United Masters Wallet

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A bit of context:

In early 2022 UnitedMasters set out to build BREAD — an internal system used by the finance and support teams to calculate artist royalties and ensure they were able to pay artists in a timely and safe manner.

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BREAD would transition the team away from third-party services, providing greater control and flexibility to offer artists, while powering a completely new artist facing wallet experience across both mobile and web apps.

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I joined UnitedMasters during this time as a Sr. Product Designer, Artist Wallet would be my first product feature to design.

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This solution would:

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• Enable artists to seamlessly access their streaming income
• View comprehensive streaming data
• Identify top-performing platforms
• Maintain access to their financial records

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This would not only address the immediate pain points but also align with UnitedMasters' broader mission of empowering artists to take control of their music careers.

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Let's start with the previous artist wallet experience:

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• Limited to cash outs via PayPal only
• Artists had no insight into financial records
• Artists could only get paid on the 15th of every month
• Pay runs happened once a month and were manual, putting a strain on finance and support teams
• Internal tools were built primarily on third-party tech which made troubleshooting difficult

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What did artists want?

We scheduled and conducted interviews with eight artists, explored forums, Reddit, and Twitter for insights, and mapped out a competitor analysis. Additionally, we leveraged supplementary research provided by our product manager to inform our findings.

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Key Takeaways

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• Artists were unsure about the actual value and breakdown of their streams across various platforms
• Artists were frustrated with having to wait a considerable amount of time before receiving their earnings
• Artists needed everything in one place for ease of use, tracking, and management
• Artists needed more options than PayPal when cashing out

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With these insights in hand I was able to collab with our Product Manager to create customer journey maps based on our artist personas, and Prioritize artist pain-points, wants, and needs.

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The next two sprints were spent mapping out the UX, creating screens, flows and prototypes to test with our teams and Artists.

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Some considerations and constraints:

• I would be designing solutions for the iOS / Android and Responsive Web apps*
• I would be coordinating with a fellow product designer on my team who would focus on the internal tools dashboard design
• I would be designing around a third party tool which would allow artists to setup their bank accounts securely

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*this case study only focuses on the mobile app design process

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Collaborate & Listen

I kicked things off with a collaborative design session with our design team. Being that I was still fairly new to the team, I wanted to know what their thoughts were for this new artist wallet. I wanted to leverage their insights, ideas, hopes and dreams.

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Explorations

I transitioned to developing visual designs for the wallet. It needed to present high-level streaming earnings alongside detailed breakdowns by month, reports from various DSPs, geographical insights, and more.

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However, the existing design system lacked components to support these requirements, so I explored the charts and visuals you see here.

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I explored multiple concepts for each step in the flow

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• Onboarding
• Wallet Feed
• Wallet Reporting
• Cash Out
• Education

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Honing in on Final Screens

After reviews with artists and the design and engineering teams, we honed in on our final screens for the app.

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Exploring animations and haptics

• micro-interactions
• celebratory moments
• status and loading
• haptic feedback

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Onboarding & Designing for Multiple Artist States

Mapping out the various states to design for involved considering different scenarios and user needs at each stage of the Artist Wallet.

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Technical restraints: Onboarding

We chose to use a third-party service, Trolley, to enable artists to securely connect their banking accounts. This interface was embedded into the onboarding flow as a requirement for setting up your banking info and connecting to the wallet. However, with minimal customization options, we had little control over the experience. As a result, we focused on carefully guiding artists to, through, and from the Trolley onboarding process to ensure a seamless experience.

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Feedback and Collaboration

Since we operated as a fully remote team, I leveraged Loom throughout the design process to share quick concepts, animations, and prototypes, making it easy to gather feedback from the team.

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Weekly Syncs

Along with our daily stand-ups, I made sure to stay connected with our team through scheduled weekly syncs to talk more deeply through the UX/UI. This involved coordinating with data analysts, backend developers, front-end engineers and other teams to ensure the apps were both functional, secure, and user-friendly.

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Design Handoff

I prioritize delivering clean, well-organized Figma files that include detailed designs, user flows, and thorough notes. To ensure seamless collaboration and support for development, I often incorporate Loom videos, interactive prototypes, and links back to relevant tickets. My goal is to provide everything needed to drive the product forward efficiently, anticipating potential questions and offering clarity to make the handoff process as smooth as possible.

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Development

As development began, we moved to daily syncs, reviewing flows, interactions and test builds toward launch.

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‍Increased Adoption:

Three months after the launch of the enhanced UnitedMasters Artist Wallet, adoption jumped by 25%. Artists valued the improved transparency and greater control over their earnings.‍

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Empowered Artists: 

Artists could now log into the platform and instantly access their streaming data, track income trends, and understand which platforms were performing the best. This information empowered them to make informed decisions about their promotional strategies.‍

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‍Streamlined Finances: 

The integrated financial records simplified the process of accessing payment history, contracts, and tax-related documents. Artists no longer had to sift through emails or external sources to gather financial information.‍‍

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Instant Payouts: 

The instant payout feature was particularly well-received. Artists could request payouts on-demand, ensuring they had timely access to their earnings to invest back into their music careers.

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