Transforming Spotify: A Case for Inclusive Podcast Features
Project Type: Proof of Concept
Timeline: Q3 2023
My Role: Researcher, UX/UI Designer, Accessibility Specialist
Target Users: Spotify Users, Podcast Listeners, Caption Users, Users with Disabilities
Disclaimer: This project was done independently in 2023 before Spotify launched a similar feature. This study offers useful insights into designing these features and emphasizes the need for user-focused design to create a more inclusive digital landscape.
Project Background
In today's digital age, podcasts have become popular for entertainment, education, and news. However, for millions of individuals with disabilities, accessing and enjoying podcasts on platforms like Spotify remains a challenge.
Inspired by users’ suggestions for improved accessibility in the Spotify Community, I implemented features like closed captions and transcripts to address these challenges. My goal was to make Spotify's podcast platform more inclusive and enjoyable for a wider audience.
Exploring the Problem Space
Research & Learn
To gain a comprehensive understanding of podcast accessibility challenges and identify potential solutions for inclusivity on the Spotify platform, a mixed-methods research approach was conducted to gather insights from industry experts and real-world users. These included:
Secondary research to review existing literature on podcast accessibility, audio accessibility best practices, industry trends, various disabilities, and neurodevelopment conditions to establish a broader context.
Semi-structured user interviews with 6 participants, representing a diverse group of podcast listeners with varying experience levels and needs. While participants with hearing disabilities were not specifically targeted due to limited resources, the selection included individuals who were podcast listeners, caption users, and those with neurodiverse conditions.
Competitor analysis of competing platforms used by participants to identify industry trends and potential gaps in offerings.
Key Insights
Accessibility Gap & Industry Standards
Lack of consistent standards: The podcast industry lacks standardized accessibility guidelines and regulations, leading to inconsistent practices among producers. Many do not offer captions or transcripts due to cost.
Exclusion of users: The lack of captions and transcriptions creates significant accessibility barriers for millions of hard-of-hearing individuals.
Diverse User Needs
Diverse Preferences: Participants demonstrated various communication styles and learning preferences, highlighting the need for features that cater to individual needs.
Neurodiversity Considerations: Individuals with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD), Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), ADHD, and Autism have unique needs and challenges that require specialized accessibility features.
Language Barriers: Non-native speakers and language learners may struggle to understand complex narratives and cultural references without captions.
Challenges in Podcast Consumptions
Complex Narratives: Participants struggled to follow along with complex topics and retain information from long episodes.
Environmental Factors: Background noise, multitasking, and temporary impairments, such as not having headphones in a quiet place, hindered the listening experience.
Competitor Analysis
Not all of the research participants were regular Spotify users, with the majority preferring YouTube and Apple Podcasts due to their visual aspects and ease of use. To understand how Spotify compares to these competitors and identify areas for improvement, I conducted a brief competitor analysis to identify areas for improvement.
What users want…
Closed Captions
Participants consistently expressed a need for closed captions to enhance accessibility and understanding.
Transcripts
Transcripts were highly desired as they provided users with a written record of the podcast content, which was useful for those who wanted to review or share specific segments.
Improved Navigation
A more intuitive and user-friendly interface was desired, particularly for finding specific episodes, navigating through long playlists, and managing their podcast library.
Podcast Segmentation
A common request was to break down long episodes into smaller segments, making it easier for users to navigate and consume content at their own pace.
Exploring Potential Solutions
Planning & Development
Leveraging Existing Design Patterns
The first thing I did was evaluating current design patterns to determine strengths and weaknesses, and to maintain a familiar user experience. The 2 features that stood out and served as strong foundations:
Lyrics Feature
It is widely used and appreciated by users.
Users thought it was easy to find and interact with.
Podcast Transcript Feature
While some Spotify podcasts offered transcripts, a review of these transcripts revealed significant accessibility issues.
Auto-generated transcripts often contain inaccuracies, hindering their effectiveness for hard-of-hearing users. User interviews further confirmed this concern, as participants expressed dissatisfaction with auto-generated captions.
Transcripts lacked essential features such as speaker identification and interactive elements, limiting their usefulness for users who wanted to follow along or review specific segments.
Spotify Transcript
Spotify Lyrics
Early Sketches
To address the identified user needs and challenges, early solutions included:
Closed Captions: To enhance accessibility for users who are hard of hearing.
Transcripts: To provide users with a written record of the podcast content.
Translations: To make podcasts accessible to a wider global audience.
Chapters: To improve navigation and allow users to jump to specific segments easily.
Early sketches were created to visualize these features and explore potential interactions. This process helped identify the most impactful features and refine the design to meet user needs and expectations.
Feature Prioritization
Due to time and limited resources, and some features already existed within Spotify, I narrowed down two features I could implement based on identified user immediate needs and emerging themes.
Interactive Closed Captions
To enhance accessibility for users who are hard of hearing.
Interactive Transcripts
The goal is to provide users with a comprehensive written record of the podcast content.
Design Process
Design Iterations
Initial Design Exploration focused on exploring two distinct approaches for incorporating captions and transcripts
Accessing Captions
The initial designs looked at how users might access the Closed Captions.
The Scrolling Action followed the existing pattern within Spotify, which is similar to the Lyrics feature. Spotify users were already familiar with this action.
The CC Button was added to the player navigation, allowing users to tap and open the Captions. This feature followed a common design used in video formats.
Informal feedback was gathered from peers to gain initial insights and validate design decisions. Interestingly, non-Spotify users found the CC button more intuitive for accessing captions, while Spotify users preferred a scrolling option, emphasizing the importance of aligning design choices with existing user expectations.
[Exploration 1] Captions & Transcripts as Separate Features
This approach aimed to provide dedicated functionalities for each feature.
Captions were designed to enhance real-time listening by providing synchronized text, enabling users to follow and navigate the audio content easily.
Transcripts were envisioned as downloadable, shareable resources for users to review, analyze, or reference the podcast content at their convenience.
This separation aimed to cater to specific user needs and provide tailored experiences. However, several questions emerged regarding user behavior and potential interaction preferences, including the frequency of caption usage, the perceived value of transcripts, user awareness of the distinct functionalities, and the need for interactive features within transcripts.
[Exploration 2] Captions & Transcripts as a Combined Feature
This exploration focused on simplifying the user experience by integrating captions and transcripts into a single, interactive feature. The rationale behind this approach was to create a more intuitive and user-friendly experience by centralizing access to both functionalities.
However, this approach raised concerns about potential visual clutter on the screen, which could distract users. Questions arose regarding the feasibility of combining features without sacrificing usability, user preferences for combined versus separate features, and the prioritization of features if a combined approach proved impractical.
Sharing & Saving Functionalities
Additionally, exploration included the implementation of sharing and saving functionalities for both whole transcripts and segments. The goal was to provide users with flexible options for interacting with and sharing podcast content.
User Preferences
Preference Testing
A formal Preference Test was conducted with 7 Spotify users to gain deeper insights into user preferences. The participant group included 7 neurodivergent individuals and 1 hard of hearing individual, aligning with the project's goals of enhancing accessibility and inclusivity.
The testing revealed a clear preference for Exploration 2. Users appreciated the streamlined experience of having everything in one place. They intended to utilize the combined feature for various purposes, including reading at their own pace, saving content, sharing, and referencing specific segments. However, some users also voiced concerns about the potential for visual clutter with a combined interface.
Interestingly, user interactions, such as reading transcripts at their own pace and interacting with them independently from the podcast, aligned more with the goals initially associated with Exploration 1.
Prioritizing Separate Captions and Transcripts
While user preference tests initially favored Exploration 2, a deeper analysis of user goals and behaviors suggests that Exploration 1 is more aligned with user needs.
Key Considerations:
User Goals: Users expressed a desire for flexibility in reading transcripts at their own pace and interacting with them independently from the podcast. Separate features better accommodate these distinct use cases.
Interface Clarity: A combined interface can introduce visual clutter, potentially impacting user experience. Separate features provide a cleaner and more focused presentation.
Diverse Needs: The need for real-time listening support (Captions) and downloadable, shareable Transcripts for analysis and reference remains strong, regardless of interface preference.
Flexibility: Offering both options empowers users to choose the format that best suits their individual needs and preferences.
Future Development: Features like segment sharing and saving, while deferred, align better with separate Transcripts to avoid further visual clutter in a combined interface.
Task Flows
High Fidelity Wireframes
Evaluation & Impact
Usability Testing
A moderated usability test was conducted with 7 Spotify users to assess the effectiveness of the implemented features. The usability test included 4 tasks to determine the Podcast Transcripts feature's overall user experience, accessibility needs, and usefulness.
Locating Captions from Media Player
Share Podcast Transcripts
Save Podcast Transcripts
Locating Saved Transcripts from Library
Key Findings
Overall, users thought this feature was useful and very much needed. This feature would help with permanent and situational disabilities. Users said they would use this feature in the future as it would enhance their listening and learning experience.
While users generally had positive feedback, there were concerns brought up by the users regarding clearer visual cues and labeling. Users also requested additional features in the future, such as customizing text sizes, changing background colors, and selecting segments of podcast transcripts.
Revisions
Based on users’ feedback from usability testings, improving the visual communications such as clearer icons and labels were priotized.