13).
Moving to Toronto three years ago, I learned that the city has one of the greatest nightlifes in the country, with electronic dance music being an intrinsic part of the city. The reason why I chose this project for my capstone is because a social platforms main focus is monetization only.The City of Toronto has yet to see an application that steers away from traditional media approaches. With this app, I will show my targeted audience (partygoers of legal age) that the purpose of SquadUP is to build a community and strengthen relationships, while at the same time giving monetization opportunities to stakeholders and artists
Results
SquadUP’s app uses uplifting colors and user friendly navigation with a familiar yet different interface that allows users to have a seamless flow from page to page.It meets event goers needs’ in terms of connecting with other users and artists, interacting with the app for incentives, and developing social connections, while further developing and expanding the electronic dance music scene in Toronto. This would involve DJs, Promotors, club owners and most importantly of all you!
Rationale
As an individual who is involved in the electronic music scene and up to date with the latest artist's and exclusive events, not having a way to communicate with others beforehand and when attending can be challenging, especially since many event venues have a limited signal for data connection, hence why my app’s basic functions such as scanning an entry ticket and viewing pages will be offline.Creating a social platform for a niche market is extremely important as my research shows how EDM music is beneficial to one’s mental health and wellbeing, as well as allowing them to form genuine connections. Audrey Redfield (2017), Noah Little (2018), and Jan Packer (2011) et al., argue in their journal articles that attending EDM festivals can be beneficial to one’s mental health and wellbeing, and that participants who attend events were able to build spiritual relationships to enhance their wellbeing, hence supporting my thesis that an app to promote festivals and events is beneficial to allow a more inclusive EDM culture.The current platforms for socializing lack the relevant information about current events and artists, which can be frustrating to a user who does not have access to the exclusivity.
Competitive Analysis
Based on my research, I found that websites like BlogTO and Narcity do not cover news or artists and events related to EDM. When searching the keywords "EDM" or "house music" on BlogTO, the articles found were all written between 2012 and 2017. As for Narcity's website, the latest articles related to EDM were written in 2020, and they were all news about events outside of the city.Another competitor for my app is the online platform called Meetup, where users can search for specific events and groups based on keyword searches. However when searching the keywords “EDM”, “House music” and “raves” with the location filter set to Toronto, the results were not relevant to the current EDM eventsAlthough Radiate is a similar project to SquadUP, most of the events that are shared in the newsfeed are festivals in the U.S., and the interface is not user-friendly and only works with a data connection. The different "pages", such as communities and upcoming events are under one "search" tab.
Academic Research
In a Forbes article called “How Does Social Media Influence the Economy?”, social media apps like Facebook and LinkedIn control distribution, and the platforms "have become some of the world's biggest companies by market capitalization as a result" (2017, para. 6-7). Today, social platforms' main focus is monetization. Going against the traditional social platform approaches with my app will show users that the purpose is to build a community and strengthen relationships, while at the same time giving monetization opportunities to stakeholders and artists, hence the creation of SquadUP based on collaborations and mutual interests.
According to research by Noah Little, Birgitta Burger, and Stephen Croucher in EDM and ecstasy: The lived experiences of electronic dance music festival attendees, participants who attended EDM festivals showed an emotional connection with the music and crowd. The participants agreed that going to these events allows them to escape from the societal pressures and negative environment that they face in their daily lives. This supports my rationale as it further shows that a platform dedicated to EDM is necessary in Toronto for users to find out about current events and communities.
User personas
Empathy Mapping & Brand
Low-Mid fidelity Mock-ups
User Flow
Key Findings
| High Priority Changes | Mid Priority Changes | Low Priority Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Add help page to view reward info on profile | Add favorite genres | Add myreward status on help page |
| Add live set recommendations | Add sign- up with google option | |
| Change size to meet IOS standards | Options to save your stars | |
| Add a cart page for checkout |
Campaign Strategy
My strategy is to create a social media campaign for SquadUP that focuses on increasing online engagement, sales revenue, and app pre-download traffic in the month leading up to Launch Day. This campaign will support SquadUP’s business mission and goal by creating content that follows my vision statement “forming a community and building social connections”, and my core values of community, culture, and family (CCF).
I will also be using the tactic of promoting the “members exclusive events” and “early access” feature in my app to help increase app download and traffic as well as ticket sales and pre-sales in the month of launching. My choice of social media platforms for this campaign are Instagram, Snapchat, Spotify, Twitter, and Youtube.
SNAPCHAT ADs
Social LIstening & Monitoring
During my launch and social media campaign, I will plan to actively engage with targeted audiences and continuously post content to encourage insights and growth prior to launch day. To ensure engagement in social listening and monitoring, I plan to do the following:
KPIs & SMART objectives
Daily posts on Instagram using relevant hashtags for an entire month during Follower activity peak times, starting from March 21st to April 8th (Launch Day), promoting a launch giveaway to participants to generate an increase in user engagement by using the app store link in the link in bio feature.
Generate activity, follower, and engagement growth by at least 60% through daily marketing team and influencer content on Twitter from March 21 to April 21, promoting company values and Instagram giveaways using the Instagram and app store link in bio option on Twitter profile.
Create a snapchat account for SquadUP, and have weekly influencer/ambassador takeovers (“come along with me to an event”), as well as daily snaps to promote giveaway contest and behind the scenes of SquadUP. Use the swipe up feature to generate app download traffic by at least 40%.
Instagram Post
Twitter Post
Promote the company values of community and culture by engaging with audiences content when they use the hashtags to promote customer service.
Monitor the comment sections of Instagram and Twitter and engage with the audience by replying and listening to any feedback given.
Maintain a good brand reputation by ensuring that we respond to the given feedback as well as have content moderation for the hashtag
Actively stay up to date with recent events and trends such as relevant hashtags to alter any content as needed and to continue increasing engagement.
Housefeed Page
Discover Events Page
Event Info Page
Cart Page
Discover Artists Page
Artist Info Page
Music Page
Music Info Page
Wallet Page
Profile Page
Reward Info Page
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References
Little, N., Burger, B., & Croucher, S. M. (2018). EDM and ecstasy: The lived experiences of electronic dance music festival attendees. Journal of New Music Research, 47(1), 78-95. Retrieved October 19, from https://doi.org/10.1080/09298215.2017.1358286
N.A. (2021, December 10). How does social media influence the economy? Forbes. Retrieved March 11, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/08/02/how-does-social-media-influence-the-economy/?sh=43deeec944d0
Packer, J., & Ballantyne, J. (2011). The impact of music festival attendance on young people’s psychological and social well-being. Psychology of Music, 39(2), 164–181. Retrieved October 8, from https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735610372611
Redfield, A. (2017). An Analysis of the Experiences and Integration of Transpersonal Phenomena Induced by Electronic Dance Music Events. The International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 36(1), 67+. Retrieved October 10, from https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A584329707/AONE?u=humber&sid=summon&xid=c06e3783
Shulman, A. (2019). The second summer of love - how dance music took over the world. ProQuest Ebook Central. Retrieved September 22, from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.humber.ca/lib/humber/reader.action?docID=5760226
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