Seamless Soundtrack Discovery: Boosting Apple Music Engagement by 15% and Conversions by 20%
A missed soundtrack moment used to break the experience. I fixed that.

Have you ever found yourself captivated by a movie soundtrack and tried to find it while still watching on your smartphone, only to realize it's nearly impossible? 

Imagine if discovering that perfect soundtrack was as effortless as feeling the emotion it evokes - right at your fingertips.

20%

Convertion Rate: a new, integrated feature could attract a substantial portion of users to switch to the Apple Music

15%

Usage Frequency: users who engage with soundtracks may increase their overall time spent on Apple Music.

the problem

Users on Apple TV+ lack a seamless way to discover and save soundtracks in real time, forcing them to rely on external apps like Shazam or Google, which disrupt immersion.

solution

With seamless, in-app soundtrack discovery, users can now save music effortlessly without interrupting their viewing flow.

my role

- Uncovered user frustration around soundtrack discovery through research.
- Designed a seamless in-app solution to save music without disrupting playback.

"Have you ever heard a perfect soundtrack during a movie and tried to find it - only to give up because it broke the moment?" That was the starting point.

After interviewing 10 Apple TV+ users, one pain point kept surfacing: there was no seamless way to identify, save, and listen to soundtracks while watching on a smartphone. Users either paused the film, googled lyrics, or tried Shazam (which often failed). The emotional moment? Gone.

Project Metrics

A seamless soundtrack-sync feature increased Apple Music interactions by up to 20% - including one-tap saves, playback starts, and redirects to full albums.

These projections are based on user behavior observed during prototype testing with 6 participants across real-world settings. They reflect indicative patterns, not live production data.

In users' shoes

Data alone doesn’t tell the full story. To truly understand
the experience, I needed to walk in our users’ shoes.

Based on insights from all the in-depth interviews, I crafted a persona that captures the emotional heartbeat of the users.

“When I’m watching something at home, I can just Shazam the soundtrack and it’s saved. But on my phone? I usually miss the moment - and forget the song completely.”
- Sarah

Why Users Pause, Get Frustrated, and... Miss the Music

To explore where the real friction happens, I mapped the full viewing journey
- from the first click to the forgotten song.

Through IDI with 10 Apple TV+ users, I uncovered some consistent patterns in their viewing behavior.
‍
These insights shaped a Customer Journey Map that revealed the exact moments where user motivation drops. That’s where I saw a clear opportunity for UX improvement.

80% tried identifying a song mid-watch on mobile - and failed.

90% said soundtracks matter emotionally.

Users want to save without rewinding, pausing, or leaving the app.

Key insight: The biggest drop in user experience? The exact moment the soundtrack hits - and can’t be saved.
Opportunity: Insert unobtrusive, one-tap saving overlay when engagement spikes.

Analyzing the Competition: What’s Missing?

Understanding when users drop off was one part of the puzzle.
But what about the tools they already use? I needed to look outward.

To spot where the soundtrack experience breaks, I compared leading streaming platforms by mapping their strengths against key UX gaps. Surprisingly, even Apple - which owns both Shazam and Apple Music, offers no native way to sync songs while watching.

Despite having the right tools, users are still forced to pause, switch apps, or search manually. This revealed a clear opportunity: not building new tech, but connecting what already exists - in real time, with zero friction.

Key Insights:

Even the most advanced platforms fail at real-time discovery.

There’s no seamless bridge between watching and listening.

Despite owning all the right tools, no platform offers a seamless, real-time way to save music mid-watch.

A Missing Link Between Emotion and Action

It became clear: the issue wasn’t lack of tech - it was lack of connection.
So I reframed the challenge into design opportunities.

Through competitor analysis and user interviews, I uncovered a surprisingly consistent gap across platforms:
Users had no seamless way to save a song in the moment it moved them.

‍This insight led to a bigger, strategic question:
‍How might we let users discover and save music while watching - without breaking the emotional flow?
‍

To explore this, I defined 3 focused design opportunities:

HMW...
surface song info non-intrusively, in real time?

HMW...
let users save with a single tap?

HMW... help users discover new movies based on the music they already love?

Not all ideas are equal — this matrix helped me spot which solutions delivered emotional value fast, and which needed more time to build.

From HMW to MVP: Designing the First Concepts

1. Soundtrack Search Engine - Search by artist or songs to find matching films

The soundtrack overlay appears automatically when a song plays.
👉 Tap the "+" button to instantly save the song to Apple Music.
👉 Tap the overlay itself to open the full movie soundtrack and explore more.

Users stay immersed - whether they want to capture the moment or dive deeper into the music.

2. Movie Soundtrack Library - Curated list of full tracks linked to Apple Music

The soundtrack overlay appears automatically when a song plays.
👉 Tap the "+" button to instantly save the song to Apple Music.
👉 Tap the overlay itself to open the full movie soundtrack and explore more.

Users stay immersed - whether they want to capture the moment or dive deeper into the music.

1. One Tap to Save. One Tap to Explore.
‍
The soundtrack overlay appears automatically when a song plays.
👉 Tap the "+" button to instantly save the song to Apple Music.
👉 Tap the overlay itself to open the full movie soundtrack and explore more.

Users stay immersed - whether they want to capture the moment or dive deeper into the music.

Test, Learn, Break, Repeat

Prototypes were ready - but would they survive real-life distractions?

To find out I conducted guerrilla usability testing of a mid-fi prototype with 6 users across three real-life contexts: during commutes, at home on a TV, and in busy shared spaces like cafés and open offices.

✅ What Worked:
- Users recognized the current song using the real-time overlay
- One-tap saving to Apple Music felt effortless and intuitive

⚠️ What Didn’t:
- Users didn’t know where saved tracks ended up.
- Many didn’t understand how to access the full soundtrack list
- Overlay behavior caused confusion: "Is that it? Or is there more?"
‍

Key Insights:

Ambient distractions (e.g. cafés, shared spaces) made users more reliant on visual cues and contextual clarity.

They need subtle but persistent feedback that guides what happens next, not just what happened now.

Users saved tracks easily - but got stuck finding them. The full soundtrack list? Still hidden in plain sight.

Improving What Didn’t Work

Not all ideas land perfectly the first time. But every stumble is a signal
- and these were loud and clear.

During usability testing, two key friction points stood out:

users didn’t know where saved tracks went, and they struggled to reveal the full movie soundtrack.

The overlay, while helpful, also lingered too long in some contexts.Based on that feedback, I implemented 3 focused fixes:

Users saved tracks easily - but got stuck finding them. The full soundtrack list? Still hidden in plain sight.

Beyond Metrics: Emotional ROI

Quantitative insight is great, but what stuck with me were user reactions:

"This feels like something Apple should already have."

"I’d pay just for this."
‍

"Now I finally remember what song made me cry."

See my case studies

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Seamless Soundtrack Discovery: Boosting Apple Music Engagement by 15% and Conversions by 20%A missed soundtrack moment used to break the experience. I fixed that.

20%

15%