“How can you better emphasize one’s legacy and promote the sale of music sheets?”

About …

amuscoreproject.com is the best source for information about Ephraim Amu and his work. However, the site was hard to find, hard to navigate, and some information was difficult to find.
The goal of this project was to redesign the website to make it feel more inviting and easier to navigate for scholars and music lovers from around the world.
Because this website serves to educate and sell translated music sheets, the website aims to reach students, professors, musicians, and music listeners from Ghana, Europe, and the United States.
This project was done for the Amu Score Project. To contact the Amu Score Project, please go to amuscoreproject.com
Members of the Amu Score Project include Amu’s daughter, Ghanaian music composers and ethnomusicologists. The Score Project also works with the Amu Foundation, which consists of some members of the Amu family.
The team consisted of three graphic design students and myself, an interactive design student. I took on the role of team lead to help guide our team through the user experience design process. We were also assisted by a product designer at the design firm DEPT who was a previous design student at our school.
Ben (me) - Team Lead
Kevvaughn - Branding Design
Grace - Research & Visual Design
Sam - UI/UX Designer
Yerri - Product Designer at DEPT

Process

Understanding

Web Research

- Ghanaian Composer
- September 13th, 1899 - January 2nd, 1995
- Considered to be a national treasure
  - Composed many songs for both the church and patriotic songs
  - His Music instilled a great deal of pride
  - Help Ghanaians appreciate the beauty of their culture
- He was one of the agents that helped move the country to independence
- Most older Ghanaians know Amu well
  - The younger generations know his music well but often do not know his name
    This is similar to how most Americans know the Pledge Of Allegiance and National Anthem but likely do not know who created them
- 2nd most populous
- Choral music is performed in concert halls, churches, schools and colleges
- 96% use google
- There are indications that internet penetration in Africa will reach 50% by 2025 and that the continent will be home to 360 million smartphones
- Social media takes the form of Facebook, twitter, WhatsApp, blogs, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.
- Southern Ghana:
  - Red, blue, yellow is often used on weaved baskets
  - Ewe speaking peoples, who dominate the southern part of the Volta Region, and constitute the second largest ethnic group of the country
The client wanted to be able to make Ephraim Amu’s music more accessible, or easily accessible on the new website.
- Need to use a “middleman” (music distributor) that will upload the music for you
  - Not able to do yourself
  - Costs money
    Can be a yearly fee
  - Tunecore and Distrokid
- Top 5 music streaming services used in Ghana
  - Audiomack
    https://audiomack.com/
    Plug-in for WordPress
    Free
  - Boomplay
    Can use with WordPress
    Free
  - Spotify
    Music distributor needed
  - Shazam
    Important for discovery
  - Amuse Music Distribution

Four Interviews

After web research, our team still needed to know more about how well know Ephraim Amu is in Ghana, as well as general technology and internet usage. I contacted about ten Ghanaian Citizens provided by the client and we were fortunate enough to interview four of them.

Insights

Age: 50-70
Occupation: Academic fields
Internet Usage: Entire Life
Access to the internet: all devices
How many hours daily?: 3-10 hours
Activities: Research, Publishing,
Reviewing Manuscripts
Stream Music?: No
Web Browser: Chrome
Musical Scores: Purchases more frequently IRL or through free sources

Do you know who Dr. Amu is?: Yes
How many songs can you name?: Many
In Ghana, is Dr. Amu’s work more famous than his name?: Yes
Recognize by bank note?: Yes
Have you ever used aphraimamu.com?: Most have never used the site
Please explain your experience on the site in 1 to 3 words: Not the best it can be