Ausum

"Just hit play." Building an audio app that allows users to consume long articles by listening to their short summaries instead. (AI-generated summary and narration)

MY ROLE: Product Design, Product Strategy, UX Research/Testing and Branding

PRODUCTS: Mobile App (iOS, Android, Apple Watch), Web and Chrome Extension - (All 0-1)

WHAT IS AUSUM?

We started Ausum as a Chrome extension that turned any article you had open in your browser, into a short audio summary, with just one click. This allowed users to catch up on their reading, by being able to instantly listen to the audio summary instead. Hence the name “Au-Sum”. After our team created the Chrome Extension, conducted extensive research and interviews, and looked at the engagement data, we learned we had an opportunity.

Original Web version for testing : Below is a snapshot of the Figma file for the original web version of Ausum. This was a repository of the articles that were summarized using the Chrome Extension and was repurposed as a destination site for summarized articles. We used this simple product (designed and developed within a few days), to test our product value proposition, identify use cases, and see patterns of usage.

THE JTBD

I used the Job-to-be-Done (JTBD) theory as a methodology to uncover why exactly these users “hired” or would "hire" Ausum. What are the mechanisms in their day, that cause a consumer to adopt the product? This is what I discovered the JTBD to be:
"When I am not on my screen, I want to be able to catch up on what I need to know today and get through more so I can spend less time reading on-screen, and more time doing other things."

See JTBD stories >

I LEARNED....

Our target user wanted to:

Save time. In this case, save time reading, either to skip reading altogether or to use the audio to decide to read or not to read the full article.
Get more done. Be productive and efficient.
Turn to audio, in their passive time in order to make the most of that time.
In some cases, improve comprehension of the content as listening is easier than reading.

Using the JTBD Framework: On the right is a snapshot of the JTBD Interview list, criteria and my findings. Over the course of about 2 weeks, I interviewed 31 people, sourcing a target audience through survey, Facebook Groups, Facebook campaign, Reddit and Students at various universities. This approach allowed me to uncover why exactly users “would "hire" our product and for what end goal. I had previously used personas to create affinity maps and understands painpoints, wants and needs, but I tried a different approach to make sure we are solving the correct problem, not the seemingly "obvious" problem. I discovered there was a job to be done for this target audience who relied on audio or had a preference for audio in their day for various reasons.

Some mechanisms in the day where this target audience would turn to audio:

THE SOLUTION

Evolve the product to DO THE JOB.
"Audio summaries that free up your time to live life."

Based on feedback, engagement metrics and usage of the app we evolved the product through various iterations while staying true to our Design Tenets. We also wanted to ensure our interface and experience promoted certain key features.

KEY FEATURES:

"Take it with me": Save/bookmark now so I can do this later. Build a queue or "playlist" of stories. (Requires Sign Up)
Learn: Dive into a topic. Higher level summaries, better coverage.
Personalization: Customize channels to focus on what you really want to learn
Connected experience (Smart Home, 3rd party integrations, etc.) staying effortlessly informed.
Voice/Gesture Controls
High quality audio, summary and format
Continuously improve our content inventory.

BRAND EXPLORATION

I created a brandmark for the AUSUM ("audio summaries") app that embodied the concept of audio that's short and to-the-point. I drew a minimalistic letter "A", resembling a period with an earbud in the center. I presented my brand research and design to the team and they were fans! 🥳

View Brand Identity V1 >

THE EVOLUTION

I synthesized data from engagement metrics (sourced from DataStudio, SmartLook and AppCues) and from user feedback and research, and created a product backlog for the team. Below is a snapshot of this backlog I created in Notion. The items fall under the following categories: Low priority, Medium priority, Under Consideration, Moved to Roadmap, Iterate on, and Done.

👇 I leveraged user feedback and a close eye on engagement events, to improve the user experience.

ITERATION Due to qualitative and quantitative learnings, the app changed over time. I iterated on many of the core features of Ausum, but we saw the most evolution on the main, primary screen for the listening experience. The biggest assumption we made as a team was that users of the app would be multitasking, listening while doing other things, and not looking at the screen. We learned listeners were not just listening. They were readers too.

The play button was less important. Readability/scanability of the headline and transcript were valuable, giving the user freedom to choose.
Users were more inclined to use gestures like swipe, rather than tapping the left/right buttons.
Users were saving stories to build playlist queues, prompting return app usage, so saved stories deserved more prominence.
The "Explore" became a separate content discovery experience with its own dedicated screen, allowing users to browse without disrupting their listening experience.

After validating the audio format and learning 30-35 seconds was the optimal length for audio (based on interviews, user feedback and research on optimal times used from social media), I ideated, iterated and evolved the user experience to "do the job" (JTBD). UI format for text and image were tested on iOS, Android and Apple Watch.
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👇 Below is an onboarding concept I prototyped. It provides the user freedom to jump right into the app or stay to gain product value comprehension.

LATEST VERSION

KPI OUTCOMES After our launch in August of 2021, we saw consistent increase in completion rate ( >70% listen of an "ausum"), increase in number of listens and power users! 🤩