Meet Mighty | a case study

Photo by Victor Xok on Unsplash — This is what Mighty means to me. Free, on the road.

So, I like my phone. My iPhone is with me, usually throughout my entire day. Instagramming, Google Mapping, Wazing, checking emails, Strava, calculating 5+5, Spotify, Reddit,.. you know the drill. Running and cycling means carrying my phone with me. Until I found about Mighty.

Wait, what’s a Mighty?

Mighty is an offline Spotify music player.

1. It syncs with your Spotify Premium account,
2. you select your playlists,
3. and you’re ready to go.

And Mighty is aimed to active people, willing to go out without your phone. That’s pretty cool: focus on your run, bike ride, snowboarding,.. without the distractions of your phone. Cool. 🤙

Furthermore, Mighty simply acts as a modern iPod: I don’t own any music any longer on my computer, so syncing from time to time with my -exquisite collection- of Spotify playlists, is just great. I don’t need to worry about data usage.

Why I wanted to redesign the interface.

The interface of Mighty’s companion app works for me, but I wanted to improve it.

The existing interface has one drawback I feel: it’s not focused around me. I’m the user, I want to workout, I want to feel free without my phone. The interface now, just reflects the existing Spotify and pairing flows. Furthermore, it’s complicated. And I just want to work out without my phone.

What I would suggest as an improved interface.

I did no user interviews (woops), just translated my feelings and frustrations into the app’s interface.

The home screen now shows a basic overview of what is currently on my Mighty (SW is it’s name). The amount of songs, battery, and the amount of playlists and when it is last updated.

Futhermore, you can see the three main connections: the bluetooth (are you connected with the Mighty device), the profile (are you connected to your Spotify) and the wifi (are you connected to wifi to updated the device).

But the coolest, is choosing a simple background. Changing this makes the Mighty feel personal: this devices sets me free to do what I want — Skating, trail running, biking, whatever.

Connections on the home screen.

Swipe left for info | Swipe right for playlists.

Navigating should be easy. That’s why I created only three views: the home, your playlists and the options. Swipe left and right to access them. Easy.

Swiping never felt so good.

The playlists are shown in your face, with relevant details and a simple (+) to add them to your Mighty. When the Sync Now turns green, sync away!

Also, notice the background. It moves when you move between the different views.

This is what I learned.

1. Interfaces should be simple & with zero manuals.
2. The interface, the product, the philosophy, the feel, the.. everything should work together to create a great experience.
3. Personalisation can give UI an extra edge.

🚀⚡️🤙