Picked Cherries

Pain Points AKA Opportunities

Consumers

1. 30% of people search the internet to find new podcasts and 19% of people ask friends for new podcast recommendations
2. Segmented and divided audiences amongst streaming platforms
3. 44% of people listen to only 3-5 creators due to the inability to discover new content

Creators

1. Need for larger audience and increased distribution
2. Need for engaged subscription base and monetization
3. When podcasts are sent around, most people don’t listen to the entire thing, if they even listen at all
4. Only 1% of all podcasts receive 99% of downloads

 

Coupling these pain points with the following statement, “92% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know directly” led us to our objective.

Objective: Design, develop and launch an MVP for Picked Cherries in under 12 months

Our Approach:

Complimenting the findings brought to us by the client, we delved into the intensely competitive space of Podcast applications. Our competitive research and industry analysis revealed insights about the market and its shortcomings. We ultimately determined to focus on discoverability and accessibility as the two main features for Picked Cherries.

We would accomplish this by taking advantage of multiple factors, such as:

• the meteoric rise in podcasting
• the need for a dedicated viral podcast platform a la’ TikTok, FB/Instagram and YouTube
• the users’ adoration with online sharing
• advertisers’ needs to effectively target podcast listeners.

 

User Persona:

Two user personas were identified. Podcast Listeners and Podcast Creators. The Factory interactive conducted user research and identified their common pain points. It was clear the client had identified a problem in the marketplace. The distinct lack of snackable, easily shared podcast content catalyzed us to develop a UX and UI that would address the needs of the identified personas.

The Solution:

In the case of Listeners, we mitigated their frustrations experienced with other podcast applications and combined a beautiful UX with an interactive and instinctual UI which  truly allows listeners to explore the world of podcasts and share snackable clips easily.

During the User Experience Design stage, we remained in close communication with the client providing different options and multiple iterations. We collaborated to ultimately land on a final design that is user friendly, engaging and intuitive. We created the technology that allows users to create and share “snackable” 60-second podcast clips called a “picked cherry” between friends, family, colleagues, like-minded individuals and social media channels. We created wireframes, user stories and functional requirements that ultimately came together as our first prototype.

In the final phase of development, A patent was successfully filed for the Picked Cherries Algorithm invented by the development team at The Factory Interactive which was the first podcast listening platform that augments recorded audio, and allows users to create and send snippets of podcasts in real time. Assigned serial number 17/661,358.

We developed an MVP that included a fully functional and downloadable app available on Google Play, Android and the Apple Store as well as an accompanying web app. We implemented an ongoing process for adding new creators to the app and continue to manage bug updates.

 

Results:

The Factory Interactive developed the Picked Cherries App in under one year. We revolutionized the way listeners discover and share podcasts.

Since March of 2022, Picked Cherries has just over 2,000 podcasts on the platform and 300,000 episodes available to stream, and growing. This content has been acquired from the top 1% and 2% of all podcasts.