UX Design · 2023
SoundCloud
App Critique
I reviewed SoundCloud’s 2023 iOS app and proposed changes to its logo, navigation controls, and playlist covers. The mockups show how listeners could customise their shortcuts and give their cover art more space.
I reviewed the app and designed alternative logo, navigation, and playlist layouts.
I compared the 2023 screens and proposed changes to colour, shortcut controls, and the size of playlist artwork.
I produced mockups showing an orange-and-black logo, customisable navigation controls, and larger playlist artwork.
SoundCloud dropped the orange it had carried since 2007 for a plain black logo, breaking the nostalgic association users had with it and blending into every other app. The proposal: an orange cloud on the black background, keeping the traditional color inside the modern look.
Formatting options for the whole app, similar to customizing an iPhone home screen: add, remove, replace, or resize the icons in the toolbar. Competitor apps don't offer this, so it doubles as a retention edge while giving users ownership of their listening space.
A redesigned widget menu and a dedicated likes toolbar cut the steps between you and the tracks you come back to most.
The customizable playlist cover renders too small against the surrounding icons, so personal curation gets visually buried. Enlarging the cover and moving the description into the dead space beside it puts the user's own art at the top of the hierarchy.