Yamaha Player Port Mobile Application
Free music lesson and instrument maintenance mobile app for students.
UX/UI Designer
Content Producer
The product registration app was an initiative to develop a mechanism for Yamaha music brands to increase product registration rates, as well as provide interactive education and support for new music instrument owners. The Yamaha Guitar Group is one of the largest and most respected music brands in the world, comprised of Yamaha, Line 6, and Ampeg, each with its unique expertise in producing guitars, effects processors, and amplifiers, as well as a massive portfolio of other innovative music equipment.
The company faced a critical issue where a significant portion of its customer base did not register their equipment. This problem creates several challenges, including a lack of accurate customer data for product research, and reduced opportunities for targeted sales and marketing efforts. The absence of equipment registrations also poses difficulties in warranty tracking, making it challenging to identify and resolve product issues. Addressing this issue is vital to enhance customer engagement, improve product innovation, and ultimately drive business growth.
The goal of the research initiative was to understand the reasons behind the low product registration rates, and to gain insights into their post-purchase behaviors and motivations. A diverse sample of users was selected for the research, including both registered and non-registered product owners to ensure a broad spectrum of perspectives. This was mainly done through one-on-one interviews and surveys.
The research findings were synthesized into a coherent picture of why users were not registering their products. This identified key pain points, such as a complicated registration process, lack of perceived benefits, and awareness of the registration option. Based on the research findings the recommendation was made to update the registration process, offering incentives for registration, and enhance the experience with education on how to get the most enjoyment out of their new product purchase.
The user research findings indicated a trend towards mobile usage among our target demographic, particularly Gen Z whose adoption of smartphones was significantly higher than previous generations. We recognized the potential of a mobile app as being able to provide a convenient and accessible way for customers to register their products, as well as access additional content. The mobile app format also provided the potential for more modern and user-friendly interface for product registrations.
The acoustic and electric guitar market is a 1.3 billion dollar industry. Roughly 2.5 million guitars are sold in the united states each year. 56% of new guitar sales were acoustic instruments, and the average new guitar price is about $400. Guitar sales grew 7% from 2016 to 2017 while less than 1% of those instruments ever get registered.
The design process consisted of a few steps, a user journey through the registration process, wireframes, and then the final prototype. I began by mapping out the touch points starting from their initial purchase of the instrument. I wanted to design a journey that not only guided them through the essential steps of product registration, but also held their attention after the registration process with supplemental content that would help the new product owner fall in love with playing music. I remembered what that felt like as a young musician, so it was through this empathy that I was able to craft an engaging experience.
For the wireframe process I focused on creating a clean layout that would not distract the user from the goal of registering their product. I sketched out the main screens for the registration process, and for the supplemental tutorials. At this point we were unsure if it the lesson content was going to be limited to one media, so I had a design option for both videos and articles. The wireframes were kept deliberately simple, as to concentrate on the placement of elements and navigation rather than visual design.
Once the wireframes were completed I created a low fidelity prototype to quickly translate the ideas from the wireframes into a more interactive form that could be used to get internal feedback. Feedback was routinely collected from stakeholders, and each iteration continued to enhance the features and overall experience. It was at this point the decision was made to make the lesson content entirely video based, as we believed that articles were not going to be as effective medium for the target demographic.
In the next phase I pivoted to content production to focus on creating a series of concise, tutorials covering everything from initial setup to basic playing techniques. Recognizing the diverse needs of our audience, the lessons started with fundamental setup guides, demonstrating step-by-step how to get started and care for new instruments. The lessons were designed to break down basic techniques into manageable segments, more suitable for beginners. The goal of the content was to keep young musicians inspired and engaged in their learning journey, and video was an app friendly medium for this to be accomplished.
In order to understand the efficacy of this initiative it was strongly advised that we should continue to monitor registration rates and conduct follow-up research to ensure that any changes or improvements have a positive impact on user behavior. Shortly before the successful launch of the app, I was presented with a new career opportunity that I felt compelled to pursue. Leaving the company and the project I had been so passionately involved with was not easy. The experience of working on this app, the skills honed, collaboration, and the lessons learned have been invaluable to my career, and I will forever be grateful for the opportunity and the team.
