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UX Principles

Design Philosophy & User Experience Goals

SongDrive desired UX - 2025 (139 words)

  • Status: DESIGN PRINCIPLES - Core UX philosophy
  • Summary: Fundamental UX principles focusing on productivity, one-click access, and gamification. Defines what makes the home screen effective.
  • Core Principles:
    • Productive Home Screen: One click to get to why you opened the app
    • Immediate Access: Minimize navigation depth to primary user goals
  • Home Screen Requirements:
    • Recent Activity (You): Show both active (you did something) and passive (you viewed something) activity
    • Recent Activity (Others): Show active activity from other users
    • Quick Actions:
      • Upload file (prominent access)
      • Start a new project (quick creation)
      • Browse projects (exploration)
  • Gamification Strategy:
    • Songwriting Streaks: Like Snapchat streaks to encourage consistent engagement
    • Goal: Make songwriting more engaging through game mechanics
  • Landing Page Requirements:
    • Welcoming Design: Initial experience should be inviting
    • Legal Requirements: Terms and conditions BEFORE logging in (compliance requirement)
  • Notification System:
    • Push Notification Event Types: Different notification categories (to be defined)
    • Push Notification Preferences: User control over notification settings
  • Related: Dashboard experience, onboarding flow, Large Data Milestone

Core Design Principles

One-Click Access

Productive Home Screen: One click to get to why you opened the app

The home screen should prioritize:

  • Recent activity from you (active and passive)
  • Recent activity from others (active)
  • Quick actions (upload, create, browse)

Design-First Approach

From the features and UX analysis, SongDrive follows a design-first philosophy where:

  • Visual clarity takes precedence
  • User workflows are streamlined
  • Cognitive load is minimized

Reduce Cognitive Load

UX Philosophy: Get the user to think less. Make content self-organizing through smart categorization.

Examples:

  • Replace vague "Project" with specific terms (Idea, Song, Album, Rehearsal, Performance)
  • Auto-categorization at upload time
  • Smart defaults and suggestions

UX Areas for Improvement

UX areas - 2025 (70 words)

  • Status: UX IMPROVEMENT CHECKLIST - Focus areas
  • Summary: High-level checklist of UX improvements needed to make SongDrive more approachable and intuitive for new users.
  • Focus Areas:
    • Onboarding Flow: Implement tooltips to guide new users
    • Remove Confusion: Eliminate confusing existing elements like "Type: Song" in project tables (redundant/unclear labeling)
    • Visual Polish:
      • Font adjustments for better readability
      • Spacing improvements for visual hierarchy
    • Terminology Rebranding: Replace "Projects" with more specific terms: "Ideas", "Songs", etc.
    • Reference Document: Links to terminology rebranding document for detailed proposal
  • Related: Onboarding flow, terminology changes, project browsing