02
Unified browsing and retrieval
Search expands inline from the Home interface, helping users move between discovery and known-item retrieval without cognitive switching.
Case study / 01
Improving high-frequency search in Spotify’s mobile app.
Timeline
March 1 – April 8, 2026
Role
UX Researcher
Product Designer
Team
Individual HCI Project
Disciplines
Needfinding
HCI Evaluation
Prototyping
Mobile UX
Overview
Reducing friction in one of Spotify’s most frequent interactions.
This HCI project investigated how Spotify’s mobile search experience could better support fast content retrieval and exploratory discovery. Through surveys, interviews, contextual apprenticeship, heuristic evaluation, prototyping, and usability testing, I redesigned search around a persistent bottom search bar that reduces navigation overhead.
17
survey participants
4.60
highest-rated prototype mean
The challenge
Spotify search works well overall, but small interaction costs add up because users search often and in mobile contexts.
Users often search while commuting, exercising, studying, or multitasking. Even when task completion is successful, switching to a dedicated Search tab, scanning mixed content types, and filtering results can create unnecessary friction for high-frequency retrieval tasks.
How might we
reduce search-related interaction cost while preserving Spotify’s support for discovery and exploration?
The solution
A persistent bottom search experience.
The final design integrates search directly into Spotify’s Home experience. A bottom-aligned search bar remains visible across states, allowing users to initiate search immediately without switching tabs.
01
Persistent bottom search
Search remains fixed at the bottom of the screen, improving thumb reach and reducing the need to navigate to a separate tab.
03
Prioritized search results
Exact matches appear first, followed by categorized browsing options, reducing scanning effort during goal-oriented searches.
Process
From needfinding to evaluated prototype.
I used an iterative HCI process to identify friction, generate design alternatives, evaluate low-fidelity prototypes, and refine the strongest direction into a medium-fidelity prototype.
01
Needfind
Survey, interviews, contextual apprenticeship, and heuristic evaluation.
02
Ideate
Generated 20 ideas across navigation, retrieval, motor, and exploration themes.
03
Prototype
Built three low-fidelity concepts and selected the strongest direction.
04
Evaluate
Tested the final medium-fidelity prototype with five participants.
Research insights
Search is not just a feature. For many users, it is the primary way they move through Spotify.
Survey results showed that 53% of participants used search multiple times per day, while speed was rated highly important. Interviews and observation revealed that users valued fast retrieval, clear ranking, and fewer navigation steps, especially in multitasking environments.
Evaluation results
The persistent bottom search direction performed strongest.
In low-fidelity testing, Prototype 1 received the highest overall mean score of 4.60. Participants described it as the fastest and most intuitive because it kept search visible and reduced navigation. In final testing, participants completed all representative tasks in approximately 14.4 to 18.5 seconds using mostly 9 to 10 clicks.
5
final evaluation participants
~6%
average error rate
Reflection