Industry News

August 27, 2012

Pandora reveals major UI update for Android app

The popular streaming radio service Pandora recently released an update for its Android app that improved the GUI design and introduced new features like lyrics, play history and bookmarks. With Spotify's recent foray into mobile radio, this application design update is a strong move on Pandora's part.

The biggest change introduced with the Android update is the revamped interface. According to VentureBeat, the UI is far more polished than in previous versions, offering smoother control and improved navigation. Pandora's artist pages, discographies and bios were barely functional before, but they now load quickly without slowing down the other functions of the app.

One of the most useful updates to the mobile application design is the introduction of a play history. This not only allows users to track their favorite music but also rate songs and bookmark them for later play. Additionally, the song lyrics option helps users sing along with their favorite tunes.

While these changes may seem superficial, news source asserted that the app also fixed various bugs and should improve the overall user experience. This comes at an important time as Pandora is seeing more competition on the mobile radio front. Pandora's listener numbers increased by more than 50 percent in the first quarter of 2012 to 51.9 million users, but the company has reported trouble turning a profit at the same time.

With these UI updates, Pandora is increasing the mobile application's overall usability. Users have new features and a faster-paced app to play with, which should help the company increase both profits and user satisfaction. While mobile streaming radio is popular, features offered by apps like Spotify's premium service, including on-demand play, may outshine it.

According to Engadget, the updated UI design for Pandora takes cues from Google's recently released Android application development guide. This not only improves the overall appearance of the app but keeps it in line with the device's UI style, which can enhance usability and help users navigate the app more easily.

Overall, the Pandora update for Android seems to have made a focus on the user experience and increasing functionality in a simplistic, clean way. Other developers can take a lesson from this and improve their own apps in similar ways, and reap the benefits that a clean and aesthetically appealing UI can bring.

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Busse was a perfect fit for our new product launch. They took the time to understand what we needed, had just the right amount of project management, and gave us a sweet homepage and website design. They’re very strong on both interaction design and pure visual design, which can be hard to find in a design firm.

Ellie Fields

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Tableau Software

Joy and her group were able to quickly conceptualize the nuanced aspects of our technology. They delivered clever design solutions to our unusual product requirements, while staying responsive to our fast-moving schedule. I look forward to working with them again.

Erica Leverett

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Livescribe

When we started this project, I expressed to you the need for our user interface to set us apart from our competitors. True to your word, you all gave me an end-product that has enabled us to stand out of the pack. When we demo our system, we get extremely positive feedback on the usability, graphics, and overall look and feel - one client actually said (we have a quote in our whiteboard), It's beautiful!

It is important for me to communicate how much I appreciate your hard work, and how real an effect it has had on our business. Plus,I know I was not the easiest client.

Andrew Ryan

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ARC (Airline Reporting Corporation)

Joy and her staff are incredible and were a key part of our project's success. They quickly came up to speed on our unique business needs and were able to design a site that exceeded our customer's expectations. Their usability expertise brought many new concepts and ideas to the table. They told us when we were making bad decisions and they were right every time! They have a small shop - but don't let that fool you - these people are leaders in the field of usability. I wish all of my projects could run as this one.

Tom Cox

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DG Systems

Busse Design was an excellent partner to Market7 at a dynamic time of our own growth and while we were balancing Busse interaction design efforts with our own engineering + contributions from two other outsourced firms that did software development. We are avid practicioners of agile processes and Busse adjusted practices to accommodate our approach, including several twists and turns in our realized versus anticipated path. We are delighted with the results derived from our collaboration -- a gorgeous and useful environment that is delighting our early users and relations.

Seth Kevin

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Market7

I have worked with Busse Design on multiple projects. Joy and her team have delivered consistently high quality results with every engagement. The team at Busse design is very talented, hard working and systematic in their approach to getting things done. I highly recommend Busse Design if you are looking for elegant solutions for your UI design challenges.

Pramod Thangali

Myndnet

Busse Design was able to take our sophisticated business model and translate it into a polished and user friend design for our online marketplace. Not only were the designs stunning, but also greatly increased our conversion rate. We are looking forward to working with them very soon.

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We really enjoyed working with Busse. They’re smart, committed people. They offered us new and interesting ways to realize our vision and goals. They do what they say they are going to do, and they do it well. We have nothing but positive things to say about the entire team.

Jeff Lawrence

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Oceanpeak

Joy and her entire team were outstanding to work with. They dove knee deep into our project right from the start and asked all the right questions. They were strong in every area necessary for a successful Website overhaul - from information architecture and usability, to flash and design. I think of Busse Design as an extension of my interactive team and wouldn't trust anyone but them for any future Web projects, small or large.

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The Busse team made the whole project a fun and well organized experience – together we turned boring dental data into a beautiful and relevant user experience for our customers. We’ve already gotten great feedback on the ease of use and clean design. They are project management masters, tech and design wizards and just great people to work with.

Kathryn Ross

Director of Marketing

Delta Dental

Pandora reveals major UI update for Android app

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