Mashup


WHAT

Mashup is a proposed multiplayer, mobile rhythm game that allows friends to share songs in the form of a round in the game. The full proposal can be viewed more in depth in its research paper and presentation

WHY

Spurred by my own personal frustration with Spotify’s algorithm, I wanted to explore what makes us want to share/recommend music in the first place. This project was also my Capstone project as an Interactive Media Arts major at NYU.

HOW

The project includes my research, design, and development process. My research focused on identifying exactly was the problem I wanted to address. My design focused on exploring what kind of product I wanted to make. My development focused on fleshing out how the product would action function and its feasability.

TASKS

Research & Development
Product Design & Development
Presentation Design

TOOLS

Illustrator
Figma
Unity
Zotero

TYPE

School Project

TIME

Fall 2024
Research
My goal was to identify how algorithmic vs. natural music recommendation fundamentally differ by asking what is music, what is music taste, and how do we form music taste. Read my full research paper here!

PROBLEM

A central aspect of music taste formation is social interaction. Algorithmic music recommendation lacks opportunities for social engagement between users, leading to results lacking in nuance or personal meaning.

HYPOTHESIS

If users were prompted to actively engage with the music shared with them, they could develop a new dimension of meaning attached to the music.

SOLUTION

A multi-player rhythm game could encourage active and authentic social interaction through engaging gameplay and casual competition.
Zotero Archive


Notes

Essay
Wireframes
Established the user journey, game flow, and general style of the project through paper and Figma wireframes. Iterated on these wireframes as I developed the game in Unity and received player feedback.

Figma Wireframes

Paper Wireframes
Design
Developed a unique style that balanced the DJ theme’s fun vibrancy with Spotify’s simplicity and legibility. The final aesthetic adds vibrant colors, graffiti-esque fonts, and hand-drawn elements to Spotify’s existing layout for a familar yet exciting user experience.
Development

GAME

The game’s main mechanic is rotating a circle to hit notes, mimicing a DJ spinning a record.Used Unity and Wwise to create prototypes building up to this mechanic, which I would like to fully develop and playtest in the future.

FINAL DEMO

My final demo showcases the full Spotify and in-game user flow– how the game would be integrated into Spotify, played, and shared between users.

1. Basic Rhythm Game

2. Touch Controls

3. Fixed Movement

4. Final Demo
Presentation Deck
Watch my live presentation!