MicDash
MicDash solves the problems three main user types face associated with connecting, searching, booking, and recording in studios. It’s a single platform designed to connect the dots between all needs with simplicity and ease.
COMING SOON
COMING SOON
I’m very excited to be working on MicDash! This project is in progress, and I’m actively working on the product. Here’s a taste of what I’m working on.
The Problem
Connecting artists, sound engineers, and studio managers isn’t easy. How might we simplify and improve the recording studio experience for three main user types?
Product Designer - MicDash
I was recruited to help refine user flows, create wireframes, consider responsiveness, help determine UI placement, and move designs into high fidelity. Development on the MVP of MicDash is expected to begin in Early 2024!
Information architecture was established, and user stories were created—next, wireframes.
Two designers, with whom I connected to via LinkedIn, were working with a client on the idea of MicDash. They worked to determine information architecture and establish the primary user flows through user story mapping. I was jumping in mid-project to assist in moving MVP forward based on pre-established client needs.
MicDash solves problems for three different user types. Each user type has different tasks to accomplish and different motivations to consider. Some functions are similar across the different views, but the Studio Admin, in particular, had additional functions to carry out since they were listing and managing studios and engineers.
User Types
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Music Artists are searching for local studios to bring their music to life. Cost, equipment, staff, and studio amenities are important to their needs.
Artists are also interested in discovering talented professional Sound Engineers. Finding the right engineer, studio admin, or producer is important. -
Sound Engineers need a way to find studios and managers they can work with. Sound engineers may work at one studio, or multiple studios depending on their schedule. The studio, equipment, and set-up quality are important to them.
Engineers rely heavily on an artist's interest in working with them. Having a way to showcase the work they’ve done and their skills is also critical to their business. -
Studio Owners and Studio Managers often list studios on a professional website to showcase the equipment, amenities, and rooms within their studios. Surfacing their website and studio can be challenging.
The success of their business hinges on artists wanting to book time in their studio and quality sound engineers who can take them through the recording process.
Application Navigation Wireframes
After getting up to speed on the problem and set-up of the project, the team expressed a need to solidify navigation. This project needed to move quickly, so I leveraged a UI kit for faster iterations with the main navigation. Using the pre-established information architecture, I started exploring how users might navigate to different areas of the product and what responsive navigation would look and feel like.
After our initial walkthrough of ideas, we determined that a search function in the header for the Artist and Engineer view wasn’t necessary. Search should be a separate component that accompanies the main page. The team liked the idea of a slightly different view a Studio Admin would have using tabs in the main navigation to route them to different areas of the product.
For mobile designs, we opted to keep all menu items within the hamburger menu as opposed to having a global nav at the bottom of the screen as originally mocked and explored to avoid confusion with browser set-up differences between iOS and Android devices.
How will Studio Admins edit a listed studio’s details?
Studio Details
Using information architecture and user stories, I established the main flow for Studio Admin to edit their Studio Details.
Studio Admins need the ability to view their studios, manage and edit listing details, establish business hours, and set recording rates and session increments. Each room within a studio may have a different rate, photos, upgrades, and amenities.
Studio admins also need a way to manage and invite Sound Engineers who partner with their studio. Establish permissions for each engineer, and setting pay rates is also required.
What if Spotify & Airbnb had a baby?
It might look like MicDash - Music mixed with relevant information for Artists, Engineers, and Studio Admins.
Artist Profile Exploration
Artist and Studio Administration profiles were still being explored, so I explored Artis’s profile page.
Artists would need the ability to create a profile for booking with studios and Engineers. This profile should contextualize who they are and what they like to do. Artists would likely want to showcase their recordings, demos, and skills to demonstrate the type of work they like to do. This information would help Engineers determine if they wanted to work with them and provide insight into who would be booking sessions at a studio for Studio Admins.
Studio Admin Profile
Studio Admins need the ability to create a personalized profile page that displays helpful information for artists and engineers.
Pulling inspiration from my first mock of the Artist Profile, I iterated and applied similar elements to the Studio Admin View. I also added a section that would include listings the Admin had listed and changed the meta-data that would display on the page.
This experience allowed Admins to add relevant details to their profile, such as years of experience, education, artist collaborations, producer connections, or any noteworthy artists they may have worked with or who had recorded in the studio. After a few months, Studio Admin’s could also show a rating, number of recording sessions and length of recording experience on MicDash.
This view was an example of what a Studio Admin would see and, after saving, what artists and engineers would see (without an edit function.)