EDM Dj / SMX DJ
Beat Mixing Mobile Apps
A Tale of Two DJ
Apps and the lean
startup method that changed everything.
Beats Rule Everything Around Me
CLIENT
ShapeMix, LLC
INDUSTRY
Music & Entertainment
DURATION
18 months
MY ROLE
Branding
IA
UX Research
UX Design
UI/ Visual Design
TEAM
Design: Jen Sepso
Dev: Paval Murnikov
[Overview] How it All Began
PHASE 1: EDM DJ
“Anyone can be a DJ.” ....but can they really?
The guys over at ShapeMix thought so. And they wanted to make this statement a reality. They approached me with an app idea which they called "EDM DJ." The function of the app would give users the ability to create electronic beats without any prior technical experience. Ideally, anyone could make their own mixes using loops stored in the application. The key aspect of the app would be its interface— the client wanted it to be simple, clean and intuitive. They wanted to transform the daunting nature of music production into a universally accessible experience.
WHAT REAL DJs DO
The most recent advancement in DJ technology over the last few years has been the implementation of a software called Serato. In fact it is the dominant program that DJs now use in lieu of carrying crates of records. Serato can store a database of song selections, and makes the mixing aspect of DJing digital.
However, it is imperative for someone to have a comprehensive understanding of the hardware in order to make good use of Serato, which itself does not boast the most intuitive interface. The standard set-up of a DJ is two turntables, a mixer and speakers. Serato is an addition in facilitating the process of mixing but an amateur without the equipment and the knowledge base of DJing would not be able to operate the program.
Therefore, EDM DJ was never conceived as a means to replace Serato. Serato is not an app, nor is it user friendly. It’s extensive capabilities require significant time to learn and employ. EDM DJ would diminish the intimidation of making music by traditional means and make it accessible to any amateur. But it was never built for the creative artistry that could be accomplished with real DJ equipment. EDM DJ was never going to be built as a viable competitor to Serato, or any other comprehensive DJ software that exists. (For more information on Serato, DJ A-Trak does a good job of providing it here.)
WHAT EDM DJ COULD DO
EDM DJ would focus solely on beatmixing, the industry term for mixing the tempos of two or more songs or sound samples. Beatmixing was originally developed to keep dancers on the dance floor and maintain a seamless transition between songs. It evolved in EDM and house music to involve generating new music all together.
EDM DJ would offer a user the capability of making new beats— an original looping soundbite— by granting the user access to its library of existing beat samples. It would automate all the actionable facets of DJing and allow for automatic mixing. The app would provide a Beats Per Minute counter for beat matching, automatic mixing, and key detection, which simplifies harmonic mixing. Despite the simplicity of its interface, EDM DJ implemented a series of complex algorithms to imitate equalization, attention to phrasing and track selection in order to make a single mix that flows together and has a good structure. The library of built in sound would be an acquired selection of existing sound samples.
SMX DJ: AN EVOLVED VERSION OF EDM DJ
In fact, EDM DJ was the preliminary stage toward developing the more robust application, SMX DJ, which would integrate social media and the ability for users to post their beats on their Facebook wall. EDM DJ would be designed and developed quickly, parring down any unnecessary elements and provide users with a simple, intuitive interface and SMX would follow, adapting the functionality of EDM DJ whilst discarding any component that had failed.
The longterm objectives of SMX were as follows; increase the number of users, create a community akin to a veritable combination of Soundcloud and Facebook, and essentially becoming a hub for beatmixing for the layperson.
Consequently, the design, development and execution of these innovative apps in their respective phases ended up becoming quite an educational experience for both the client and myself.
[Target Audience] Potential Players
ShapeMix was interested in targeting several groups:
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Primarily non professional DJ music enthusiasts.
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Fans of EDM, Trap, dubstep, electro house, moombahton with the passion to make music but without the time/patience/resources to follow the traditional path of learning/training to become a DJ
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DJs who are interested in working within the restricted boundaries/constraints of the app, as a personal challenge to see what they can make, how creative they can be. This is not unlike following the creative structure of poetry, ie haiku, in order to coerce highly creative material inspired by boundaries, structure and form.
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Social media early adopters
[Proposed Solution] A Methodology
AGILE OR LEAN OR....BOTH?
Agile and lean are fancy words thrown around constantly in work environments. However, they are quite distinct in methodology, and have been around for some time. Primarily used in software development, each represent a set of principles with different intentions.
Agile: A development process that emphasizes short iterations and focuses on the delivery of functional software. The key concern is to avoid creating a product that doesn't work. The product is tested against its users.
Lean: A process framework with the objective to minimize risk and excess waste but also maximizing customer value. Its principle is to optimally build a better product with no waste. The product is tested against the market.
Each method involves much more detail and complexity but these were the basic tenants that were outlined by the Shapemix guys in the project brief. They encouraged me to read the Lean Startup by Eric Ries and, lo and behold, he coined the term Lean Startup to describe a combination of agile and lean with customer development.
Lean Startup: A combination of agile development iterations with lean validation practices. The key concern is to avoid creating a product that people don't need. The steps involved in this method begin with finding a problem worth solving first, then building a business model around it. It's main tenet is to ”Work Smarter, not Harder.”
The lean startup methodology was what we employed throughout the duration of the two projects. EDM DJ began as our Minimum Viable Product (MVP) which was developed and built upon to measure against the market. Consistent validation and iterations are based on actionable metrics that are based on cause and effect questions about the product. This cycle of build-measure-learn promotes adaptability and flexibility in testing for growth, and pivoting when necessary.
From the Lean Startup by Eric Ries
The Build-Measure-Learn approach would not be appropriate for all projects, especially a project that demands a low rate of failure and that has been successfully completed many times before. For example, this methodology would never have worked for the amfAR project. Lean Startup principles best suit fast-changing, high-risk environments, where research is difficult to conduct and customers are unclear about their needs.
Combining methodologies drastically reduces the risk of product failure. The ideal product development process would also include Design Thinking and Agile.
Design Thinking: Empathize, Define and Ideate
Lean Startup: Turn ideas into business models
Agile: Build and deliver the product incrementally and faster
(Hint:This was what we did)
[Process] Getting Things Done
PHASE 1: EDM DJ
After some failed attempts at competitive research, I tackled EDM DJ with little to no reference. Other DJ themed apps that existed at the time were few and far in between (believe it or not), and the ones that did exist were confusing or did not offer the control in adjusting audio options or providing the user with original music.
This required some brainstorming. I knew that what I wanted to design would be similar to an electronic light game that I used to play with my sister as kids. It was called Simon, a 1970s game of memory— lighting up certain colors and sounds in a particular order, then prompting the player to repeat the pattern. The buttons were big and the whole interface was just that, buttons. Nothing else.
So I studied up on the educational toys that are marketed to babies and toddlers. When newly sentient babies and toddlers are at the stage of developing their faculties, such as touching and hitting, responding to external cues, as well as recognizing shapes, colors, sounds, there are plenty of toys that help this process along. Activity stations also provide noise and music— even the stand up ones that you can leave toddlers in— they are like little DJs themselves, operating music. (See Fig. 01)
How did this lead to the design of the EDM DJ interface? I identified specifications that the app would need in order to be intuitive and compared them to the functionalities of activity stations.
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Simple, intuitive interface
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Repetitive, predictable actions
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Bright colors, visual indicators of behaviors, once called into action
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An interface that anyone can figure out with little or no knowledge of any music app or platform
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Therefore learning curve would be incredibly shallow learning curve
Pavel, the developer, and I knew that we wanted the app to be limited to two screens, the first one being the splash screen. So with that objective in mind, I made a few rough paper sketches, which looked like a bunch of circles. I took it to photoshop to flesh out the design and added in more color. Pavel was able to help me clarify any discrepancies in my design that would not correlate to his build out. Throughout the build out of EDM DJ and SMX, there was consistent back and forth communication, which was key in executing a shippable product.
The basic idea of EDM DJ is that the sounds are placed on a grid. Once a sound has been activated, a glowy ring will start to run its circumference. The ring would move in tandem with the BPM, the speed of the sound. Sounds can be deactivated just as easily, with a tap of a button. A play button would allow for a play back of the beat recorded. The recording would occur upon the launch of the program, accompanied by a pause button to suspend the playback.(See Fig. 02)
To make the app as dummy proof as possible, I design a series of walkthrough screens that would only show up after opening up the app the first time upon download. (See Fig. 03)
Fig.02 EDM DJ Screen 2
Fig.03 EDM DJ introductory walkthrough
PHASE 2: SMX DJ
When a modest number of downloads resulted from the launch on the App Store, the rest of the team decided this would be enough validation to go ahead and move forward with it's planned successor, SMX DJ.
SMX DJ would maintain the same premise as EDM DJ but more robust. It would include the following:
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More beats to choose from
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The ability to save songs
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The ability to share songs on facebook
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The formation of a user base community where songs are charted and tracked, based on social media activity. This community would ideally encourage interaction and renewed interest, and eventually a social past-time.
I looked to Soundcloud, Spotify, Youtube and other media platforms for inspiration and to identify patterns that seemed to be successful. I also looked at Twitter because of how tweets are pushed to the front using hashtags as well as how new content is consistently refreshed. I also looked at gaming interfaces like guitar hero and rockstar as well.
I sketched out screens that would integrate the functionality determined in EDM DJ, but with the added elements above.
In order to keep the app as intuitive as possible while maintaining user engagement, it was necessary to simplify any extraneous screens down to four core screens, not including the splash intro screen upon opening the app. In this sense, users could flip between all screens to familiarize themselves with the app, without having strayed too far from the task at hand— creating music.
The music creation page used both audio and visual cues to aid the user during the process of making music. Each looped beat was simplified to a series of blocks that animate upon touch. This animation mimicked the same tempo of the chosen beat so users could visually assess the beat loop when matching it up with another.
Once the musical track was completed, the user would then be prompted to share the finished product on Facebook. This seamless integration between Facebook and the app enabled users to access the app with ease and connect with others in the SMX community. Users were also encouraged to rate their peers while their own popularity would be tracked. This feature, in addition to other analytics, could be accessed in the user’s profile page.
The final stage of the project involved creating a responsive product promotion website, designed to highlight the application, its features, and a call to action to register for news and updates for email collection/future marketing campaigns. It was pretty rad, if I do say so myself.
[Constraints] Problems Arise
We ran into a few stumbling blocks during the development of both apps. The few that plagued EDM DJ seemed minor until they were moved over to SMX DJ. These constraints just grew in proportion to the size of the project. We should have known better instead of banking on the chance that the issues would be moot once the new app was rolled out.
Re EDM
During this period, a major facelift on IOS apple occurred so the initial designs of EDM DJ were dated and app did not work. However, the redesign was difficult to view on older screens/phones. As a consequence, some later app updates actually scaled back on the design. Thankfully, they were reintegrated shortly thereafter.
Re EDM and SMX
Most beats/sound bites had to be original non-proprietary content for legal purposes. It was difficult to obtain a variety of different sounds/beats/effects without a DJ or in house musician or music producer to create sounds specifically for the app. This project did not originally budget for original music generation or the procurement of licenses to utilize existing material.
We managed to obtain a modest number of open license sounds and integrated them into the app. It soon became evident that the addition of these clips would overload the processing system of the app. In short, the more the sound clips, the slower the app would operate. This negatively affected the visual effect of the app and the sound in synchronicity. Our solution was to encourage users to download beats (as needed) on their own because those beats would be stored on their local device versus on the app. We added in some pop-up warnings to address the speed of the app's processing if it was notably lagging.
Re SMX
SMX requires you to sign up to Facebook if you want to save any of the beats you’ve made. This requirement strong-armed users into sharing their generated content, even if they were not comfortable in doing so.
Also, people were not inclined to share their Facebook information in order to link the apps together. At the time, registering on external platforms with an existing Facebook login was a new process, and its rarity made users hesitant to connect their personal information, regardless of its convenience.
Unfortunately, the absence of a marketing strategy upon launch likely served to be the apps' greatest downfall. There was no press release, social media campaign or advertising strategy created to promote the launch.
[Results + Reflections] End Notes
Without any marketing or promotion (aside from the promo website that was quickly put together), SMX predictably did not take off. Issues with music acquisition and the kinds of sounds that were acquired were not inline with popular EDM music at the time either.
However, that being said, EDM DJ organically gained some traction on its own. This is likely due to the easily searchable keywords that would propel the app to the top of the results list upon a general app store search. The simplicity of the interface and lack of requirement in provide any personal information also contributed to its download numbers.
After a valiant attempt with SMX DJ, we concluded that social media integration was not at the point where cross-platform sharing could be a seamless process. And perhaps, when it comes to creating music, it’s too personal of an endeavor, and one that not everyone would be willing to share with their network. But if they did not link their social with the resulting product, they would not be able to save their creation and store it on their device. It was quite an ultimatum and one that I was personally opposed to during the development phase. Users like choices and flexibility. The more features that were added, the more complicated the app became, and the more complex the processes involved were to troubleshoot.
Unless the app is an extension of a platform that is already widely used, most users will not bother to learn a new app. If it requires social media and they do not have their own group/network linked in, whats the point? Thus, when it comes to developing an app, perhaps it would be more effective to perfect its unique function, and the product should remain distilled to only that, without any other add-ons. As well, not everything digital necessitates social media integration.