SquadCast

SquadCast (recently acquired by Descript) is a top remote recording platform that elevates renowned podcasters by capturing studio-quality audio and video remotely. We collaborated to completely revamp the platform.

  • Expertise

    UX Research, Design

  • Platforms

    iOS

  • Deliverables

    UI, UX, Desktop, Web, Strategy, User Research

  • Interested

    Try SquadCast

Amplifying Remote Podcasting

How we helped level up this industry-leading recording platform.

Studio-quality audio and video conversations

SquadCast is one of the industry's most popular remote recording platforms that empower podcasters by capturing studio-quality audio and video conversations while allowing users to work remotely. This SaaS is one of the top-rated remote content production platforms out there, used by some of the biggest names and best podcasters in the business.

When the opportunity to team up to optimize their platform and reimagine how they meet the needs of their user base presented itself, we obviously jumped at it.

Reimagining squadcast from the ground up

Even with its awesome sound quality, real-time file uploading and overall ease of use, the original version of SquadCast had its limits. Many of their customers are enterprise-level, multi-show organizations with large teams working on several shows at once. SquadCast was not meeting the production needs of these organizations for two main reasons.

  1. 01

    Limited Roles

    There were only two options for users. You could be the host or you could be a guest.

  2. 02

    File & show management

    There was no easy way to organize or find your recording files or work as one user with access to work across multiple shows.

Creating an in-studio experience at home

Organizations using SquadCast needed the platform to better replicate the multiple roles that already existed when working in an in-person recording studio.

Our design principles

  1. 01

    Give users confidence at all costs

    A conversation can only happen once, and there is nothing worse than losing a conversation, or not knowing if it’s recording properly.

  2. 02

    Help them be the broadcaster they want to be

    Help podcasters appear professional to their guests and make a great-sounding podcast.

  3. 03

    Accessible design is good design

    SquadCast should be usable on all devices by all of the people in all situations. It should be simple, intuitive, clear, and accessible.

  4. 04

    Guide but don’t crowd me

    SquadCast should always have an assistive approach to those using the product especially in the first interactions.

  5. 05

    Facilitate conversations

    Stay out of the way. Make sure users can come in and do their work and move on to other parts of the process seamlessly.

In the podcast space roles and responsibilities are not black and white

When we conducted our user research, we learned that most roles weren't generic enough and discovered that a team within one organization might look completely different than in another. For example, in one organization, there might be a set producer, host, and editor with clearly defined duties, while in another team members may take on multiple roles.

RecordingsRecordings
Main stageMain stage

Enhancing Collaboration

Through user research, we also learned that podcast guests might bring their team to the show and therefore the chat needed more privacy options for sensitive conversations. This led us to overhaul the existing chat function so that it would allow podcasters to control who can talk to who, depending on different situations or guests involved.

Designing for Accessibility

Another issue we came across was with SquadCast’s colors and fonts. We found that the platform was producing a lower than average ranking in terms of web standards for accessibility which signaled to us that it was likely difficult to navigate for some.

This was a big red flag as one of SquadCast’s core values is that its platform makes podcasting an accessible medium no matter who you are. Initially, SquadCast was apprehensive about changing any of their brand elements but we worked closely with them to slightly modify the color depth until it passed all accessibility tests.

A flexible, accessible, premium podcast platform to keep up with the growing demand for podcasts

The new solution is a complete reimagining of how SquadCast works. For example, two of its new features, Teams and Shows, offer the ability to create teams of multiple users inside the organization as well as produce different podcast shows under that same organization. We also introduced search capability and enhanced visuals so that users can easily identify what they are looking for.

SquadCast has walked away with an industry-leading app that helps them serve an even wider range of podcasters. It is fresh, modern, and incredibly user-friendly while being a product that they can build upon for years to come. We’re proud to say that SquadCast is now a product that can help anyone scale from a one-man show up to a full-blown podcast network.

“The work that we at SquadCast have done with Sixzero has been phenomenal. The amount of user research and processes they use have always concluded with a killer final product. Quality work every time!”

Alexander WhedbeeAlexander Whedbee

Alexander Whedbee

Chief Design Officer, SquadCast

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