About the product
The All-in-One creator platform for musicians
I joined Volume in 2022 during an ambitious period to compete against big players like Twitch and Kick. What set Volume apart was its hyper-focus on musicians and provision of unique features on a single platform. We aspired to bring music to every corner of the world and give artists more control over their creativity and finances.
Over the next two years, I designed features, implemented a design system, improved experiences, and streamlined workflows across all teams. One year after my start date, I was promoted to Director of Product. From there, I led 6-week development cycles for our engineering and product teams while continuously remaining hands-on with design.
Role
Director of Product, Design Lead
Responsibilites
Product Management
Design Management
Design Systems
Product Design
Insights & Problems
Creators Experienced Significant Burnout Trying to Stay Relevant
It became evident that unless creators understood how to market themselves online, they risked being left behind. Creators also experienced "application fatigue" and struggled to keep up with various apps that provided necessary features.
Creators Sought More Ways to Monetize Their Music
Many full-time musicians we worked with relied primarily on touring (physical ticket sales) and merchandise to make a living. Volume aimed to simplify this process for any artist adapting to the online world.
Profile Page
I wanted the profile page to became a place for Creators to showcase their identity and share relevant content and news with their fanbase.
Various content hosting capabilities
In addition to automatically saving your past streams, we allow creators to upload other forms of content and audio that can optionally be placed behind a paywall for increased engagement.
Subscriptions
Almost every successful creator had a supporting subscription service on a different platform, so we integrated those features into Volume, providing exclusive access to subscribers and superfans.
Fair, honest splits
Every other platform took a significant cut from creators to host them unless they could prove a consistent stream of income. Even then, creators were paying at least 30% of each sale they made. We decided on fair splits to ensure creators are satisfied, allowing them to focus on their music and receive the compensation they deserve.
Ticketing
One of the primary sources of income for our creators was selling livestream tickets during their tours. It is no longer necessary for people to be physically present to enjoy a live performance, as audiences can now access events remotely. This shift allows creators to reach a broader audience and generate revenue through pay-per-view models, enhancing their earning potential.
We had to cover ticket sales not just for Creators, but also for special events such as Festivals.
Creator Earnings
Volume offers several methods for creators to generate income on our platform, including ticket sales, subscriptions, tips, and Video on Demand (VoD) sales. Many creators utilized all these options! So we needed to make it easy for them to track all sales and gain simple insights about their most engaged fans.
Other responsibilities
Design Systems
To maintain consistency, improve clarity between teams, and enhance overall feature delivery, I created and implemented a design system for Volume.
Livestreaming Experience and redesign
I redesigned the livestreaming experience, focusing on interactions that encourage fans to send tips and support their favorite artists.
Running Basecamp's "Shape Up!" 6 week product cycles
To streamline product deliverables, we adopted Basecamp's methodology. This change allowed for less specific requirements upfront and gave our engineers and designers more control over their responsibilities.
What I learned working at Volume
Providing valuable insights through user interviews and data is not just for design; its for the business.
Making top-level decisions meant being confident and convincing when pitching to my superiors. Backing up all my designs with research, real data, insights from our users etc., made all the difference in building a product that is impactful rather than just an idea.
Make sure you have product-market fit before spending a lot of money creating new features.
The biggest challenge I had to encounter was constant requests to add features for different types of musicians. Ideas *can* be validated and its important to make time for it when new ideas start cropping up.
You need to trust your team and encourage confidence to have the best results.
When we switched to Basecamp's methodology, we struggled with designers and engineers afraid to take ownership of a feature when they were so used to checking off requirements. Take the time to encourage ideas, share thoughts, and mentor engineers and designers to become leaders themselves.
References
Rachel's blend of design acumen and leadership truly makes her a standout professional in the field. She is an exceptional UI/UX designer and leader.
Her design systems are among the most organized and well-structured I’ve ever seen! She skillfully considers UI flows to ensure seamless user experiences. Always well-prepared for meetings, she effectively leads discussions and directs projects. Additionally, Rachel is highly skilled in research, she conducted numerous user interviews and workshops for Volume, which provided valuable insights and greatly contributed to our redesign project.
Tracy Waudby
CTO, Volume
Rachel's diligence on getting feedback from end users, stakeholders, and the technical team ensured the team had all the information needed to implement projects.
Her keen eye on her designs made sure the user experience was prioritized when implementing her vision. This seamless blend of product and technical understanding allowed for very little holes during the production.
Jimmy Bobowski
Director of Technical Operations, Volume