SOCIAL INTERACTION | SOUNDCLOUD RE-DESIGN

For the Social Interaction course (Maatschappij en Interactie), my partner and I chose SoundCloud as the focus of our case study. The course emphasizes behavioral design and influence, encouraging us to explore the boundaries between helping, persuading, and influencing users. We were tasked with analyzing a real-world issue within an app, gathering source material, and providing redesign recommendations using theories such as the Fogg Behavior Model and Cialdini’s principles of influence.

SoundCloud is a platform that allows users to discover, share, and stream music from emerging and established artists. However, through our analysis, we identified a significant issue: users struggle with content discovery and engagement. While SoundCloud offers a vast library of music, its interface can overwhelm users, and its recommendation system often fails to align with their preferences. This leads to frustration, reduced engagement, and even abandonment of the platform.

Using the Fogg Behavior Model and Cialdini’s principles of influence, we proposed redesigns to improve the user experience:

Personalized Recommendations A smarter algorithm to suggest music based on user preferences.

Gamification Rewards for exploring new genres to boost motivation.

Simplified Discovery Easy-to-navigate filters and curated playlists.

Meaningful Notifications Updates only for significant events, reducing distractions.

This project has given us insight into how behavioral psychology can be applied to technology design. By focusing on user motivation, ability, and triggers, and leveraging the principles of influence, we crafted a set of recommendations to enhance the user experience on SoundCloud. Our redesign aims to make the app more intuitive, engaging, and rewarding for users, ultimately aligning with Tristan Harris’s vision of creating technology that respects and enriches human values.

You can check out the case analysis here

Link to redesigned ui screens here