Music + you
Connecting hearts through harmony — a dating experience powered by music.
Movil design
2024
Application
Overview
Music + You is a music-based dating app that helps people connect through the songs they love. I led the UX/UI design, focusing on crafting an emotionally engaging experience that encourages users to express themselves by sharing music.
My contributions
Defined music-sharing features and user flow for emotional engagement
Conducted user testing sessions to refine the onboarding experience
Designed high-fidelity prototypes and collaborated with developers on interaction transitions
📊 Results
🔺 88% of testers said sharing music made it easier to start conversations.
🔺 70% reported feeling a stronger emotional connection when music was involved.
🎯 We delivered a compelling MVP that sparked attention among early-stage investors in the social and lifestyle tech space
Design Process
Discover
Define
Ideate
Design
Throughout this project, I discovered the power of designing for emotional resonance, not just usability. Working on a music-based dating experience reminded me how much people crave authentic expression, and how the right interaction—like sharing a song—can speak louder than words. Testing with users emphasized the importance of empathy, clarity, and fun in creating meaningful digital experiences. I'm thankful to everyone who shared feedback, opened up during interviews, and helped shape this product with their stories. I carry these lessons with me into every future projec
🙏 Learnings & Gratitude
Young adults aged 18–32 often find dating apps repetitive, superficial, or unoriginal, making it difficult to build genuine emotional connections. While current platforms focus on swiping and surface-level profiles, they lack tools that foster deeper engagement. There is a need for a dating experience that helps users express themselves through music — a universal language that reflects identity and mood. Music + You addresses this by allowing users to connect through their favorite songs, making the dating journey more personal, meaningful, and fun.
Problem Statement
Objectives & Goals
The goal of the Music + You interface design is to build a music-centered dating platform that promotes real emotional connections. By integrating song-sharing, playlists, and curated music-based prompts, the app encourages authentic self-expression and smoother conversation starters. The main objectives include increasing match quality, improving user engagement, and reducing awkward first interactions. Success will be measured by metrics such as time spent on profile interactions, frequency of music shares, and overall satisfaction with the conversation flow and connection depth.
🎧 User Research Highlights
To validate our concept and improve the user experience of Music + You, we conducted surveys and interviews with 60+ participants aged 20–35. Here are some of the key insights:
88%
Of users felt more confident starting conversations when music was used as an icebreaker.
73%
Believed that a person’s musical taste reveals a lot about their personality and values.
64%
Said they were able to form a deeper emotional connection when sharing or receiving music recommendations.
24%
Requested curated playlists or song suggestions directly from the app to make engagement easier and more fun.
Research
Competitor Analyst
Comparing top dating apps to uncover gaps and inspiration
Product Strength
Product Weakness
Tinder
Known for its massive user base and simple swipe-to-match interface.
Bumble
Stands out by letting women initiate conversations, aiming for a safer experience.
Hinge
Designed for serious dating; promotes thoughtful prompts and profile depth.
Lacks emotional depth; often criticized for encouraging shallow connections.
Still focused on swiping mechanics; personalization is limited.
Although deeper, it lacks unique features to facilitate natural first interactions.
Opportunities for differentiation
Through competitor research, we identified key opportunities to make Music + You stand out in the crowded dating space:
🎵 Emotional Icebreakers via Music: Unlike competitors, Music + You introduces music-sharing as a form of emotional expression and conversation starter.
💬 Personality Through Playlists: By allowing users to build and share playlists, it reveals more about values, moods, and compatibility—beyond profile photos.
🤖 AI-Powered Song Suggestions: AI can recommend songs based on user mood or bio, making it easier to engage and start a conversation.
🎧 Authentic, Slow Dating: Music-based interaction encourages users to connect deeper before rushing to match or chat.
🔍 Key Insights from Competitor Analysis
These insights helped us shape Music + You's unique value proposition, focused on emotional connection, music-driven interactions, and inclusive user experiences.
Most dating apps still rely on swipes, emojis, and short bios to initiate interaction. This creates a shallow experience and leaves emotionally expressive users underserved. Music + You addresses this by letting users express themselves through songs, giving context to their personalities and feelings—before even chatting.
Surface-Level Matching Still Dominates
We found that a large percentage of users on traditional dating apps match but never talk. This drop-off shows a lack of meaningful starting points. By letting users break the ice with a song instead of a generic "hey," Music + You reduces friction and boosts conversation rates from the start.
High Drop-Off After Matching
Despite music being one of the most powerful tools for self-expression, no major dating app gives it a central role in matching or messaging. Users we interviewed expressed that sharing music feels “more intimate than sending a photo” — a missed opportunity we seized to make connections feel personal and real.
Music Is Underused in Social Discovery
How might we...
Help users express their personality through music instead of just photos or bios?
Reduce the awkwardness of first messages by enabling music-based icebreakers?
Create deeper emotional bonds through shared playlists and song recommendations?
Make discovering someone’s vibe as easy as listening to their favorite track?
Encourage users to share songs that reflect their mood, thoughts, or intentions?
Build a dating flow that feels more creative, fun, and human through music?
Design prompts that guided our thinking toward more authentic, expressive, and music-driven dating experiences.
🎧 How Might We Empower Meaningful Connections?
Low-fidelity screens were crafted to test user flow, placement of icons, and messaging structure.
Wireframes
High-fidelity mockups evolved from those basic wireframes to deliver an emotionally engaging user interface
🎨 Turning Ideas Into Reality
🔄 Profile Screen Evolution: Before vs After
The initial version featured a light-themed layout with soft pastel tones, minimalistic UI elements, and floating buttons. While clean, it lacked emotional depth and modern appeal.
In the final version, I introduced a dark-themed, immersive visual style that feels more contemporary and emotionally resonant.
The original playback was minimal and lacked presence. I redesigned it as a music card with album art and interaction, turning music into a key emotional and conversational trigger.
📚 Information Hierarchy
I replaced scattered floating buttons with a bottom navigation bar, improving clarity, consistency, and user flow across the app.
🔘 Navigation & UI Consistency
I restructured the layout to maximize visual impact, making the profile photo more immersive and the screen more scroll-friendly and engaging.
📐 Space Utilization
💡 Findings
🔍 Users struggle to break the ice
Many users mentioned feeling unsure about how to start a conversation after matching, often defaulting to generic openers like “hey.”
🎧 Music boosts confidence and self-expression
Participants shared that sending a song felt more personal and easier than typing a message, helping them express feelings without overthinking.
📱 Navigation between features lacks flow
Some users found it confusing to switch between profiles, messages, and music sections—suggesting the need for smoother, more integrated transitions.
Participants expressed a strong desire to showcase their personality through their voice—not just photos or bios. Many said that singing a lyric felt like a fun, vulnerable way to attract the right match and stand out authentically.
🎙️ Users want to be heard, not just seen
Several participants mentioned that meeting someone at a concert or local music event felt more natural and less forced than starting with DMs. They expressed interest in discovering shared events where both could attend and connect through live music.
📅 Users want to meet through real-life music experiences
To support business goals and improve decision-making, we introduced an admin dashboard. This feature allows stakeholders to monitor revenue, user growth, and conversion rates in real-time.
📊 Admin Dashboard – Tracking Growth & Engagement
The goal was to provide a clear overview of platform performance and help identify high-performing features — like the voice recording tool, which saw a noticeable spike in engagement after launch.
🧩 Designed in collaboration across teams
This project involved close collaboration with fellow designers, developers, and stakeholders. Together, we crafted 50+ screens and shipped multiple features focused on emotional connection, music interaction, and real-world engagement.
From ideation to execution, this product was shaped through team collaboration and thoughtful feature design.
MyCheff
Cook never was Easier, Helping to improve the indepedent living
Movil design
2023
Application
Overview
Music + You is a music-based dating app that helps people connect through the songs they love. I led the UX/UI design, focusing on crafting an emotionally engaging experience that encourages users to express themselves by sharing music.
📊 Results
🔺 88% of testers said sharing music made it easier to start conversations.
🔺 70% reported feeling a stronger emotional connection when music was involved.
🎯 We delivered a compelling MVP that sparked attention among early-stage investors in the social and lifestyle tech space
My contributions
Defined music-sharing features and user flow for emotional engagement
Conducted user testing sessions to refine the onboarding experience
Designed high-fidelity prototypes and collaborated with developers on interaction transitions
Design Process
Discover
Define
Ideate
Design
Young adults aged 18–32 often find dating apps repetitive, superficial, or unoriginal, making it difficult to build genuine emotional connections. While current platforms focus on swiping and surface-level profiles, they lack tools that foster deeper engagement. There is a need for a dating experience that helps users express themselves through music — a universal language that reflects identity and mood. Music + You addresses this by allowing users to connect through their favorite songs, making the dating journey more personal, meaningful, and fun.
Problem Statement
Objectives & Goals
The goal of the Music + You interface design is to build a music-centered dating platform that promotes real emotional connections. By integrating song-sharing, playlists, and curated music-based prompts, the app encourages authentic self-expression and smoother conversation starters. The main objectives include increasing match quality, improving user engagement, and reducing awkward first interactions. Success will be measured by metrics such as time spent on profile interactions, frequency of music shares, and overall satisfaction with the conversation flow and connection depth.
🎧 User Research Highlights
To validate our concept and improve the user experience of Music + You, we conducted surveys and interviews with 60+ participants aged 20–35. Here are some of the key insights:
Research
88%
Of users felt more confident starting conversations when music was used as an icebreaker.
73%
Believed that a person’s musical taste reveals a lot about their personality and values.
64%
Said they were able to form a deeper emotional connection when sharing or receiving music recommendations.
24%
Requested curated playlists or song suggestions directly from the app to make engagement easier and more fun.
Competitor Analyst
Comparing top dating apps to uncover gaps and inspiration
Product Strength
Tinder
Known for its massive user base and simple swipe-to-match interface.
Bumble
Stands out by letting women initiate conversations, aiming for a safer experience.
Hinge
Designed for serious dating; promotes thoughtful prompts and profile depth.
Product Weakness
Lacks emotional depth; often criticized for encouraging shallow connections.
Still focused on swiping mechanics; personalization is limited.
Although deeper, it lacks unique features to facilitate natural first interactions.
Opportunities for differentiation
Through competitor research, we identified key opportunities to make Music + You stand out in the crowded dating space:
🎵 Emotional Icebreakers via Music: Unlike competitors, Music + You introduces music-sharing as a form of emotional expression and conversation starter.
💬 Personality Through Playlists: By allowing users to build and share playlists, it reveals more about values, moods, and compatibility—beyond profile photos.
🤖 AI-Powered Song Suggestions: AI can recommend songs based on user mood or bio, making it easier to engage and start a conversation.
🎧 Authentic, Slow Dating: Music-based interaction encourages users to connect deeper before rushing to match or chat.
🔍 Key Insights from Competitor Analysis
These insights helped us shape Music + You's unique value proposition, focused on emotional connection, music-driven interactions, and inclusive user experiences.
Surface-Level Matching Still Dominates
Most dating apps still rely on swipes, emojis, and short bios to initiate interaction. This creates a shallow experience and leaves emotionally expressive users underserved. Music + You addresses this by letting users express themselves through songs, giving context to their personalities and feelings—before even chatting.
High Drop-Off After Matching
We found that a large percentage of users on traditional dating apps match but never talk. This drop-off shows a lack of meaningful starting points. By letting users break the ice with a song instead of a generic "hey," Music + You reduces friction and boosts conversation rates from the start.
Music Is Underused in Social Discovery
Despite music being one of the most powerful tools for self-expression, no major dating app gives it a central role in matching or messaging. Users we interviewed expressed that sharing music feels “more intimate than sending a photo” — a missed opportunity we seized to make connections feel personal and real.
Design prompts that guided our thinking toward more authentic, expressive, and music-driven dating experiences.
🎧 How Might We Empower Meaningful Connections?
How might we...
Help users express their personality through music instead of just photos or bios?
Reduce the awkwardness of first messages by enabling music-based icebreakers?
Create deeper emotional bonds through shared playlists and song recommendations?
Make discovering someone’s vibe as easy as listening to their favorite track?
Encourage users to share songs that reflect their mood, thoughts, or intentions?
Build a dating flow that feels more creative, fun, and human through music?
Low-fidelity screens were crafted to test user flow, placement of icons, and messaging structure.
Wireframes
High-fidelity mockups evolved from those basic wireframes to deliver an emotionally engaging user interface
🎨 Turning Ideas Into Reality
🔄 Profile Screen Evolution: Before vs After
The initial version featured a light-themed layout with soft pastel tones, minimalistic UI elements, and floating buttons. While clean, it lacked emotional depth and modern appeal.
In the final version, I introduced a dark-themed, immersive visual style that feels more contemporary and emotionally resonant.
The original playback was minimal and lacked presence. I redesigned it as a music card with album art and interaction, turning music into a key emotional and conversational trigger.
📚 Information Hierarchy
I replaced scattered floating buttons with a bottom navigation bar, improving clarity, consistency, and user flow across the app.
🔘 Navigation & UI Consistency
I restructured the layout to maximize visual impact, making the profile photo more immersive and the screen more scroll-friendly and engaging.
📐 Space Utilization
💡 Findings
🔍 Users struggle to break the ice
Many users mentioned feeling unsure about how to start a conversation after matching, often defaulting to generic openers like “hey.”
🎧 Music boosts confidence and self-expression
Participants shared that sending a song felt more personal and easier than typing a message, helping them express feelings without overthinking.
📱 Navigation between features lacks flow
Some users found it confusing to switch between profiles, messages, and music sections—suggesting the need for smoother, more integrated transitions.
Participants expressed a strong desire to showcase their personality through their voice—not just photos or bios. Many said that singing a lyric felt like a fun, vulnerable way to attract the right match and stand out authentically.
🎙️ Users want to be heard, not just seen
Several participants mentioned that meeting someone at a concert or local music event felt more natural and less forced than starting with DMs. They expressed interest in discovering shared events where both could attend and connect through live music.
📅 Users want to meet through real-life music experiences
📊 Admin Dashboard – Tracking Growth & Engagement
To support business goals and improve decision-making, we introduced an admin dashboard. This feature allows stakeholders to monitor revenue, user growth, and conversion rates in real-time.
The goal was to provide a clear overview of platform performance and help identify high-performing features — like the voice recording tool, which saw a noticeable spike in engagement after launch.
🧩 Designed in collaboration across teams
This project involved close collaboration with fellow designers, developers, and stakeholders. Together, we crafted 50+ screens and shipped multiple features focused on emotional connection, music interaction, and real-world engagement.
From ideation to execution, this product was shaped through team collaboration and thoughtful feature design.
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