Ester Xofra Mateo
Muse
/24
The Challenge
Many users experience "choice paralysis" when faced with an overwhelming number of content options. This often leads to frustration and wasted time, taking away from the relaxing viewing experience they seek after a long day.
Solution
Muse addresses the challenge of choice paralysis by offering a comprehensive solution that combines technology, expert insights, and community-driven recommendations. Together, these elements create a seamless and collaborative experience for discovering content.
Advanced AI: Muse leverages cutting-edge AI to analyze viewing habits and preferences, providing tailored recommendations that align with each user’s unique tastes. This ensures content discovery is effortless and personalized.
Industry Expertise: Curated suggestions from film professionals—directors, screenwriters, and actors—offer high-quality, trusted recommendations. These expert insights add a human touch, making the experience more refined and engaging.
Social community: Users can create and share personalized recommendation lists with their friends, family, or colleagues. This community-driven approach fosters connection and transforms content discovery into a collaborative and enjoyable experience.
Exclusive Content: In addition to recommendations, Muse offers access to behind-the-scenes material, interviews, and other exclusive content. This enriches the overall experience by giving users deeper insights into the films and shows they love.
Smart Home Integration: Muse extends beyond entertainment by integrating smart home controls into its mobile app. Users can manage their devices—adjusting lighting, temperature, and more—while staying immersed in their viewing experience.
Design Process
We followed a user-centric approach, combining iterative design and thorough testing to create a product that meets the needs of its audience.
Research Phase
Our process began with a competitor analysis to identify gaps in existing solutions and uncover opportunities for Muse to stand out. We defined our target audience and conducted four user interviews to gain insights into their frustrations, such as choice paralysis and the lack of personalized recommendations. These insights shaped the design direction and informed the creation of a detailed user persona, which guided our decisions throughout the project.
Definition Phase
In this phase, we established Muse’s foundation through information architecture and wireframes. The architecture organized features logically, ensuring intuitive navigation. Wireframes were tailored to smart TVs and mobile devices, allowing us to refine layouts, optimize user flows, and address usability challenges early in the process.
Design Phase
Muse’s visual identity was inspired by the concept of a 21st-century muse, symbolizing inspiration, diversity, and connection. A dark theme with vibrant yellow accents enhanced the viewing experience in low-light environments while ensuring accessibility and visibility.
We expanded the visual identity into a cohesive design system for consistency across platforms and screen sizes. High-fidelity prototypes were created and tested with users, allowing for iterative improvements. This process ensured Muse was both visually appealing and user-focused, resulting in a seamless and polished final product.
Conclusions
This project was an opportunity to learn and adapt quickly to the challenges of designing for smart TVs, a platform we were less familiar with. It required us to understand new design constraints and user needs, which helped us grow as designers.
Teamwork played a key role in the process, allowing us to combine our skills and work efficiently to create a cohesive product.
Although we’re happy with the final design, the next step is to conduct more user testing. This will help us gather valuable feedback to refine the product and ensure it meets user expectations. Iteration based on real user insights will be essential to making Muse a truly effective and enjoyable experience.