Introduction

Audible, a leader in the audio industry, sought to expand beyond its vast selection of audiobooks by venturing into the sleep aid market. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company recognized the growing importance of mental well-being and identified a gap in the market for sleep-related audio content. This led to the birth of the Sleep project, an initiative aimed at creating a digital solution to help users develop healthier sleep behaviors. To bring this vision to life, Audible partnered with I&Co, a Brooklyn-based design studio, to design and prototype a mobile application dedicated to sleep-related audio content.

My Role and Responsibilities

As the UX Lead for this project, I was responsible for developing the user experience design direction for the application. I worked closely with a team of 15 designers and product strategists to conduct UX research, brainstorm ideas, and create a functional and aesthetically pleasing prototype. My role involved overseeing the creation of wireframes, defining key interactions, and ensuring the design aligned with Audible's brand and user needs. Despite the fast-paced nature of the project, our team was able to deliver exceptional results that exceeded the client's expectations.

Research

The project began with a lean yet focused UX research phase. Understanding the user's needs and the subject matter was crucial to developing an effective solution. Our team collaborated with sleep specialists and scientists to gain insights into the problem space. Additionally, Audible provided significant market research that we leveraged to inform our design decisions.

We created personas to represent different user types, focusing on their online behaviors, digital habits, and most importantly, their sleep patterns and behaviors. These personas guided our design process, ensuring that we addressed the needs and pain points of our target users.

Ideation and Design Process

Architecture: We started by establishing a high-level application architecture, considering both enrolled members and first-time users. We created flow diagrams and wireframes to outline the sign-up/sign-in process and divided the application into three key territories: Home, Browse, and Profile.

Home: This territory served as a springboard environment, providing users with access to an array of cards that offered shortcuts to various audio content and required actions. Users could set up their experience by self-reporting their mood forecast status and specifying their bedtime and rise time to create a daily sleep session.

Browse: This area allowed users to explore a comprehensive library of sleep-related audio content and generate unique sleep sessions based on their interests.

Profile: This section enabled users to adjust and manage their settings, including personal information, payment details, and preferences.

Card System: The in-app card system was a crucial aspect of the user experience, designed to provide users with quick access to different territories within the app and highlight featured and trending audio content. The UX team worked closely with the Visual Design team to ensure that the cards were not only visually appealing but also provided users with the contextual information needed to make informed decisions.

Card Behaviors: We invested significant time in defining the various types of cards and their associated content. We established the logic for how the cards would behave and interact with each other, including how they would resolve upon tap and the navigation system for moving between cards. Ultimately, we implemented a carousel interaction to allow users to seamlessly navigate through the cards.

Bedtime and Rise Time: Generating a custom sleep session began with users specifying their expected bedtime and rise time. This information was used to create personalized sleep sessions. Recognizing that users' schedules could fluctuate, we designed the application to allow daily adjustments to bedtime and rise time settings, ensuring each night's sleep session was tailored to the user's current needs.

Mood Forecast: The "Mood Forecast" feature allowed users to self-report their expected mood for the current or following day, enabling the creation of personalized sleep sessions. Users could choose from a fixed array of mood options such as Stressful, Busy, Active, Mellow, and Quiet. This information was used to generate dynamic sleep sessions that supported users' anticipated states.

Defining Player Actions: I focused on developing the audio and sleep session player, defining the necessary actions and information for each state. This included in-app play, lock screen play, and the modalities of Fall Asleep, Stay Asleep, and Rise. Key actions included Play/Pause, Next, End/Close Player, Complete Session, Replay, Scrub, and Volume. We identified the information to display at different points, such as Playback Progress, Track Duration, Track Name, Session Name, Category Name, Visuals, and Cover Art.

Player Design: High-fidelity wireframes were created to design the key player states. The player was designed to be minimalistic, enabling users to interact with it only twice during a successful sleep session: to start and stop the session. The player featured simple controls for play, pause, stop, and track skipping, along with an ambient calming visualization. When users became inactive, the controls would disappear, transitioning the device to lock screen player mode.

Lock Screen Player: The lock screen player allowed users to control the sleep session with limited options. Essential controls were included in the lock screen player menu button, enabling users to end the session directly from the lock screen.

Testing and Validation

After developing the prototype, we conducted extensive testing to ensure it met user needs and expectations. We performed usability testing with potential users to gather feedback on the application's functionality, design, and overall user experience. This feedback was invaluable in identifying areas for improvement and refining the design.

We also collaborated closely with Audible's internal team to validate our design decisions and ensure alignment with their brand and business goals. Their insights helped us fine-tune the prototype and address any issues before moving to the final design and implementation phase.

Final Design and Implementation

The final design of the Sleep application was a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team. The application featured a user-friendly interface, intuitive navigation, and personalized sleep sessions that catered to users' individual needs. The card system, mood forecast feature, and minimalistic player design all contributed to a seamless and engaging user experience.

Our collaboration with Audible's design and development teams ensured that the final product was not only visually appealing but also technically feasible. The integration of sleep-related audio content into the primary Audible application helped reinforce the brand and provide users with a cohesive experience.