NoteBox App

Case Study

This project followed a process similar to NaNa Media, requiring me to create a brand identity and mobile app concept entirely from scratch. This time, however, I wanted to explore a completely different area — moving away from e-commerce and into something closer to my heart: music.

Music has always been one of my biggest passions. I listen to it constantly, while working, studying, and even sleeping. One of my favorite features from Spotify is the Sound Capsule, which shows detailed listening statistics like top artists, songs, and total minutes played. I wanted to take that idea further and design an app that dives deeper into music engagement.

At the same time, I’ve always admired how Letterboxd lets users rate and review movies and shows, creating a community around shared interests. I wanted to bring that same experience to music.

And so, NoteBox was born. A platform that combines the analytical side of Spotify with the social and review-based approach of Letterboxd, all wrapped in a gamified experience that celebrates music discovery.

Research & Brainstorming

Problem

There is currently no dedicated platform that allows users to review or rate music, whether it’s artists, albums, or singles. Access to listening statistics, such as top artists, total minutes, and frequently played songs, is also limited within existing streaming platforms.

Moreover, there’s no way for listeners to interact or compete with friends, comparing who listened to the most music, discovered the most new artists, or spent the most time listening each month.

Goal

Create a music-based social hub where users can share reviews, explore stats, and interact with their friends. Through gamified challenges and achievements, users can complete missions and earn badges displayed on their profiles, bringing a playful and competitive layer to music engagement.

Audience

The target audience includes music enthusiasts who enjoy discovering, rating, and discussing music across genres. They are active users of streaming services and social platforms, seeking a space that combines community, personalization, and creativity.

Competitor Analysis

While some apps, such as Last.fm, provide music statistics, these features remain limited in scope and lack community interaction. Other platforms focus on social aspects but don’t integrate listening data in meaningful ways.

NoteBox fills this gap by combining analytics, reviews, and social connectivity, offering an experience that no existing app fully delivers.

Insights & Opportunity

Because this niche remains largely unexplored, NoteBox has the potential to stand out as a unique addition to the market.

Future integrations could include partnerships with major streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, allowing users to connect their accounts for more accurate and personalized data directly pulled from their listening history.

Project Overview

App Description

NoteBox is a gamified music-rating and discovery app that blends social interaction, personal analytics, and community-driven exploration. The app allows users to track their listening habits, marking albums as listened or queued, giving ratings from 0.5 to 5, and writing detailed reviews.

Users can follow friends and creators to see personalized feeds filled with reviews, lists, and favorites, making music discovery a shared experience. Through smart recommendation systems, NoteBox suggests new albums and artists based on user ratings and the listening patterns of friends, creating a dynamic and evolving discovery process.

To let users express their musical identity, profiles feature a Top 9 section for pinning favorite albums and custom lists or shelves organized by theme, genre, or year. The Release Watchlist keeps users up to date by notifying them when their followed artists release new music.

Other features include a social feed highlighting trending albums and editor picks, tagged reviews with mood and genre information, and smart recommendations powered by collaborative filtering. NoteBox also supports account syncing with Spotify, Apple Music, and Last.fm, ensuring users have accurate and up-to-date stats. Light gamification elements, such as badges and streaks, encourage engagement, while privacy controls give users flexibility over how they share their reviews and lists.

Brand Concept

Before approaching the visual identity, I defined the app’s features to better understand its tone and purpose. Since NoteBox blends gamified functionality with social interaction, the branding needed to feel fun, dynamic, and youthful.

The name “NoteBox” references the Note Block item from Minecraft, a subtle nod to both creativity and music. To reflect this spirit, the logo uses Druzhba Retro, a playful and nostalgic typeface that complements the app’s energetic personality.

Color Palette

With NoteBox, I wanted to explore a more expressive and vibrant color direction. Purple has always been one of my favorite colors, so I built the palette around it and its complementary tones, red and blue.

After several tests, I settled on a combination that felt lively yet balanced:

• Cyan Blue (#00C2CB)
• Vivid Red (#FF4D6D)
• Bright Purple (Bright Purple (#8C52FF))

These colors together convey creativity, excitement, and individuality, aligning with the brand’s mission to make music discovery feel as playful as it is personal.

The colors Dark Purple (#241945) and Off-White (#f2efeb) were chosen as the secondary colors.

Gamified Features

To make the experience more engaging, NoteBox integrates light gamification inspired by mobile learning platforms. These mechanics reward exploration, consistency, and community participation — turning music discovery into an interactive and social challenge.

• Themed Challenges: Dynamic missions like “Review 10 R&B albums”, “Listen to 5 debut records”, or “Complete the Summer Hits badge” encourage users to explore different genres and broaden their taste.
• Ranked Listening: A monthly leaderboard showcases which users in each friend group logged the most listening minutes, adding a playful sense of competition.
• Badge System: Users earn collectible badges for reaching milestones such as “First 50 Reviews”, “Cross-Genre Explorer”, or “Five Star Critic”, which appear on their profile.
• Streak Rewards: Daily and weekly streaks motivate users to stay active, post reviews, and interact regularly with their friends’ activity.
• Community Events: Limited-time review festivals and seasonal challenges create bursts of activity and foster collaboration between users.

Branding

Colors

Typography

IBM Plex Sans

IBM Plex Sans Bold

Icons

Logo Variations

User Goals

Users want a dedicated space where they can express their opinions about music without getting lost in the noise of generic social platforms. They aim to document their listening history and observe how their taste evolves over time, while discovering new and trustworthy recommendations from people they actually follow. At its core, NoteBox fulfills the desire to belong to a community organized around shared taste, all while helping users stay updated on new releases from their favorite artists.

User Journey - Posting and Sharing a Review

Step 1 – Find the Album

Ashley opens NoteBox, taps the Search bar, types the album name, and selects it from results. (If it’s on her Feed via friends’ activity, she taps it there.)

Step 2 – Rate & Review

On the Album Page, she taps Rate/Review (or click on the rating icon) → selects 4.5★, writes a short review, and adds tags: Genre, Mood, and Standout Track.

Step 3 – Choose Visibility & Post

She sets Visibility to Friends (or Public), then taps Post Review. The review can now appear on her friends’ feeds, and a notification is sent (if enabled).

Step 4 – Tag & share to friends

On the posted review, she taps Share/Tag, selects her friend group, @mentions a couple of friends, and adds the review to her Summer Hits list. Friends receive in-app notifications.

Stage 5 – Follow-up & Engage

Comments and reactions roll in. Ashley earns the First Review badge, pins the album to her Top 9, and adds the artist to her Release Watchlist to get notified about future drops.