Reimagining 88risings website experience for fans to engage with their favourite artists and stay informed.
As part of my studies, my classmates and I were tasked with identifying a client facing a business problem, describing that problem, and crafting a solution. This 7-week experience design project required us to develop a tailored intervention to address the client’s needs. I was responsible for conducting user research, finalizing the interaction designs, and facilitating a design sprint.
This project is not associated with 88rising. It was created as a mock client for an academic assignment.
YEAR & DURATION
2023 - 7 Weeks
MY ROLE
Lead Interaction Designer, Prototyping, Visual Designer, Facilitator, Mobile Designer
TEAM MEMBERS
Claret Egwim-Nwagbara, Justin Yu, Luke Do, Terrence Xu
TOOLS
Figma, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Google Surveys
“For Asians and Asian Americans and just Asian youth globally, there’s no real home on the Internet, or a company consistently putting out things that either include Asian talent or Asian viewpoints in stories.”
CEO & Founder of 88rising - Sean Miyashiro
SETTING THE STAGE
CONTEXT
88rising redefined how Asians fit in mainstream media, challenging existing stereotypes by showcasing that Asians can have an equal voice in the music industry. Having fostered many breakout artists like Joji, Rich Brian, and Niki, 88rising quickly became a cultural phenomenon, gaining over 3 billion views within 3 years on YouTube.
BUSINESS PROBLEM
However, 88rising has since faced issues with discoverability. Within the past 4 years, they’ve only accumulated 0.43 billion views on YouTube and have struggled with providing their new artists with the same reach that they formerly had.
SOLUTION
We propose a centralized platform that helps casual fans discover more artists under the 88Rising label, making it easier to explore music while supporting emerging talent and fostering deeper audience connections.
FRAMING
How might we help CASUAL fans discover both emerging and overlooked artists
CONTENT STRATEGY
COLLABORATIVE PROMOTION
Promoting discovery and increasing exposure for the lesser-known artists of 88rising by surfacing collaborative content with established talents.
PERSONIFYING ARTISTS
Showcasing the personalities of artists, to create a memorable first impression through unconventional means: using stickers and short clips that personify the artists and highlight them in a more relatable light.
FINAL DESIGNS & CONCEPTS
Over the past three weeks, I contributed to the development and rebranding of a website experience for 88rising. My role involved enhancing the visual fidelity of initial wireframes, creating high-fidelity prototypes, and ensuring the design aligned with the goal of a centralized platform. This redesign aimed to help casual fans easily discover and support artists from 88rising's extensive roster, boosting visibility for both prominent and emerging talent while enhancing fan retention.
LANGUAGE DRIVEN ARTISTS DISCOVERY
The landing page features an array of Asian languages alongside their respective countries, fostering exploration and discoverability. Designed with the aim of initiating connections, it invites users to gravitate towards a language or country they resonate with, facilitating the discovery of artists from the same cultural background.
UPCOMING RELEASES
Clicking into a country reveals all the artists from that region, introducing fans to artists who may share a similar cultural background. On the right side of the screen, highlighted collaborations offer exposure for lesser-known 88rising artists, providing fans with opportunities to connect and discover new talent and music.
ADAPTABLE INDIVIDUALITY
Individual artist pages offer fans a unique, immersive discovery experience. A biography section uses an intimate photo stack motif to present personal and relatable content on a single screen, encouraging deeper exploration. Fans can also browse song and merchandise pages, with music videos playing in the background to enhance the immersive experience.
BEHIND THE BEAT COLLABORATIONS
User research revealed that many fans weren’t aware of 88rising’s newer releases. To address this, we introduced an 'Upcoming Releases' page, organized as a waveform-inspired linear calendar, making it easier for fans to discover fresh drops and anticipate what’s coming next, ultimately boosting engagement and relevance.
62%
Of respondents were not aware of 88rising’s new weekly releases
93%
Of user interviews were not aware of the majority of artists signed to 88rising
75%
Of respondents believe that 88rising is declining in popularity
41%
Of respondents attributed to 88risings decline in popularity to a lack of brand engagement
USER RESEARCH
To understand 88rising's audience, we conducted 15 interviews and surveyed 89 respondents from social media and fan communities. Our research focused on exploring their music-sharing habits, brand perception, and engagement with the artist roster.
TARGET USER: CASUAL FANS
DEFINING CASUAL FANS
Those who gravitate towards 88rising’s renowned artists but show limited awareness of other talents on the roster. While they are interested in knowing more about these lesser-known artists, casual fans most of the time, will only engage with artists if they appear in their feeds.
RATIONALE
We chose to target casual fans, as they have shown declining engagement. Focusing on this segment offers 88rising opportunities to strengthen brand loyalty and drive growth by showcasing their diverse talent roster.
CURRENT TOUCHPOINTS
We delved deeper into the pain points of casual fans and discovered that the current touchpoints section highlights how artist content is scattered across multiple platforms, making it difficult for fans to engage with and connect to their favorite creators.
YOUTUBE
YouTube is currently 88rising’s primary platform for showcasing original content, including music videos, behind-the-scenes clips, interviews, and variety-style segments. However, this content is buried across multiple channels, making it difficult for fans to discover and connect with their favourite artists.
88RISING WEBSITE
Additionally, 88rising’s current website only focuses on merchandise sales, lacking any clarity on their current roster of artists, what the brand is about, and any information about the personalities surrounding the brand.
INITIAL IDEATIONS
Our team quickly developed mid-fidelity wireframes to align with our content strategy. While this iteration did not fully meet expectations, mentors found the core concept highly compelling, highlighting its potential and relevance.
SECOND IDEATIONS
After feedback, we refined our approach to better balance 88rising's goals with actionable outcomes. While this improved the overall concept, the artists' page was noted for lacking cohesion and needing stronger integration with the site's design.
FULLY RESPONSIVE
As many fans consume music-related content primarily through mobile devices, our next step is to adapt the desktop design into a mobile-friendly experience. This involves rethinking how interactions and content layouts translate to smaller screen sizes, particularly as the desktop design relies heavily on hover-based interactions. Experimenting with touch-based interaction systems will be crucial to ensure a seamless and engaging mobile experience.
RETROSPECTIVE
We had 7 weeks to find a client and build a solution, but we spent most of it searching for the "perfect business problem," leaving just 3 weeks to deliver. This experience reminded me that design is rarely linear and requires prioritizing what matters most under constraints. While we couldn’t complete everything, we focused on storytelling, clear visuals, engaging interactions, and thoughtful copywriting to create an emotional connection between fans and artists.
This project reinforced the value of adaptability and showed me that impactful design is about more than aesthetics—it’s about crafting meaningful user experiences that resonate.