Case Study: Proposed redesign of the NPR One app, based on User Research
Tags: testing, design, ux, career
Published: 2022-10-12 08:05:41

_The NPR One phone app allows people to listen live to their local public radio station and to news shows and podcasts produced by National Public Radio (NPR). Using insights from research and user-testing, I redesigned the app's home page to make it easier for people to find the content they enjoy._

## The Project
While studying UX Design at DigitalCrafts, I was given this challenge: 
>“We are seeking a UX designer to help us improve an existing functionality. We are not exactly sure what we want to improve - you’ll be in charge of determining which feature upgrade would be most beneficial for our users and our product."

I chose the NPR One phone app because I have a background in journalism and an ongoing interest in media. I was not familiar with the app before the project, but do listen to NPR and my local radio station. 

This was a solo project. I had 10 days to meet the deadline. 

Here's a preview of the final prototype: 


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/dcifsse8eh8zr3yikfsz.jpg)
 
How and why did I make these changes? Here's my Design Thinking process and my work that led to these decisions: 


## Empathy and Discovery

To discover more about the app and the people who use it, I used these methods: 

- User Interview, current state
- Industry and Company research 
- Heuristic Evaluation
- Competitive Analysis

I began by talking to someone who uses the app every day. I learned that they did not like the latest update and didn't find the Search function very helpful:  

![Interview 1: Let me choose.](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/m3tns9uov71muat6a45t.png)
 
Next I researched NPR's current business goals and strategic priorities.

#### A little about NPR

- NPR is an independent, nonprofit media organization founded in 1970 in the United States. They produce audio news reports, news shows and podcasts and the popular Tiny Desk Concert series.
- The "North Star" of NPR's strategic priorities for 2021-2023 is to engage with younger and more diverse audiences.
- 53 million people access NPR content each week. 
- 2.1 million people use NPR phone apps each month.
- (_Google Analytics, 2021, as reported on npr.org/about_)

_Hmmm. Why don’t more people use the app?_

To check for usability issues, I compared it to 10 best-practices that make an app or website easy for people to use. 

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/1urhb6glzmc6cl00de9r.png)

My analysis revealed several usability issues.
 
**Recommendations for fixing identified usability issues:**

- Make the icons more intuitive
- Place icons that are important in places easier to touch
- Offer users more freedom and choice

Next I chose three indirect and direct competitors to compare the NPR One app to: Associated Press, TuneIn, and FlipBoard. I identified 12 other significant competitors, but due to time, focused on these three. 

![Compared: AP News, TuneIn, FlipBoard to NPR ONe. ](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/e1rhesijks7oa3ry2ep0.png)

**Insights from the Competitive Analysis:**

- The other apps had more options for searching and finding new content. The Associated Press app offered theme links above each article. The TuneIn search icon took people to a whole new page and gave ideas such as: Trending Searches, Popular Stations in your Area, and What do you want to listen to? Below were images, logos, and more topics to show people their options. When onbaording the Flipboard app, people are given options for setting up the topics they are interested in.
- TuneIn lets users set podcast speed for one or all podcasts. NPR One does not. 
- Flipboard incorporates horizontal scrolling. Swiping up, down, left and right, make it easy to browse quickly. NPR One does not.
- The Associated Press had a video section. NPR does not. 

**NPR has 3 digital homes for content** 

During my research I was surprised to learn that NPR actually has two apps. NPR One and another one simply called, NPR. And more people use it. I wondered why. 

And NPR has a extensive website. All three of these digital homes for NPR content have different features, content focuses, and navigation systems. 

I also began to realize just how important podcasts are to NPR’s history and to its current strategic priorities.

**This led to more research:**

- Read more articles and research reports to better understand the place of the NPR One app in relation to NPR’s other app, and website, npr.org.

- Learned more about podcasts, platforms for listening to them, and NPR’s place in the podcast market in the past and present. 

- Created a proto-persona to represent and better understand NPR’s target audience.

**Further research highlights:**

- NPR was an early leader in the podcast landscape. NPR published its first podcast directory in 2005 on the NPR website. 
- Today NPR is the #2 publisher of podcasts in the United States, with about 18.6 million unique monthly U.S. audience members listening to 49 shows.  # 1 is iHeartRadio with about 31.9 million monthly listeners and 615 shows. (_According to a report looking at Dec. 2021, from Podtrac_.) 
- People of color make up 42 percent of NPR podcast listenership, compared with 21 percent of its radio audience. 
- The majority of NPR radio listeners are older than 44, the majority of its podcast listeners are between the ages of 18 and 44.
- Podcasting “helps us reach our number one goal,” NPR chief executive John Lansing said, “and that is to reach a younger, more diverse audience, and to expand NPR into parts of the American community that [have] otherwise not really found maybe so much resonance with NPR.”
- Also, Podcasts generate NPR’s largest chunk of corporate sponsorship money, one of its most important sources of revenue. (_Those numbers and quotes are from a Washington Post article,  May 3, 2021, "Why your favorite new NPR show might sound a lot like a podcast."_)

**Next I created a proto-persona.**

To help stakeholders at NPR understand their target audience better and see how an app could help them connect with her,  Meet Ana: 

![Proto-persona: Ana, age 25](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/27wuscvu0tppi2sgmhn2.png)

Ana doesn't currently have the NPR One app on her phone. But she is part of NPR's target demographic and she would really enjoy some of the NPR content like Podcasts, Music, News themes like the Environment. 

_How can we make the NPR One app something Ana would use on her commute?_

**It was time to take a step back and summarize:**

**NPR wants to:**
Grow their audience and revenue by connecting with younger and more diverse audience members especially through podcasts and on-demand audio.

**One user wants to:**
Pick their own content and access it from the home page.

**My research made me wonder:**
How might NPR’s app: Be more delightful, personal, and consistent with the rest of NPR’s online platforms and personality.

_I'm seeing a trend of personalization in my research so far. And from UX trends, I know that in 2022, many people want, even expect, apps and websites to let them curate their own content. NPR tries to do this for people with a personalized on-demand button on the top of the front page._ 

_Is this something people like? What more could be offered to personalize the experience of this app? What do other people like or dislike about the app?_

_Time for some user testing._ 

## Usability Testing and User Interviews

To more clearly define problems or opportunities within the app I conducted user interviews and usability testing with five more people. My previous research influenced who I tried to test and what I asked.

I used a screener survey using Survey Monkey to ensure I interviewed people from a broad demographic and from NPR’s target audience. I asked family and friends to participate. 

You can see the screener survey [questions here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XZEqN-V0DQy6oUrfBjmV-GR9HheEvwMfBWASu2K-GVg/edit?usp=sharing). 

Most of the testers were under age 50 and two were in their 20s. All either listened to NPR regularly or had an interest in the news and NPR other content. 

**Goals of User Testing**

- Overall: Discover what is easy or difficult for users of the NPR One app
- Specifically: Test the Search function, the Navigation, and Save features to understand how users find and save personalized content in the app in its current state and what that experience is like for them.
- Learn more about the preferences, frustrations, goals, and motivations, of users who are NPR’s target audience for podcasts and this app.
- Explore what would it take for NPR ONE to be an app they would enjoy making part of their life.

The User-Testing logistics, methods and a full script of the questions can be [read here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f-zVDJrYj5fRfD8CKnuQPhGRFnRRhumpxlUQhRWSDEQ/edit?usp=sharing
). 

I asked testers to think out loud as they performed tasks with the app. They each used their own phone. I video recorded the interviews and took notes.
 
When possible I used zoom to connect with the tester on their phone. As they shared their phone screen during the zoom call, I could see their phone screen as they moved through the app and hear them talking. 

The three tasks I asked people to accomplish were things I imagined someone in their 20s or Ana, from the proto-persona might try to do on the app.

**User-testing questions:**

1. You want to find a podcast that talks about your favorite musician or style of music. On the NPR app, how would you search for that?
2. You want to hear news from your hometown or a place you used to live, how would you search for public radio news from your previous community or state?
3. You want to create a listening file about a topic that interests you. How would you go about finding and collecting news or podcasts or music on the NPR app about that topic to listen to later.

**User-testing results:**

- 3/5 people found the process of searching for a podcast to be “very difficult.”
- 3/5 people could NOT find the local radio station they wanted to listen to
- Everyone found items that interested them and saved them, but 4/5 people did not know where to find the saved items. 

**Major Issues:**

- Search results are often not relevant
- People don’t know what the app can let them do, find, or discover.

> “If I didn’t know it exists, I would never find it on this app.”
 
**Significant Observation**

No one involved in the testing and interviews was interested in using the featured function on this app, the play button on the top of the landing page. People either didn’t understand what it was for, or didn’t want to use it.

**User-Testing Report**

![User-testing showed major issues](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/x0n8x840cgytmzfexrtm.png)


**Affinity Mapping**

Next I used affinity mapping with quotes and observations from the interviews to find themes. 


![Stickie Notes to find themes](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/1szqwbo67w0u4wy10kmi.png)


**Key insights:**

People I interviewed already listen to, like, or trust NPR news, or podcasts, or its music programs.

**But none of them like the NPR ONE app.**

**Why? The app doesn’t give them what they want, which is:**

- to have choice
- and control
- to find the content they already like and trust,
- as well as discover new content they don’t even know exists but would delight in.

I had two significant moments from the interviews that connected me to the deeper emotions and motivations of people who listen to NPR. 

One was from a college student. He reflected nostalgically about regularly listening to NPR as a kid. His mom listened to public radio in the car. He told me one day as he was riding to basketball practice he heard some new music from an NPR program. “It was not a kind of music I had heard before,” he said. He loved it and later researched and found more of the music on his own. 

Another was from someone who said they preferred listening to live public radio in their car, rather than a saved podcast. When asked why, they said they liked the real-time connection to a real person—something many of us have had less of over the last few years of navigating a global pandemic. 

_These two experiences: the delight of discovery and connection are gifts of public radio these two people had experienced. How could people have those same experiences and emotions on an app too._

I incorporated their experiences into an updated How Might We statement. 



> ## HOW MIGHT WE
#### Users who come to the NPR One app don’t know what they can find there. Navigation tools are frustrating and limited. How might we give users an experience of joy and connection as they discover content that expands their lives.


_Time to brainstorm._ 


## Ideate


I looked again at all the ideas people had during the User-Testing. 

I made a new Data-Driven User Persona and asked, “What features would Robert want on the app? 


![Robert a data-driven persona](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/s3yw9pc9q1upcgro2d21.png)

**If Robert used the NPR app, he would want:**

- A dark mode option
- ways to quickly pick up where he left off on his podcasts
- a folder that would sift all Atlanta business news or stories about his favorite sports teams for him so that he could read or listen to them when he can
- a way to sort through cooking podcasts to find the one episode he might be interested in
- a way to easily play a favorite Tiny Desk Concert or podcast if he found himself sitting in traffic without having to click through several screens
- to not have to login or sign up
- opportunities to connect locally in real time with other people who also listen to his favorite business podcasts.
 
Now it was time to step back and see what other ideas could be generated that were innovative or unexpected. 

I used the new “How Might We” question to inspire my brainstorming.

I used pen and paper to quickly brainstorm ideas and connections. 

![Brainstorming](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/vyo3xiijyry90xmb7zrz.png)

I wandered down idea paths playfully and tried to abstract problems. I didn’t jump to solutions too quickly or judge any idea as too wild.

I ran some of the ideas by three people who had participated in the user testing. One by text, two in person. They liked two ideas for creative searching that included a map and an interactive radio. 

I considered what the best idea would be to pursue based on time, the companies’ interest, and resources. I looked back over the findings from the discovery phase. [I wrote out my thoughts.](https://voracious-bun-890.notion.site/Thoughts-While-Brainstorming-40b902187ab34fdba10f84f77b7ce7c8)

**Finally, I chose to redevelop the home page to help people easily find more content and personalize their experience.**

It wasn’t the idea I personally liked the best, it wasn't the coolest idea, but it was the best for the people using the app. 

The most urgent problem with the app is that the Search function returns outdated and irrelevant results, but that would have to be updated by NPR’s developers. 

The idea I liked the best was a “sound search” — an interactive image of a radio that users scrolled with their finger to discover news, podcasts, and music programs through sound clips. While it could bring delight and discovery to the app, it wouldn’t help solve the confusion users had finding content, or their desire for more control and choice on the app.

**Understanding NPR's social media opened a new understanding** 

As I began draw some low-fidelity wireframes, I wanted to see how NPR presents their content on various platforms. I found NPR’s numerous social media accounts on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook. _Whoa_. This opened a whole new understanding about how NPR is connecting to younger users on these platforms. 

I was surprised by the video reports on TikTok by NPR reporters, humorous posts on Instagram, and the "vibe" and diversity showcased throughout. 

It gave me a clearer picture about how to develop the personalized Home page.

**#MyNPR, #ShowMeYourNPR**

My NPR is the home page. It loads the first time with a standard template. If people want, they can easily choose what goes on their home page to truly make it their own. A few template options are also available in case choosing is too much choice. Ease is important.

This solves the problem of users not connecting with the home page, not knowing what to do here, and not having control and choice.  

Weaving elements and vibe from NPR’s Social Media feeds is also key to creating this re-styled app. It’s a chance for NPR’s younger and more diverse audience to make NPR truly their’s.


## Developing a prototype

- Wireframing: I drew low-fidelity wireframes by hand.



- In Figma I developed interactive, medium-fidelity wireframes. [You can click through three screens here. 
](https://www.figma.com/proto/BEm9nkwyloWKV1o4stOgKR/NPRONEapp_CBradsen_Sept2022?node-id=39%3A314&scaling=scale-down&page-id=0%3A1&starting-point-node-id=39%3A314)
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/368o4xrzvmx1lw4eap03.jpg)

## Testing the prototype

I showed the interactive prototype from Figma to three people who had been part of the interviews and testing. They liked the changes. Here's what they had to say:

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/mz9ntm57823886wdcmz3.png)

## Outcomes & Lessons Learned

My proposed changes pleased users in followup testing while also aligning with NPR’s strategic priorities. 

Next time: 

- I’ll develop a more specific research plan before beginning. It was easy to spin off on research that did not directly benefit the end goal of this project. I did a lot of research and it did help inform the end result. However, it meant I had less time for developing prototypes. 

That said, two resources I plan to explore more are: 

- https://newsproduct.org/product-kit to learn more about developing features within a media organization.
- https://www.niemanlab.org/mobilemajority/ to learn more about the media and mobile app landscape.

If I were to continue with this project, I'd like to build more prototypes to show how people could customize their home page.  

Based on the research from this project, here are the top actions I recommend to NPR...

**Next Steps for NPR by Priority**

**Immediate: Search**
The search function does not give relevant information. In its current state, the Search function is giving people the impression this app is "worthless" and "unreliable". It's hurting NPR's brand image. This will require a back-end solution to return better search results. My proposed changes give UX solutions that can help users navigate the content of NPR through the app, but without a working search feature, it won’t be enough. 

**Important: Purpose**
The people I talked to were unclear about the purpose of the app. Is it for live news, podcasts, or music? Is it to listen to or read? Is it an archive for older news stories, or for just the day’s headlines? Is it only for podcasts made by NPR or does it allow access to all the podcasts created by local public radio stations nationwide? This was especially true for the two people in their 20s who had not used the app before. 

Also, does this app have a significant purpose that is different than the other NPR app or the website, NPR.org? Will the two apps finally be merged? These are questions NPR must answer and is beyond the scope of this project. However, my proposal does address this issue and offers a possible solution, and reasons for making NPR One the one place for all things NPR. 

**Medium: Dark Mode Option**

Having the option to view content on their phones with a dark background is becoming a preferred interface for many.

**Not Necessary, But Delightful: Interactive Features**

Developing a finger operated, sound search feature that looks like a 1970s car radio, or an interactive map to help people discover content from local public radio stations, or an evening fireside story people can listen to live each night while watching a video of a fire, are all ways to bring the joy of discovery and connection to users of the app. While not necessary to the basic function of the app, they bring new ways of searching and discovering content as well as an experience of connection that could bring joy to the growing community of NPR listeners and supporters. 

__

If you have read this far, Thank You! I'd love to hear from you. Do you use the NPR One app? What would you change?