Case Study

NPR: Research & prototyping for WQXR

Project Summary

FIRST THING

This UX case study for NPR aimed to improve its Jukeboxes streaming audio player, ensuring it provided a seamless and engaging experience for both casual and power listeners.

SECOND THING

The project focused on testing usability across desktop and mobile, identifying user expectations for live audio streaming, and incorporating insights from competitor platforms.

Problem Statement and Goals

Key metrics

The project explored user behaviors around audio streaming, identifying what users want—and don’t want—from a streaming player. Testing of the Jukeboxes prototype on desktop and mobile revealed confusion around terminology and navigation, making key features like switching streams, finding song details, and interacting with hosts unclear or underutilized. Competitor analysis also help to validate a intuitive UX.

40%

Of users struggled with switching between live streams.

68%

Of participants were confused by the term “live music stream,” often mistaking it for on-demand content like Spotify or YouTube.

35%

Improving navigation and terminology could lead to a 35% increase in user engagement

Insights

Problem

  • A wide ranging target audience age 35-65+ meant the ux/ui had to be intuitive

  • Terms like “Live Music Stream” were unclear, causing navigation issues.

  • Despite competitor features, users had little interest in social interaction while listening.

Solution

  • Clarify live audio terminology with more intuitive labels like "Station," "Channel," or "On Air."

  • Improve discoverability of the play button and live stream features across devices.

  • Offer more song and show details, including upcoming tracks and host information.

TO ACHIEVE THIS

  • Conduct A/B testing with participants over usertesting.com

  • Competitor Analysis

  • Design prototype, test, repeat

Goals

User Interiews

I conducted user interviews with our target audience, including casual and power listeners, and incorporated their feedback into the UX/UI.

Design Solution

I created lightweight UI prototypes for desktop and mobile, testing and iterating as needed.

Aligns With Stakeholder Priorities

I included UI elements that were mandated despite testing results to ensure alignment with the stakeholder’s vision.

Business Impact

Refining terminology and navigation could increase engagement and reduce confusion, making WNYC’s digital player more competitive.

Providing additional metadata (song info, playlists) could enhance listener retention and satisfaction.

Expanded market reach

Research

FIRST

I did a competitor analysis to evaluate why other platforms with streaming audio players dominate the market.

SECOND

I designed flows and wireframes. These were then turned into functional prototypes for desktop and mobile.

THIRD

I created a test plan and script to evaluate how users discover, interact with, and recall live streaming experiences.

FOURTH

Lastly, I conducted remote open ended testing via UserTesting.com.

Janet Fink

“I've listened to NPR on the radio for decades, and I want to stream it online too—but I just wish it were as easy as turning a dial.”

Design & Prototype

Customer feedback

I made prototypes with mobile first, being sure to include best practices in the layout, as well as the top asks from users and stakeholders:

  • More information about the song playing

  • More information about the stream/ show

  • Search

  • Ability to live comment / chat

  • See what songs are coming up next

Challenges: Technical Limitations

Content & Metadata Availability

  • Providing real-time stream, show, and song details, even when metadata is incomplete.

  • Curating on-demand content into playlists while keeping the experience intuitive.

Feature Implementation & Scalability

  • Developing a “Follow” feature that scales with user preferences and notifications.

  • Adding “Favorite” or “Like” options without cluttering the UX /UI.

Community & Engagement

  • Enabling social features (comments, sharing, groups) without disrupting passive listening.

  • Ensuring secure implementation of social media APIs to prevent malware vulnerabilities.

&#@*!

Team Challenges

A challenge arose when stakeholders pushed for a prominent live chat feature, believing it would boost engagement, but testing showed users preferred passive listening.

I conducted additional user interviews and presented data showing 75% of listeners didn’t want real-time interaction. Engineers also flagged moderation risks and increased load times.

We compromised by replacing live chat with a “Follow” and “Like” feature, preserving engagement without disrupting listening. The gateway integration was added to the tech roadmap for a phased, controlled rollout.

Solution

Results So Far

There has been increased user engagement, new followers via digital media, and stakeholder satisfaction with the "Follow" and "Like" features..

78%

User engagement increased with streams that included detailed descriptions.

30%

Users who interacted with personalized playlists spent more time on the platform

+35K

New followers gained

42%

Users followed a stream or show, contributing to a 15% increase in daily active users (DAUs)