Shaped Lasso’s product vision and helped increase return engagement post-launch
Context
Lasso, my Capstone Project (Client), was a playlist transfer app, where users can convert their playlists from one music streaming platform to other.
The current modal of the app was just playlist transfer and did not have anything else for the users to keep coming back.
Together with the client and small tiger team I defined the concept and features of the product and designed the end-to-end experience for both our testers and potential investors to increase the user retention.
MY ROLE
Product Designer
TOOLS
Figma, Dovetail, Qualtrics
TAGS
Mobile • Music • B2C
DURATION
8 months, Fall 2023
CONTRIBUTION
UX Research
Data Analysis
UX Design
Prototyping
Usability Testing
Presentation
COLLABORATORS
3 Product Designers
Client
Product manager
80% of users who transfer playlists use the service once and never return → leading to high churn. We needed to give users a compelling reason to come back after their first interaction
We introduced lightweight community features to evolve Lasso into a music discovery platform → helping users find new music and feel more connected. This shift aimed to boost engagement and long-term retention
★ Targeting a 40% increase in weekly active users within 3 months post-launch (late 2025)
★ Early tests show users stayed for an average of 4 minutes per session — signaling interest and room to grow
★ A 4.6 CSAT score confirmed strong initial satisfaction and perceived value
★ Reduced task completion time by 60% through simplified flows and clear UI hierarchy
Why does this work?
The Social Aspect
New way to discover music -> Users can post when they share playlist to someone, this helps people listen to something new everyday and also builds a social community
Once in a while everyone wants to hear something new -> they come to Lasso
Promotes community within similar music genres
Not a social media and no endless scrolling
Lasso-ing it
The Playlist transfer plugin -> copy, paste, share
Made playlist transfer more seamless with clean UI
The history also stores previous transfers, making people revisit when needed
CONTEXT
When one use is not enough
Lasso started as a simple tool for transferring playlists across music platforms; functional, but forgettable.
What it lacked was stickiness; a reason for users to return, explore, or engage beyond that first use. So we paused, re-evaluated the product’s core model, and asked a bigger question
"What would make users stay, explore, and share — not just move data?"
BREAKDOWN
Breaking down the original modal of Lasso
Original
→ Import Convert Share
Exploration
→ A social element?
New Ecosystem
→ ???
RESEARCH
Lack of music discovery emerged as a common theme among all research
We kicked off our research by scanning trends, studying strong MVPs, competitive products, and talking to 13 users—all to understand what keeps people engaged, how does MVP stacking work and what would users actually want from something like Lasso. This helped us ground everything in real needs and perspectives.
A few interview notes from participants
3 things kept coming up: people wanted better music discovery, a sense of community, and none of the noise that usually comes with social media
CONCEPTUAL SKETCHING
Defining product’s finer details
FEATURE PRIORITIZATION
Prioritizing the solution through impact-effort matrix
To make sense of everything, we mapped them on an impact-effort matrix. We prioritized features that reinforced music discovery and community, while intentionally cutting out anything that risked feeling like traditional social media. This helped us stay focused, design lean, and build around what users actually cared about
Impact effort matrix
Adopted
Modified
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Crafting design principles to guide decision-making
One of the original designs
We laid down some principles based on UX research findings and data analysis, based on which we structured the entire redesign
Reduce Cognitive Load
Glanceable information • Easy to understand
Empower User Autonomy
Reliance on familiar UI patterns • Intuitive experience
Coherent Design
Consistency • Predictable
Minimalist Design
Current design trends
DESIGN ITERATIONS
Design iterations
Each iteration was guided by user goals and focused on reducing friction, enhancing visibility, and aligning actions with intent
Before
Playlist cards lacked visibility, and flat text hierarchy made it harder to scan. The nav bar felt inconsistent with the rest of the design
After
Improved hierarchy and layout make playlists more glanceable. A cleaner nav supports visual consistency and enhances overall usability
✦ This improves content discoverability and supports faster decision-making for users
Before
Content was cluttered, and the primary action wasn’t visually prioritized. The design didn’t reflect how users explore or share playlists
After
Streamlined layout with clearer CTAs. Visual hierarchy is refined, and actions now align with what users are trying to get done
✦ The redesign balances clarity and intent, reducing effort while keeping focus on content
Before
Users had to switch apps and manually paste links, interrupting the flow
After
A direct plugin option simplifies the process, enabling seamless sharing within the app
✦ This small shift removes friction, making the experience faster and more intuitive
Solution and visual dump
Post and discover music in your community
Directly convert your playlist from Lasso
Export Convert and Send
Check out community profiles and favorites
Impact on the users and product
Best Capstone Display in show!!
Early tests show users stayed for an average of 4 minutes per session — signaling interest and room to grow
A 4.6 CSAT score confirmed strong initial satisfaction and perceived value
"It actually felt fun to explore music with others — like hanging out, not just using an app"
Reflecting my journey
This project taught me how to let go of exciting ideas that didn’t serve a focused vision; and how much clarity that unlocks. It also reminded me that solving for motivation is often more complex than solving for functionality. If I could do one thing differently, I’d test concepts earlier with lo-fi prototypes to reduce uncertainty around broader ideas.
Beyond many lessons learned, I loved working with my team and presenting it at my capstone. Our 8 month long journey of choas, meetings, design sessions was out there being loved by people. I am proud of us.
