AI Radio
AI Radio is an app that allows users to create their own personalized AI-generated custom radio stations. Users can design their AI-powered radio hosts for news and banter and utilize AI to generate custom playlists according to their preferences.
Duration: 1 Month
Project Overview
The Problem
Users become bored with their listening choices and seek alternative entertainment sources throughout the day.
Streaming music lacks the playful personality and diversion of radio, as it lacks on-air personalities to provide context, banter, and insights.
Radio stations lack variety beyond their stated genre limiting options for niche or complex musical tastes. Content is repetitive, featuring trending songs and established playlists.
The Goal
- Provide users with a platform to custom-create their own radio stations.
- Enhance the listening experience with bespoke AI on-air personalities for news and banter.
- Curate unique and personalized music playlists using AI based on user preferences.
My Role
UX Designer and Researcher designing a AI Powered Radio app from concept to delivery.
Responsibilities
- User Research: Conducting interviews and usability studies
- Wireframing: Paper and Digital
- Prototyping: Low and High Fidelity
- Accounting for accessibility
- Iterating on Designs
Design Process
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Design
Test
Brainstorming The Initial Concept
Concept:
Design a consumer-level product that incorporates AI as a key feature.
Purpose:
Create a consumer-friendly product to make AI more approachable and alleviate the existential fears many people have about AI. Highlight the benefits, usefulness, and empowering aspects of AI.
Origins:
Project was inspired by observations of independent authors, as part of another research project, who fear AI’s impact on their industry but appreciate its ability to help them create book covers and graphics without needing professional artists. AI is often viewed as a threat to jobs, yet is celebrated when it provides cost-saving benefits.
Initial Concept Ideas:
- Personal Assistant/Therapist: Similar to the concept in the movie “Her”.
- Personal Trainer: An advanced version of WiiFit or Peloton for exercise classes.
- Upscaled Siri: Enhanced with more personality and flexibility.
- Entertainment Center: Creates personalized playlists for music, videos, audiobooks, and podcasts.
- Radio with AI: Personalized playlists, news, and on-air personalities.
Selected Idea: AI Radio
A number or reasons made AI Radio stand out as the prefered choice.
- Feasibility: Can be built with currently available technologies combining features like playlists, Audible storytelling, and newsfeeds.
- User Empowerment: The app allows users to create their own hosts, playlists, and newscast formats. By giving the user this control it succeeds in reducing the fear that AI has too much control, showcasing it more like a helpful assistant.
- Familiarity: Radio is a familiar and easy-to-understand product for casual users, making adoption easier. Everyone knows what to expect from a radio station.
Corporate Benefits For AI Radio:
- Showcases Companies AI capabilities.
- Eases public fears about AI to help with increased adoptability of the technology.
- Provides training for casual users on the use of AI.
Monetization Potential For AI Radio:
- Radio: On-air product placement, advertisements, and sponsorships.
- Features: Subscription plans with tiered access (Free, Silver, Gold, Premium).
- Marketplace: Purchasable and sponsored skins, as well as other features.
This approach aims to present AI in a familiar, user-friendly format, emphasizing its practical benefits and accessibility while addressing common fears.
User Research
Summary
The objective was to understand how users felt about radio, particularly in its role in enhancing their daily experiences. The aim was to identify user needs, pain points, and potential features to enhance the listening experience.
A mixed-method approach to the research was employed, combining personal interviews and online exploration. Participants and online sources represented diverse demographics to ensure a comprehensive understanding from various perspectives.
Research Questions
Sampling:
- What motivates you to use radio apps?
- What do you look for in a radio app?
- Are there any specific features or sections that you find difficult to use?
- Are there any specific types of content you feel are missing or overlooked?
- How important is the ability to customize and personalize your radio experience?
- What customization options do you find most useful?
- What do you like most about using a radio app?
- What do you like least about a radio app?
- Is there anything else you would like to share about your experience with radio apps?
- Do you have any suggestions for features or changes that would enrich your experience?
Pain Points
Lack of variety on the radio station
Most radio stations lack variety outside their stated genre in both their music selection and on-air personalities. Most focus on a single genre such as top 40, rock, or country amongst other established types. This leaves little room for niche musical tastes or complex musical tastes. The content tends to be repetitive, focusing on the top trending songs mixed with an established playlist that changes little.
Incompatability with on-air personalities
Radio hosts often maintain consistent moods and personalities tailored to the desired atmosphere of the radio station and time slot. If the personality of the on air talent is unappealing listeners have few options short of changing to a different station. Otherwise change typically only occurs only when a new crew takes over that time slot.
Streaming music lacks personality
Streaming music lacks the playful chaotic personality and diversion that radio offers. Without on-air personalities to deliver context, banter, and insights, users may become bored over time and seek replacement sources of entertainment as the day progresses.
Personas
Persona 1 – Leila
Problem statement: Leila works in tourism and hospitality who needs diverse audio entertainment because she is a complex and nuanced woman.
Leila
Age: 26
Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Hospitality
Location: Vancouver, BC
Family: Single
Occupation: Tourism and hospitality worker
“Radio stations play the same mainstream hits repeatedly, lacking depth and diversity.”
Goals
- To be able to listen to unique entertainment.
- To enjoy news and banter that represents her personal beliefs.
- To have more control over the music and information she listens to.
Frustrations
- Most radio stations in focus on mainstream genres and popular hits, neglecting niche music genres and indi artists
- The same trending songs repeated frequently for weeks at a time.
- Ordering can be difficult if it’s too noisy from people and traffic.
- Streaming lacks the human touch and feels soulless.
Leila is a sophisticated woman who enjoys exploring life. At work, she happily encounters a diverse array of people from around the world. She values creativity, authenticity, and diversity, especially in her music choices. Unfortunately, she finds herself dissatisfied with the variety of radio stations and on-air personalities available in Vancouver.
Persona 2 – Grace
Problem statement: Grace, an event coordinator, needs to shift her listening choices because she works evenings and has a different schedule to what regular radio caters to.
Grace
Age: 32
Education: Bachelor of Business Administration
Location: Vancouver, BC
Family: Married
Occupation: Event Coordinator
“Finding the right radio station to keep me company during late-night shifts can be a challenge, my 1 AM is everyone elses 5PM.”
Goals
- To enjoy varied and engaging content to keep her entertained during late work nights.
- To enjoy the sense of connection and companionship that radio provides, but in a style she finds representative of who she is.
- To catch up on the days events during the journey home at the end of the work day no matter what time it is.
Frustrations
- Late night radio usually doesn’t match her current energy levels
- Hard to find on-air personalities that speak to or represent her essence.
- Late night radio banter feels out of place for how she feels while working and driving home.
Grace is creative, detail-oriented, and sociable. She enjoys discovering new music and connecting with people from diverse backgrounds. At work, she is always striving to create memorable experiences for her clients and guests. During quiet times, when she has to focus on administrative duties, she likes to listen to great music and engaging content to make those long hours pass enjoyably.
Journey Map
Goal: To find engaging and entertaining radio when and where it’s wanted.
Competitive Analysis
Competitors
The bulk of the competitor research focused on the following areas: music apps, AI-generated playlist apps, radio station scheduling, relationship apps, AI text-to-speech, weather apps, and a variety of other types of apps.
In the study, the music and radio apps used included: Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Google Play Music, Simple Radio, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Podcast Addict, among others.
The main area of research for selecting avatars for on-air personalities were dating and relationship apps, as they excelled in efficiently matching users to online profiles. The key apps were: Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish, Hinge, eHarmony, amongst other relationship apps.
Results & Recommendations
When working with AI in these early days, it’s important to give users a sense of control over the program. People need to feel they are “in the loop” or at least “on the loop” of the app’s decision making process. Once users have a sense of control, they can feel comfortable letting the app make the necessary decisions to curate a well rounded and adaptive listening experience.
From the many features built into the various apps researched, selected and adapted were those that best:
- Provided users with a sense of control over their entertainment.
- Allowed for customized and adaptive music playlists.
- Created personalized and adaptive news feeds.
- Simplified the process of selecting representative and personalized avatars.
Starting the Design
Paper Wireframes
Wireframe Testing
User Flows
Avatar AI Generation
News Preferences To AI Audio Broadcast
Usability Study: Findings
After several design iterations, testers were able to smoothly navigate the app’s key functions. By using standard navigation prompts users were able to make the connections to change the avatars, and access the news and music customization functions.
Features
Main Page
- Name of time slot and main announcer
- Currently playing
- Presenters for time slot. Main plus news
- News time slots
- Upcoming music
Select Avatar
Stock avatars should lean more towards cartoonish than hyperrealistic to avoid the uncanny valley problem.
- Search
- Filter. Recommended, new, trending, etc.
- Prepackaged avatars/announcers
- Link to “more” within category
Avatar Card
- Avatar image
- Audio sample
- Character profile
Avatar AI Generator
- Prompt box
- Voice prompt
- Examples of common prompts
Daily Schedule
- Day of week schedule
- Time slot
- Scheduled events in slot
- Schedule edit
News Preferences
- News type card
- Time slot selection
- Triple dot edit
- On/Off for news type
Sports Preferences
- Days on/off
- Time slots on/off
- Prefered genres
- Add/remove selected topics
Playlist AI Generator
- Title for playlist
- Add tags based on genres, moods and decades
- Preferred genres, moods, and decades
- Add detailed prompts
- Audio input
- Select number of tracks to add to playlist
Previews
These pages serve as previews of the music, news, and weather information that will be incorporated into the broadcasts. They allow users to browse through this information when they are not actively listening to the broadcast or just want to skip ahead.
Skins
Custom skins enhance the user experience and foster a sense of personal ownership.
- Included with app
- User created
- Sponsored or branded skins
- Purchased through a marketplace
Monitization
Initial concepts
- Broadcast Advertising: Integrating advertisements and product placement into the broadcasts.
- In-App Advertising: Displaying ads within the app interface.
- Sponsorship and Branded Content: Partnering with companies or brands for sponsored content, such as sponsored playlists, shows, or segments.
- Subscription Services: Offering premium features or ad-free listening through subscription packages.
- In-App Purchases: Providing virtual goods, or additional features for purchase within the app.
- Marketplace: Custom skins designed by users and sold through an online marketplace.
- Affiliate Marketing: Promoting relevant products or services through affiliate links.
- Data Monetization: Aggregating and anonymizing user data for monetization purposes.
The Design
Typography & Colors
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High-fidelity Mockups
Going Forward
Takeaways
By combining the best features of radio and music streaming with unprecedented user customization and an AI backbone, users have a product that is intuitive, adaptive, informative, and entertaining, suitable for use throughout their entire day.
Next Steps
Build prototype
The next step involves constructing a functional prototype that incorporates the essential features outlined in this study.
Conduct research
Perform targeted research with a select user group using the functional prototype.
Iterate based on performance metrics
Refine and enhance the radio app based on the user research findings, aiming for a finalized and launch-ready version of the app.