This was part of an assignment for INFO 4400: Qualitative User Research and Design Methods.
This website prompts the user to put one song a day into a CD, which fills up after a certain number of days/songs, and each CD can only be played in sequential order (no shuffle). It simplifies the playlist-making process and rid any feelings of overwhelmedness and distractions that come with modern-day streaming services; it's meant to provoke nostalgia for a “simpler” pre-internet and pre-pandemic time, which is reflected in its concept and aesthetic. Most importantly, its primary purpose is to act as a music diary rather than a music player: by forcing the user to add to the CD every day but limiting them to one song, the user should ideally add a singular song that encompasses their feelings for the day. Later, they can look back and reflect on the songs they have added and relive the feelings they associated with each one. By doing so, they can capture both the small and large, and the good and bad moments in their daily lives that they may have forgotten about otherwise. The success of the design is dependent on the emotional value the CD holds to the user by the end of the process; if the feelings are re-lived and reflected upon, the design has accomplished its goal.
You can view and play around with the prototype below.
