Jammin’
A case study about the real-time collaborative music software — All in your browser.
To music! For providing the best soundtrack for our lives.
Music exists everywhere: Every culture in the world has msic — it’s a universal human experience. Even without instruments, humans naturally create music through humming, singing, or tapping. It’s a huge part of us and we can see that at music festivals — everybody has their differences and rivalries, but when the music plays, people unite around the moment. It’s a couple of minutes of balance and peace.
And yet, of the 8+ million artists on Spotify, only ~10.000 (0.1%) of them earn enough streams to make a sustainable living. It’s estimated that only around 1% of musicians globally are widely recognized or celebrated at any given time.
One thing is also for sure — Networking plays a massive role in music careers. A survey by the Music Industry Research Association (MIRA) in 2023 revealed that 70% of independent musicians cited a lack of industry connections as the biggest barrier to success. Around 55% of independent musicians report not being able to sustain themselves solely on music, and studies suggest that 1 in 4 musicians eventually abandon their musical careers due to financial instability, lack of support, or burnout.
Introduction
Jammin’ is born out of a simple but powerful belief: talent and hard work should be all you need to dream big in music (you can probably say that I am an idealistic and that is not how the world works — that doesn’t make it not true, and we can do better). As a product designer with nearly a decade of experience, I’ve always been drawn to projects that challenge the norm and empower creatives. With Jammin’, I wanted to create a tool that musicians could call their own — a space to collaborate, create, and grow without the steep learning curve of traditional tools. The vision? To build the “Figma for Musicians”.
Jammin’ is the perfect solution for musicians that want to have more than a Digital Audio Workspace to make music. It’s a platform that allows musicians to connect and get to know what are musicians are doing. To make money from the things you like the most: making music, giving music classes, performing live, work as a session guitarist, produce fantastic sound effects and sell them on the store — you name it! Jammin’ was made to allow musicians to make a living doing what we all love: music.
But why music?
Because I love playing music with my brother, but since he moved out, it became impossible for us to be able to keep jamming together. I’ve realized that there’s millions of people with the same problem that we had. And that means that we can also create a solution for that problem.
Discovery Phase
User Research
Early on, I reached out to over 30 musicians and producers, ranging from hobbyists to professionals. My goal was simple: learn more about their struggles. In order for me to do this, I’ve worked on a list of questions that could prove not only the struggles, but also to make it clear what the solution should be. I couldn’t just show what I had to these participants: they would be biased and probably compliment the initiative and say how much they loved it, and that’s great for the ego, but doesn’t prove anything.
By following this structure, the conversations revealed a common thread: existing tools were either too complex or lacked real-time collaboration features.
“I just want something where I can bounce ideas off with my bandmates without needing a tutorial.” Said one of the musicians.
This were the type of comments that made me realize that this is actually a product that musicians need. Is no longer an isolated problem that my brother and I faced — it’s something bigger, that influences other people’s lives.
Benchmarking
I analyzed a lot of platforms. Some of them were direct competitors, some others were not, but one thing I’ve realized is that these tools often prioritized depth over simplicity — and that’s fine! Most of these tools aim to produce high-quality music, which in a way implies that the simplicity can be compromised due to the amount of features that might required. These are for power users with an extensive learning curve. The complexity can discourage musicians who would prefer simplicity over depth.
But the thing is: most of these services that musicians have at their disposal and become the best tools for them to use, were though for a different time. The way musicians nowadays produce music, it’s pretty much identical to what we use to do not a long time ago. There are some changes, of course, but in general everything remains kind the same.
These services are not adapt to today’s needs and possibilities, where we have so many tools from different industries, like Figma, Canva, or Visual Studio Live Share that offers collaborative experiences, as long the users as a stable wi-fi connection.
Ideation and Concept Development
Early Concepts
The concept was simple: create a tool that feels simple and intuitive. So I ended up by looking at Figma as a visual reference for the interface. For the DAW, I tried to not reinvent the wheel, and explore a drag-and-drop interface that would let musicians focus on creating without worrying about technical hurdles. After all, it’s meant to feel natural.
The main feature of the DAW is the possibility of collaborating in real-time with anyone you want. And with this, other complementary features were created, like Version Control (that allows the user to select between a version A, which is a crazy guitar solo; or version B, which does not have a solo). On the same note, another feature that was added to the scope is the possibility of making comments, so we can exchange some notes with our fellow musicians in the exact spot we desire to make a point — even thought this feature was not implemented on the MVP, it will make part of Jammin’ very soon.
Design Phase
Prototyping
The journey from concept to prototype was a leap of faith. Using Figma, I crafted a low-fidelity prototype that focused on the essentials. I wanted to test the heart of the platform: the ability to create a new project, invite collaborators, and edit tracks together seamlessly. These were the core flows that would define Jammin’, and they needed to feel intuitive and effortless from the very beginning.
The prototype was bare-bones, but that was intentional. I wanted something tangible, something that could spark conversations. Sharing it with early testers felt like unveiling a rough draft of a song — raw, but full of potential. The feedback was immediate and encouraging. Testers loved the simplicity of the interface and how quickly they could jump into creating. For some, it was the first time they felt like technology was helping their creativity instead of standing in the way.
But the process wasn’t without its challenges. Two recurring piece of feedback stood out: the onboarding experience needed more attention, and the limitations that the digital audio workspace had. While the platform felt intuitive to those who dove right in, first-time users often needed guidance to fully grasp the potential of Jammin’. It was a crucial insight that shaped the next steps, reinforcing the need to make Jammin’ not only powerful but also welcoming.
Prototyping wasn’t just about testing features; it was about validating a vision. It proved that the core idea of Jammin’ could resonate with musicians and provided the foundation for everything that came next. Like any good jam session, it was a starting point — a spark that would grow into something much bigger.
Visual Design
When it came to the visual identity of Jammin’, I wanted every design choice to resonate with the soul of music itself. Picking the color pink as the primary hue wasn’t just a random decision — it was an homage to one of the greatest musical legacies of all time: Pink Floyd. Their music represents experimentation, emotion, and breaking boundaries, values that align perfectly with what I envision for Jammin’. Pink, for me, isn’t just a color — it’s a feeling. It’s bold, unexpected, and full of energy, capturing the spirit of creativity that drives musicians everywhere.
Complementing the boldness of pink is our secondary color, Off Black — a deep, rich black that grounds the interface and transforms it into a stage for our users. The goal was to make every musician feel like the interface is their own performance space, a canvas where their creativity takes center stage.
As for the font, Montserrat felt like the perfect partner to pink and Off Black. Montserrat’s geometric structure is striking without being overbearing — it’s bold, much like the musicians we’re building for.
Development and Launch
Building the MVP
We had the concept, the visual and the prototype, but now we need to have a real product. For that reason, I decide to make an investment and hired an excellent bubble developer, that would create the MVP of Jammin’. The goal was clear: ship fast, learn fast. Our collaboration went extremely well, where communication and documentation was key. In 1 month, Jammin’ was ready to be launched and be tested.
Although this project started months before, this in fact marks the beginning of Jammin’— now it’s time for us to release the beta version for some of our beta users.
Beta Testing
Jammin’ launched its beta on September 13, 2024. 10 beta users got early access to the platform and ended up bringing 8 more users. The feedback, highlighted both successes (e.g., ease of use) and areas for improvement (e.g., limited Digital Audio Workspace). Most importantly, this feedback was great for us to tackle minor bugs that our users found. It helped us prepare better for the Product Hunt launch.
Public Launch
The Product Hunt launch on October 3, 2024, earned us over 20 signups in 24 hours, and Jammin’ finished in the #9th position. We got 217 points, and 39 comments, and received amazing comments like “Feels like Figma for music is finally here. Super cool”. Another highlighted the incredible potential, even at this early stage: “Even though it’s still in an early stage, it’s amazing everything that the platform already has”. Perhaps the most rewarding feedback came from someone who said: “I found it super intuitive and simple to use. Uncomplicated. The layout is very clean, without major commands for other features”.
Considering the fact that Product Hunt is not the place where our audience is going to be, it’s fair to say that the launch was a success.
Future Outlook
Since the launch in Product Hunt, the focus as been to collect as much feedback as possible while we work on building Jammin’s team. In order for us to prioritize the feedback and create features, we need to have talented people working with us. This is going well and we hope to have some really cool updates in a couple of weeks. One thing is for sure: once this search is concluded, we will be able to iterate much faster!
One of the most exciting developments on the horizon is the introduction of AI-powered features. Imagine a platform that doesn’t just respond to your creativity but enhances it — offering intelligent suggestions, generating harmonies, or even automating time-consuming tasks like mixing and mastering. AI will be a collaborator, not a replacement, empowering musicians to focus on what they do best: making music.
Some other features we are currently working on are the Metronome, Zoom In & Out, Audio & Instrument configuration, Drag n’ Drop, and some more cool surprises on the Digital Audio Workspace, Community and Profile.
