Renaissance app with streaming screen, upcoming streaming parties are outside of the app

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Style guide for the Renaissance app with red and blue colours and modals

Rethinking the
Renaissance experience

Did you know 61 million Spotify users are not consider music fans but music super fans?

Despite this, there isn’t a dedicated place for fans to connect to one another, or their favourite artists. This leaves fans spread out across forums, social networks and fragmented fan clubs.

A disconnect plug with fans and music artists on each side, showing a disconnect

Renaissance had a mission:

Create a community where music artists and their fans can connect and grow together.

Our app was aimed at under 30s—meaning we could tap into 264 million Spotify listeners. We designed gamified features like challenges, leaderboards, and streaming parties to tap into how they connect through music.

In my 2 years at Renaissance the organic downloads of the app went from 380k to over 790k, with no marketing spend.

After 90 days, 47% of our users actively used the app and the daily usage time increased from 19 minutes to 21 minutes.

Create a community where music artists and their fans can connect and grow together.

After 90 days, 47% of our users actively used the app and the daily usage time increased from 19 minutes to 21 minutes.

Create a community where music artists and their fans can connect and grow together.

Our app was aimed at users under 30, aligning with key audience insights. With 264 million Spotify listeners in this age group and 18-24s being the most active on social media, they were the most likely to engage with gamified experiences.

In my 2 years at Renaissance the organic downloads of the app went from 380k to over 790k, with no marketing spend.

After 90 days, 47% of our users actively used the app and the daily usage time increased from 19 minutes to 21 minutes.

A tiny team with big ambitions

Despite being a tiny team of 8, what we didn’t lack was passion, design thinking, or team collaboration.

I was the sole designer on the team and redesigned both of their products (music app and internal dashboard), implemented several new features, designed their webapp and redesigned their website.

Despite being a tiny team of 8, what we didn’t lack was passion, design thinking, or team collaboration.

I was the sole designer on the team and redesigned both of their products (music app and internal dashboard), implemented several new features, designed their webapp and redesigned their website.

Despite being a tiny team of 8, what we didn’t lack was passion, design thinking, or team collaboration.

I was the sole designer on the team and redesigned both of their products (music app and internal dashboard), implemented several new features, designed their webapp and redesigned their website.

The App redesign

The main purpose of this redesign was to elevate features users already loved and improve the look and feel of the app overall.

This involved extensive strategy and discovery research in order to understand what issues the app was currently facing and decide on how we wanted to move forward.

The main purpose of this redesign was to elevate features users already loved and improve the look and feel of the app overall.

This involved extensive strategy and discovery research in order to understand what issues the app was currently facing and decide on how we wanted to move forward.

Timeframe:

4 months from discovery research to hand-off

Tools:

Figma, Procreate, Miro, Maze

Timeframe:

4 months from discovery research to hand-off

Tools:

Figma, Procreate, Miro, Maze

Timeframe:
4 months from discovery research to hand-off

Tools:
Figma, Procreate, Miro, Maze

Uncovering Usability Issues

To improve the app, I needed to uncover what frustrated users, including pain points, accessibility issues, and areas for growth.

To do this, I conducted a heuristic evaluation, analyzed key stats, and explored how competitors tackled similar challenges.

It was clear some of the main issues to focus on were;

- The structure of the app
- The language used
- Features needed more value for users

There was a disconnect between how our target demographic (teens) communicate and the tone in the app.

This created friction rather than a fun, gamified experience.

There was a disconnect between how our target demographic (teens) communicate and the tone in the app.

This created friction rather than a fun, gamified experience.

There was a disconnect between how our target demographic (teens) communicate and the tone in the app.

This created friction rather than a fun, gamified experience.

Wireframing & prototyping

Next, it was time to brainstorm and sketch out ideas! I developed initial wireframes and low-fidelity prototypes before gathering feedback from the team.

App sketches of key screens like the homepage

A key change made: I moved the profile menu to the top bar and added an earnings & rewards section to the bottom nav. Since earning rewards is key for users and the business, using a familiar UX pattern was essential.

Testing & Incorporating feedback

I conducted a mixed-method survey which received 70 responses.

The survey contained a series of questions related to the new features and a preference test comparing 2 versions of the same screen.

The responses from the usability study reassured us that despite a few small changes needed, users really liked the redesign.

I conducted a mixed-method survey which received 70 responses.

The survey contained a series of questions related to the new features and a preference test comparing 2 versions of the same screen.

The responses from the usability study reassured us that despite a few small changes needed, users really liked the redesign.

I conducted a mixed-method survey which received 70 responses.

The survey contained a series of questions related to the new features and a preference test comparing 2 versions of the same screen.

The responses from the usability study reassured us that despite a few small changes needed, users really liked the redesign.

UI Redesign

Next, I focused on the UI overhaul, drawing inspiration from other music apps.

While choosing colours, typography, buttons, and other UI elements, I followed W3C accessibility standards, kept the Renaissance brand in mind, and considered Spotify’s guidelines for components with their content.

Finally, I created a style guide, design system and promotional graphics for social media.

Next, I focused on the UI overhaul, drawing inspiration from other music apps.

Finally, I created a style guide, design system and promotional graphics for social media.

Mood board featuring other music apps, colour and typeface inspiration

Summary

I absolutely loved redesigning the Renaissance app! It was great to work with such an amazing team on something that people care about so much.

Positive reviews from Renaissance fans across X and Instagram

It was great to see ways that we could improve the app even further too, and have since tested and designed multiple features such as; virtual festivals, premium profile & a social media feed.

Final design

Streaming Party

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