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Applying User-Centered Techniques in the Design of a Usable Mobile Musical Composition Tool

In this study, we present the music composition tool Flow and how an interaction was designed that led towards introducing balance in the work of musicians across all stages in musical composition. Observation and user research led to having a deeper understanding of the various needs, gains and pain points musicians encounter when composing. Musicians and composers who participated in the study, came from varying levels of expertise from beginner (those with less than 7 years) and veteran (those with beyond 10 years experience). An iterative process of design and development was continuously employed which led to improving the interaction design within the prototype. The processes described in this study show how insights were uncovered from a comprehensive set of usability tests and inspections done. These insights led to the development of a more usable and acceptable musical composition tool as seen from the results in the user tests. It can be observed that varying levels of expertise in music composition leads to different expectations and needs with regards to a music composition prototype. Results of the user tests show that Flow achieved a level of satisfaction and usability at par with the industry-standard tools.