![]() ![]() Is that happy person on the upbeat playlist cover someone you can relate to? This might be the question that determines if the playlist is for you, and in the long run, if Spotify is for you.īeyond visual representation, it’s also important for us to think deeply about the cultural content we spotlight. When you're evaluating choices, it's important to see people who look like you. In such a case, we've failed to create a connection. The images are not relevant or inclusive, so you don’t feel a sense of belonging. The layout, text treatment, and background are consistent, but we’ve changed every other element to ensure that each playlist cover belongs within the country and culture where it appears.Ĭoming back to that first scenario of people opening Spotify to find something that fits them: Imagine browsing for something that resonates with you, but all the images you see feature people who look completely different from you. Take this example below, for a playlist called “Songs to sing in the shower.” The first thing we do to make Spotify more relevant to more people is to translate the experience into the appropriate language whenever we can. One size never fits all, and that’s okay.Ī product might scale in its functions and features, but some things lose their value when you serve the same experience for everyone. How do you make a global product feel inclusive and relevant for people all over the world? The only reasonable answer I can think of is: You don’t. So for every image localization challenge, we take several steps to minimize the risks and maximize our chances of achieving the desired effect. Image localization is typically something people notice only when it fails, but when done well, it feels seamless and natural. These differences in perspective can make it perilously easy for design decisions to go wrong. I realized I’d have to work harder through research and empathic thinking if I was going to represent cultures that were not my own. Partnering with our editors made me aware of how much my culture and upbringing influenced many of my design choices to that point. It was exciting as well as challenging, because I realized that my reference points in many cases were so different from theirs. But when I started working on the editorial design team here, I got the chance to collaborate with music editors all over the world. When I joined Spotify over four years ago, it had never occurred to me that the experience of listening to music in Sweden might be vastly different from listening in India, Singapore, Mexico, or South Africa. Therefore, what people see when they open Spotify must vary in equal measure. How we listen - and what we listen to - varies all over the world, from country to country, culture to culture, and person to person. And yet listening is often a highly localized and personal experience. There's beauty in not being able to speak the same language as someone else, yet still like the same music. By localizing images, we can help people feel that they belong. Through these efforts, we strive to help people feel not just included, but like they can actually see themselves in their Spotify experience. We’ll explore the emotional content of images, our approach to cultural sensitivities, and how we handle image localization challenges that are beyond our expertise. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the ways in which we try to ensure that Spotify looks just right, no matter where it appears. What may be surprising is that we also spend a lot of time localizing images, so that people can better relate to the photographs, illustrations, and visual treatments they encounter on Spotify. ![]()
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