Freelance
2025
Amazon Capsule
Making music discovery feel fresh and connected.
Overview
As the streaming market becomes increasingly saturated and user expectations evolve, Amazon Music faces a growing need to not only attract listeners but retain them across its tiered offerings: Free, Prime, and Unlimited.
Our goal was to create new ways to discover music that deepen engagement and give listeners more reasons to return month-over-month.
Context
When music streaming feels passive and disconnected
Amazon Music operates in a crowded streaming landscape where keeping listeners engaged goes beyond simply giving them more music to play. While personalization makes recommendations feel relevant, repeatedly surfacing familiar genres, moods, and artists can make discovery feel predictable.
Listeners were looking for more than passive consumption. The challenge wasn’t simply to recommend better music, but to create a listening experience that balances familiarity with fresh discovery and meaningful connection.
01
When personalization reinforces existing habits.
Personalized recommendations often surface the same songs, genres, and artists, reinforcing what listeners already know. This repetition can make listening feel more passive and leave less room for unexpected discovery.
02
When listening stays a solo experiences.
Music is a way to express identity, revisit memories, and connect with others. Yet the streaming experience often stops at playback. The opportunity is to turn listening into something more participatory, giving people new ways to discover, share, and connect through music.
What we heard from our users
"Discovering music should be fun, not just endlessly scrolling through the same playlists every day."
Interview participant
The Casual Listener
“As a fan, I want to interact with my favorite artists in a meaningful way, and also feel like I’m part of the community.”
Interview participant
The Dedicated Fan
Our design focus
I reframed the opportunity around three ways to make streaming more engaging: discovering beyond familiar listening habits, connecting through community, and building deeper relationships with artists.
Solutions
Get refreshed feeds with a quick vibe check
Start each day with a personalized music preview. Get a handful of handpicked song snippets when you first open Amazon Music. Skip what doesn’t fit, like what does, and instantly shape your feed to match your vibe.
Unwrap your monthly capsule
A monthly roundup of your listening, highlighting your top tracks, artists, and trends. Relive your favorite songs, uncover new trends, and share your unique listening journey.
Explore, engage, and earn with listening points to unlock exclusive merch
Track your fan journey and turn every listen into a reward. Check your rankings, boost your fan level, redeem exclusive merchandise, all driven by your listening activity.
Blend, match, and discover with Maestro AI
Team up with friends, blend your Capsules and unlock a curated mix of songs, playlists, podcasts, and more. Powered by Maestro AI, every blend uncovers something fresh to explore, enjoy, and share.
Feedback
What we achieved
We tested the new experience with 6 Amazon Music users, using their feedback and input from the Amazon Music team to identify friction points and continuously refine the design.
User testing results
15.7%
faster task completion across all tested flows.
87%
user satisfaction among 8+ users during testing.
Reflections
Designing beyond the stream
Discovery needs room for the unexpected.
The challenge wasn’t simply making recommendations more relevant. It was creating space for curiosity, rediscovery, and experiences that break users out of familiar listening habits.
Connection makes listening more enjoyable.
I learned that designing for engagement goes beyond keeping users active. It means creating opportunities for people to share what they love, connect with artists, and feel part of something beyond the stream.
