Leep is a music collaboration engine built to change that, where the first thing you do after finding an artist isn't follow them. It's make something with them.
ROLE
UX/UI & Brand Designer
CONTEXT
Canada / Music tech / Leep Audio Inc.
Problem
Artists don't collaborate cold. There's no platform that gives them a reason to start.
WHAT WE DID
Interviewed real musicians and fans, tested the live prototype, analysed 16+ platforms.
What we built
Discovery, Collaboration, Competitions, Profile & Analytics
Where it's at
Real client work. Both features we proposed went live.
The Problem
The problem is that nobody reaches out to a stranger cold. Not in music. Not without a reason. Vampr matches artists and leaves them staring at a blank message thread. SoundCloud lets you upload and hope. The algorithm surfaces whoever's already famous. And everyone else just... waits.
Leep Audio came to us with a real question: how do you get independent artists to actually collaborate, not just sign up?
It's not a discovery problem. It's a motivation problem. Artists needed a reason to take the first step toward someone they'd never met.
160+
artists in the client's prior research who felt invisible and stuck
5-10
wasted weekly chasing opportunities across platforms
0
platforms combining discovery, collabs & competitions in one place
Research
4 interviews. 3 usability sessions. 16+ platforms pulled apart. Every decision in this project came from something a real musician or fan said, not from the brief.
We never once asked about Spotify. But every single participant brought it up. Every one of them used the same word, tied. Tied to the algorithm. Tied to what's already popular. That wasn't a feature gap. That was the whole problem.
How might we make the first action after finding an artist creative not a follow or a blank DM?
How to surface independent artists without algorithmic bias?
How to make revenue splits transparent and automatic?
How to give fans a creative role, not just a passive one?
Branding
Leep needed to feel like space. Infinite. Boundless. A place where a song starts with one person and ends up shaped by hands from anywhere on earth, or beyond it.
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Button
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leep
Neon Colors
Gradients
DESIGN PROCESS
Every competitor failed for one of five reasons: manual approval bottlenecks, paid voting killing participation, blank screens for new users, connections that went nowhere, or artists leaving once they outgrew it. We mapped every failure to a design decision. That became 7 principles; and every screen was checked against them.
Discovery, the geographic globe
Select any location, hear independent artists from that region. No algorithm, no popularity filter. Gio said it best: "On a map, amazing. Like a community." Proposed by our team. Built by the client.
Collaboration Hub Stem Request Flow
Artists unlock specific track sections. Remixers tap, write a one-line intent, submit. Artist sees full contributor history before deciding. Approve or decline in one tap.
Collaboration Groups
Group Name
You are a member too
Group Name
You are a member too
Group Name
You are a member too
Group Name
You are a member too
Group Name
You are a member too
Group Name
You are a member too
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Competitions, What Made Collaboration Actually Happen
Artists don't reach out cold. They need a reason. Competitions gave them one. A shared track, clear rules, real prizes. Proposed, validated in every interview, shipped by the client.
Testing
3 moderated sessions on the live prototype, desktop and iPad. Participants included a seasoned music producer/composer and a violinist with 14+ years of production experience.
FIX IMMEDIATELY
• Action buttons buried
My Music / Collaborations confusion
Analytics not visibly scrollable
Download icon unrecognised
Stem splitting button too small
HIGH PRIORITY
• Messaging on stem requests made mandatory
In-app remixing studio deprioritised
Audio sample previews added to profiles and collaboration listings
RESULT
Complete high-fidelity UI for Discovery, Collaboration, Competitions, Profile, and Analytics. Real freelance work. Real client. Real decisions that shipped.
Competitions solved the collaboration problem
Artists finally had a reason to engage with a stranger's work. Structured goal, real upside. Proposed, validated in every interview, implemented by the client.
The globe changed discovery
Emerging artists findable from any location. No algorithm deciding who's worth finding. Proposed, validated, implemented by the client.
Testing closed every loop
Every fix-immediately item from usability sessions is resolved in the delivered screens.
Learnings
Research has to be allowed to override the brief
The two features that shipped weren't in the original brief. They came from interviews. Research doesn't just validate ideas it finds the ones you wouldn't have had.
A team that isn't a team is still your responsibility
Three designers assigned. One disengaged. The work still had to be done. Scope doesn't shrink when a collaborator disappears.
Client literacy is a design skill
Leep Audio was unfamiliar with UX process. Every deliverable had to be written in plain language. Design that can't be understood can't be implemented.
Testing changes designs, not just validates them
We killed a feature, renamed two sections, moved three elements, and made one field mandatory. All from three sessions.
"Getting people to collaborate. Design the reason to start, and everything else follows."
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