I want to talk about Tidal, the “new” music & video streaming service from a designer’s point of view. Yeah I might be late but who cares.
My first experience with Tidal
They first launched in US about a year ago with a sharp looking website, and as a music lover, this idea of High Fidelity sound got me excited. I was listening to flac every now and then but having all that content at your fingertips sounded magical.
I did not get to use TIDAL at first since it did not launch in Turkey. It remained at the back of my mind, however. As a designer, I often wondered how they made the app look like. This curiosity was spurred by Spotify, which sets the design bar really high, and made me wonder what Tidal could do to compare or outshine it. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago Tidal announced that they were launching in Turkey and I was first in line to sign up.
As soon as I became a member (They give out a 1-week trial) my first action was to hear their sound quality so I pressed play on something before even going around in the app… What a sound! It was like HD for music. I was hearing songs as the artists were hearing them at their studios. (You really need to hear it with some good speakers. My first experience was with some highly recommended Genelecs). Excited, I opened Spotify on the side and listened to the same song both on Spotify and Tidal. Closing my eyes I was able to tell the difference. Tidal was the clear winner.
When I opened my eyes and started interacting with the actual app, however, things started to go south for TIDAL.
Design must be a part of your culture
We now live in a world where most users appreciate the value of good design. Especially in the last couple of years most companies started to integrate design into their DNA. I can easily say that Spotify is one of these companies. You achieve this by including your design team in everything you create. You let your designers be creative. Instead of telling them what to do, you ask them what they would do. You strike a power balance between designers, product owners, and engineers rather than creating a hierarchy. There should be communication and understanding on all sides if you want to make a great product.
It’s obvious to me that TIDAL has tunnelled on its content and marketing, and did not give UI design and UX the thought they deserved. The product they have shipped would upset me if I were a designer at TIDAL. I’m not completely blaming the designers. I’m sure there were deadlines and expectations that they had to fight against. The timeline they had might not have been realistic to create the smoothest experience. But when you are entering a platform where the competition level is this high, shouldn’t you make sure that there is enough time for designers and developers to create a ground-breaking product experience?
TIDAL is owned by artists who care about design. They are telling us that this is the next frontier. When I hear this, I’m expecting this product to be a piece of art. If I were any of these artists, putting my name next to this product, I would make sure that the product was bulletproof on all fronts.
Copying vs Being Inspired
I’ve been using Spotify since 2010 and since then I’ve carefully watched how they got to where they are now. From day one, Spotify melted my heart with a great appreciation for design, even before the amazing Tobias van Schneider joined their team. With every update I was excited to see what new interactions they would come up with.
As Spotify grew I started to see that design was a part of their culture. It was not just about great UI or UX but it was about a united design understanding that went into everything the company produced. As a designer there is nothing more inspiring to see companies like this. This attention to detail is one of the reasons why I would always be a paying customer.
TIDAL does take a lot from Spotify’s UI, as they should. But there is a fine line between being inspired by something and copying it. The former implies you create your own product character and add your own touches to improve the experience. The latter means you create a pale facsimile of a product that looks similar but feels inferior. TIDAL simply looks like a bad copy.
What should TIDAL do?
So all this talk, I better show something for it. Last week I decided to redesign some screens for TIDAL’s mobile app. My aim was to keep TIDAL’s brand identity (such as it is) and simply tweak their UI. I did not go into changing the flow or the wireframes. I simply wanted to show what can be done to the app by just a few small touches.
I’m adding screenshots from the app on the left and my redesigns on the right. You tell me if small touches can make a difference.
I’ve spent about 3 days redesigning these two pages. Spend 2 months designing and developing these small touches, and I believe you will have an app that’s worthy of the quality of music it bears, and the names behind it.
With TIDAL’s launch marketing having backfired, I’m really curious: If TIDAL had launched with a better looking product, would people have have the same reaction?
I think not. The simple truth is that UX and design are becoming vital in a world where competition is ridiculously high. TIDAL’s great music quality does not seem to be enough to win. Stepping up and creating a great UX can just give it the edge it needs.
Or else, I hope Spotify comes up with HD quality streaming.
Thanks for reading!
PS: Here is a free PSD of my TIDAL design, enjoy ☺
PPS: You can also follow me on dribbble, twitter & instagram
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