My Role

I was the lead designer on this project, responsible for research, UX, and visual design. I delivered a complete, developer-ready handoff in Figma and worked directly with station stakeholders and conducted interviews with both DJs and listeners to ground the design in how people actually used the site.

Understanding the Problem

I started with user interviews across two audiences: the volunteer DJs who rely on the site to represent their shows, and the listeners who come to tune in live or catch up through the two-week archive. The pain points were consistent on both sides. Listeners found it difficult to locate the live stream quickly, navigate the archive, and understand what was playing or coming up next. DJs felt the site undersold their shows and didn't give them a meaningful profile or presence.

Stakeholder conversations added another dimension. The station needed a music player that was reliable and visually prominent. It was the core reason most people visited the site, and the existing player was easy to miss and cumbersome to use.

The broader challenge was honoring what makes Humboldt Hot Air special. It's not a commercial station. It's hyper-local, community-driven, and full of personality. The design needed to reflect that without feeling amateur.

The Challenges

• Listening as the primary job: Everything on the site needed to support one core action: getting someone into a stream as quickly as possible, with as little friction as possible.

  
  

• Balancing community feel with design quality: The station's identity is warm, local, and eclectic. The redesign needed to elevate the visual quality without stripping out that character.

  
  

• Serving two distinct users: DJs needed a platform that represented their shows professionally. Listeners needed intuitive access to live and archived content. Those goals had to coexist without competing.

  
  

• Mobile experience: A significant portion of listeners tune in on mobile. The music player and navigation needed to work just as well on a small screen as on desktop.

Design Process

I began with information architecture, streamlining navigation into four clear paths: Live Radio, Archives, DJ Profiles, and Station Info. The previous site made listeners work to find what they were looking for. The new structure assumes intent and gets people there faster.

The music player became the focal point of the redesign. I treated it as a product design problem rather than a UI component. It needed to be immediately visible on landing, communicate what was currently playing, surface upcoming programming, and give users clear playback controls without overwhelming the rest of the page. I went through several rounds of wireframes and prototyping before landing on a design that felt prominent but not intrusive, and tested it iteratively with listeners to validate the playback flow and archive access.

DJ profiles were a meaningful addition. With over 60 volunteer hosts, the station's depth of programming is one of its biggest strengths, and the old site did nothing to showcase it. I designed a profile system that gives each DJ a dedicated space for their show description, schedule, and personality, turning a flat directory into something that actually reflects the community behind the station.

The visual direction drew from the station's energy: warm, bold, and unpretentious. I developed a brand-forward aesthetic that felt contemporary without losing the approachable, local character that listeners associate with Humboldt Hot Air.

Responsive design was central throughout. The player, profile cards, and archive browsing were all designed and specced across mobile and desktop breakpoints, ensuring the listening experience held up regardless of how someone tuned in.