Needle Case Study
Redesigning
Social Music Discovery
When I joined Needle as their Head of Design, it already had a small but passionate community. Needle had power users who loved the concept behind the app. It was a place to share what they were listening to…but the product itself was falling flat. The company’s growth has stalled and the cofounders brought me on to help them uncover what was blocking them from virality. From my first look, the app was cluttered, the experience was confusing, and the brand wasn’t living up to how cool their users were. I could feel the heart behind Needle, but it needed clarity and focus.
At that time, our metrics told a very clear story. Upon joining the team, we had less than 100 installs, retention under 12%, and engagement that was declining each week. Still, those early users were dedicated. They were the kind of people who talked about Needle in group chats and shared their favorite songs daily. That passion became my signal that the product had something real to build on.
to begin
Listen First
I began by tuning in. I sent out a survey to understand what users loved and what frustrated them, followed by 1:1 interviews to hear their stories in their own words. The data confirmed my hunch: 55% said the app was only “somewhat easy to use,” while nearly 40% described it as “moderately complex.” These numbers weren’t something to be proud of. But when I asked users what they loved, the answer was unanimous: discovering new songs through other people, and being able to express their taste through sharing music.
connection
The Heart Of Needle
The “Song of the Day” feature, where users posted what they were listening to, was the clear heartbeat of the app. Everything else (groups, messages, music soulmates, the points system) just got in their way.
My insight was simple: if we could redesign Needle around that single emotional habit of sharing music, we could transform how people felt about it.
alignment
Stakeholder Workshops
To make sure the whole team felt ownership over the new direction, I facilitated several design workshops with the co-founders and engineering team. We ran a Crazy 8s sketching exercise to quickly explore new ideas, and two whiteboarding sessions where we asked big questions:
“Why do we share music with our people?” and “What makes us listen to what others share?”
Those sessions were pivotal. We realized people don’t share music for convenience, they do it to feel seen, to express who they are, and to connect with others through emotion. That became our north star. Every design decision from then on had to celebrate that emotional exchange.
Personas
Our Power Users
To anchor our redesign in real user behavior, I started pulling in the user interviews and survey results to form an overall picture. We began seeing two clear archetypes emerge. Marcus, “the music head,” is the type of person who loves to share his taste and get validation for his discoveries. Bella, “the party starter,” listens to new music to connect with people around her and bring energy to social moments.
These two personas became the lens for every product decision moving forward. If Marcus wanted a way to show off his discoveries, we made sure sharing felt rewarding. If Bella wanted connection, we designed features that made interaction easy and fun. Together, they represented the heart of Needle’s mission of celebrating music as both self-expression and human connection.
rebuilding
From The Ground Up
With our insights clear, I led the full redesign of the brand, ux, and ui from the ground up. We built a focused, intuitive experience centered on the Song of the Day feed. I created a complete design system in Figma, built for scalability and collaboration, and stripped away anything that didn’t serve our core purpose.
We added captions and comments to bring conversation into the feed, introduced safety tools like block and report features, and simplified the navigation to three main sections: Home, Discover, and Profile. Every choice was about removing friction and making music sharing feel effortless and most importantly, fun.
collaboration
It Takes A Team
Bringing the new Needle to life was a team effort. Every week, I met with Mik (CEO), Wyatt (Co-founder), and Sam (Marketing Lead) to align on product priorities and launch strategy. When we moved into development, engineers joined our meetings to ensure we could move quickly without losing quality.
I collaborated closely with our dev team to answer implementation questions, refine edge cases, and occasionally adjust designs to match technical feasibility. Meanwhile, Sam and I worked hand in hand to prepare for the social launch. I created templates, post layouts, and story graphics that matched the app’s new identity and were simple for her to adjust via Canva. Her 150,000+ following helped grow Needle’s Instagram from under 500 to nearly 10,000 followers within a matter of weeks.
Launch
Amazing Results
When we launched, everything clicked. Users immediately responded to the simplicity and emotion of the new experience. Within the first 24 hours, Needle climbed to #9 in the App Store’s Social Networking category and #62 overall. We saw 61,000+ installs, 11 million song impressions, and a 39% day-30 retention rate. Our design decisions connected directly to business results. Session time increased nearly 3x, and 17% of daily users upgraded to premium. The redesign didn’t just make Needle easier to use…it made it lovable again.
reflection
Emotion Is Key
Looking back, Needle taught me the power of design grounded in empathy and collaboration. It reminded me that great design isn’t just about visuals or usability, it’s about capturing emotion and translating it into something worth sharing. By leading a process grounded in listening, co-creation, and systems thinking, I helped transform Needle from a cluttered idea into a connected, growing platform. More importantly, we built something people genuinely love to use.
If you’re a fearless founder who’s ready to bring their wild idea to life, let’s chat.
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