The Music Therapy Charity
Evidence based approach to music therapy research, exploration and recovery.
Context
Project overview
The Music Therapy Charity is an inspiring organisation who provide uses with high quality research to evidence the impact of music as a therapeutic tools which changes lives.
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This project excited me. Having written my MA thesis on the Power of the Arts in Education, the work The Music Therapy Charity does is inspiring and up-lifting.
Project details
Client: Music Therapy Charity
Year: 2021
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Project type: Conceptual, Solo
Role: UX Student Designer
Design sprint: Four day solo concept reskin of The Music Therapy Charity’s homepage
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Deliverables: High-fidelity wireframe of homepage for 3 viewports (mobile, tablet, desktop)
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Duration: 1 week
Tools: Figma
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My role
This project was an exploration behind the energy, life and rhythm of music, therapy and storytelling.
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The brief was to reskin the existing Music Therapy Charity website and I choose to focus my designs on the science behind music.
Process
Website review
My first step was to review the existing website to understand the organisation's mission and goals.
Two key areas were identified:
The organisation's commitment to evidence based practice, grounded in research and insights
A platform for music therapist to promote therapy sessions
Insights
Identify issues
My next step was to evaluate the existing issues of the website and the overall experience of music therapists. I interviewed 4 music therapist who use the website to get clients and discovered the following issues with the training academy experience:
Website doesn't get updated on a regular basis which means content is old and doesn't reflect current trends and practices
Lack of opportunities for therapists to promote their practices contrary to the websites commitment to finding work and funding for practitioners
Lack of creativity in website content and visuals
No standardised learning theories / principles
No opportunity for therapists and clients to network
Research, analysis and action
Widening the research scope
I carried out a series of five interviews with people who use music as a tool for therapy. Rhythm, meditation, calmness and the vibrancy of sounds were key words used to describe the healing impact of music. Common practices used tools that excelled in resonance and intuitive approach to playing. Therefore therapists mainly used reed drums, the so-called tongue drum or slit drum in sessions.
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The Insights
Through user research, I realized that the Music Therapy Trust therapists are moving more towards a holistic approach to therapy practices which combines the use of art, psychotherapy and movement to reduce stress. The final design therefore needed to represent these shifts. I used these insights to explore the interplay of music, art, psychology and illustrated these explorations through moodboards and my final designs which includes Carl Jung's Music Theory 'Dreams of the Subconscious'.
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The healing power of music
Collectively therapists I interviewed said music therapy serves five purposes:
Shifting patients attention from problems to solutions.
Offering a rhythmic structure for relaxation and breathing.
Helping clients visualize positive imagery that evokes pleasure and happiness.
Helping them achieve a deep state of relaxation.
Changing mood.
These science-based themes explored fundamental aspects of positive psychology including strengths, values and self-compassion as I delved deeper into the project's artefacts and 'tone of journey'.
Artefacts
Exploration and discovery
Tone of Journey
What the charity looks and sounds like
The science behind music research
Moodboards
Design system
Final Designs and iterations
Brand tone
I began with the brand tone and lent towards the experimental and playfulness to highlight the science behind music while touching on the joy (playfulness) which comes from creating music.
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Delving deeper, I choose conscientious and spiritual to highlight what the design might look and act like and focused on ‘empowering’ as a tone for the UX copy.
Colour exploration
To find the colours for this project I mood-boarded images and colours that conveyed discovery from unclear images representing the start of the therapy process to more focused images representing the therapeutic journey of discovery and connections.
Colour simplicity
After these explorations I explored simple imagery and colours to ensure Music Therapy’s story and science took centre stage in the design. This idea was influenced by my Comparison Analysis in which I drew inspiration from the Headspace design.
Design inspiration
Comparative analysis looked at artists such as Kandinsky (see image below) who used music as inspiration for art. Content and design ideas were heavily influenced by Carl Jong’s Dreams of the Subconscious and colours chosen reflected the calmness, vibrancy and energy of music.
For my own design I choose yellow for its energising nature and vitality and purple and red to symbolise introspection and discovery. I used Open Sans to keep that welcoming and assessable feel to the charity’s website.
Mobile
The coloured ribbon on the bottom right of the designs above symbolises an alternative charity logo representing the vibrancy and energy of music.
Desktop
The ‘drumming on the off-beat’ reference you’ll see in my design below acknowledges the power of music to help patients understand and embrace their own rhythm to life.
Final thoughts and reflections
Success
The passion I have for this area of therapeutic support enabled me to drive design ideas forward with momentum and knowledge of the subject matter. It allowed me to moodboard, research and draw design inspiration as an empathetic designer who understands the organisation’s mission and why it matters.
I particularly liked the inclusiveness the images on the website provided, their focus on evidence based practice and work to ensure their website and services are accessible to all.
My approach used user insights to better understand the therapeutic experience and human impact. Yes, it was well considered however did my designs follow the brief to reskin the charity website?
Learning
This is where I felt my process and focus on the deliverables could have been stronger. My website redesign grow with its own identity and in doing so moved away from the original design to such an extent that it could have lived under a different charity name. On reflection, I could have made more use of existing content and UI to maintain the brand symmetry while introducing secondary colour choices to update and refresh the design.
