Nearby Mode

Spotify’s new social layer

Project: Add a Feature

Role: UX/IU Designer

Platform: Spotify

Timeline: 4 weeks

What song are they vibing to?

What song is that person screaming in their car?
What’s giving that burst of confidence at the gym?
Does their music taste match their style?

We’re all curious

We all notice it: the stranger singing in their car, the runner powering through at the gym, the kid vibing on the bus.

Their music shapes their mood, their confidence, their style — yet it stays out of reach. Spotify knows our taste better than anyone, but it leaves this everyday curiosity untouched.

Hear what’s arround you

Nearby Mode is an opt-in feature that lets you peek into what people around you are listening to. With full control — show your song, playlist, profile, or stay anonymous — you decide when to turn it on or off.

Save their songs, like what they’re playing, or even peek at their profile if you’re curious.

From curiosity to connection

The goal is simple: Transform Spotify from a solo listening platform into a spark for spontaneous social connection.

Guiding questions (How Might We)

How might we make curiosity about others' music an engaging and safe experience?
How might we design a feature that satisfies curiosity without turning Spotify into a social network?

Point of View
Music lovers are curious about what people around them are listening to — and even how their own music is perceived. But Spotify doesn’t satisfy that curiosity in real time.

Impact

Research & Insights

To understand the landscape, I analyzed three key players in music apps. Each has strong offerings, but none enable real-time, proximity-based music sharing — the space where Nearby Mode stands out.

From this analysis, I turned to the people behind the problem. Through interviews,
I mapped different frustrations, motivations, and behaviors, and distilled them into personas.

To synthesize interview data, I clustered insights into six themes that capture how people listen, connect, and share music.

Design Process

I started the design process by defining the goals that would guide the entire feature — aligning business objectives, shared platform goals, and real user needs. This gave me a clear understanding of why Nearby Mode should exist and what value it needed to deliver.

From there, I prioritized the core features that would make Nearby Mode meaningful, intuitive, and aligned with real user needs.

Key Flows

I started by mapping three key flows: toggling the mode, interacting with music, and managing profile settings. This clarified the core actions and decisions before moving into screens.

Low Fidelity

I started by mapping three key flows: toggling the mode, interacting with music, and managing profile settings. This clarified the core actions and decisions before moving into screens.

Mid Fidelity

I translated the flows into mid-fidelity wireframes using Spotify UI references. This allowed me to test navigation and interactions early with users, without over-focusing on visuals.

UI Visual Design

To ensure consistency with Spotify’s look and feel, I defined a visual system using its core brand elements — logo, color palette, and typefaces.

UI Kit

High Fidelity

After usability feedback, I refined every detail — from typography to icons — to create pixel-perfect high-fidelity mockups that integrate seamlessly with Spotify’s design system.

Usability Testing - Methodology

Remote unmoderated testing
5 participants with diverse listening habits
High-fidelity interactive prototype
Task flow testing + qualitative feedback

Overall summary
Users found the Nearby Mode concept intuitive, exciting, and aligned with Spotify’s experience.

All participants completed 4/5 tasks successfully, showing strong clarity in the core interactions.

The main friction appeared in Task 4, where users struggled to locate the discovery radius control.

Task results

Iterations Before Testing

Before usability testing, I refined several interaction patterns from the mid-fidelity prototype to better match Spotify’s UI language.

Iterations Based on Testings

I improved two areas based on testing: clearer access to the Discovery Radius (now in a “Nearby Settings” hub) and more intuitive user-card actions.

Final Prototype

Reflection

Working on Nearby Mode validated that the concept resonates strongly with users — most participants said they would use it and found the interactions intuitive. Because music is already social, this feature felt natural and desirable, with curiosity as the main driver.

The process gave me insights into how people connect with music and confirmed privacy as essential. Clear on/off controls kept the feature fun and safe, without pushing Spotify toward a full social network.

For me, this project reinforced the value of iterating through research, testing, and refinement. Each usability round uncovered small frictions that, once solved, made the experience much smoother. Overall, I see this feature as a simple yet powerful way to expand Spotify’s social layer, keeping the platform user-centric while introducing new moments of connection.