Flow
One Spit Wonders.
Personal Project | 2021 | 1 month
What is Flow?
Flow is a freestyle rap app for DJs and Rappers. On the app, DJs can upload their beats for rappers to discover and freestyle to. When freestyling, rappers can shuffle through beats, record themselves, and edit their recordings. If they like a beat, they can reach out directly to the DJ to set up a formal recording. Lastly, beats are rated after every freestyle session to help promote the most fire tracks. Altogether, Flow lifts up the art form of freestyling by connecting rappers and DJs.
Project Overview
This project is something I’d be really excited to show my friends. That is, because it solves a problem that applies directly to us, and the final solution is a nicely polished culmination of my years of experience in UI design and prototyping. I’m also proud of how simple the solutions are; I’d love to see how feasible this is to develop. In the future, I’d be ecstatic to incorporate features from the icebox I accumulated on Pivotal Tracker.
Role
Concept Dev.
User Modeling
Interaction Design
Tools
Figma
Pivotal Tracker
UX Methods
Personas
Use Cases
Slick
Journey Mapping
UXR Roadmap
Problem
Challenge
Freestyling is the artistic practice where rappers improvise lyrics on the spot. From vibing with friends to recording yourself alone, freestyling is useful for general fun, practicing your craft, or even gaining inspiration for songwriting.
There’s a lot of small issues around freestyling. First, freestyling can produce some legendary moments, yet they’re often left uncaptured. These legendary moments might take place with a copywrighted beat, which causes legal issues as it is unfair to the original DJ. When recording freestyles, it currently requires using a multitude of apps, and these recordings usually lack sound quality. Lastly, for rappers that love freestyling, it tends to take some time to find a beat that fits their style.
Problem Statement
🔍
DJs want a promising way to spread their beats so that it can be found by rappers in pursuit of beats. Young-adult rappers want an encouraging way to freestyle so that they can enjoy and practice the art form.
The Case
Slide 1 of 28
Key Takeaways
Speed Kills
Looking back, it’s wild to think that this all happened in the span of 1 month. Seeing this project is really encouraging as a UX Designer, because it’s living proof of how the design process can feel so rewarding. Critically thinking through this solution made the final prototype ever-so valuable to me.
What would I do differently?
First, I would prototype user flows for both primary personas, rather than just Raffy; this way, stakeholders can better visualize how the experiences of DJs and Rappers might be different. Second, I would try to build this with my friends. Lastly, I would explore options to design this solution through a different physical device, like a handheld speaker.
Thank You!
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