The Problem
In 2013 nearly 800 million people had iTunes accounts. I have one, but I never use it, and wonder how many other people abandon the application after minimal usage due to frustration and confusion.
When I first started using iTunes about a decade ago, I'd reliably visit itunes.com to try and launch the app. Once on the site it wasn't clear how to do this task. I'd spend time clicking around the site, almost always giving up and re-downloading the app so that I could find it, to open it.
When I had the forethought to go into my Folder/Applications and open it there, it would constantly require a download of the latest version which was frustrating. As a light user downloading every time I used the app was creating friction against using it. And I just couldn't get my head around why accessing my music required searching through folders for the app and not an easily accessible dashboard/UI. There was something important missing from how I experienced iTunes.
The Solutions
- Allow logging into an iTunes account from iTunes.com.
- Automatically create a desktop shortcut so the app is easily visible and doesn't require navigating through folders or the conceptualization that this needs to happen.
- Create an automated email welcoming new users that explains how and where to access your account.
- Usability test the iTunes experience to validate its design.
Admittedly, I've never been much into music. But had my iTunes experience been better Apple would have made money off me, guaranteed. I quit trying to access the app due to my contempt for it, which was heightened due to it being such a design-centered company and this clear disconnect between what I thought Apple stood for and my frustrating interactions with it.