Search to Prompt

Search to Prompt is one of Spotify's early AI success stories. The core concept is simple: users often ask for complex mixes of genres, moods and activities that match their moment. Before this product, they'd have to scan dozens of almost-right playlists to find the closest match. Now, S2P instantly generates a playlist to match their exact vibe.

It's a small-but-mighty feature that has improved search success rates across the board. Its success has also heavily influenced our AI roadmap, and helped us hone our beliefs about what the forthcoming Spotify Agent should focus on doing well.

Testing & Iteration

The first version of the feature heavily prioritized two things: helping the user understand that the playlist was being generated in the moment based on their search, and having Spotify's AI DJ "take credit" for the playlist. These features tested well in usability testing. Users were enthusiastic, and were able to identify that "Spotify is making the playlist for me in real time".

However... our first A/B test revealed something different. Users weren't tapping on the playlist, and consumption from the second item skyrocketed. But at the same time, the users who were making it into the playlist were having longer-than-average listening sessions. The playlist was working well, but the entry point was not. A combination of survey responses and data analysis revealed that banner blindness was the issue. Users were so used to their current search workflows that they were missing the top result entirely.

Second Pass

I proposed two paths forward:

Leaning deeper into the chat-style interface and building a "thinking" state animation to catch users attention
Stepping back from the chat interface entirely, and favoring something that looks and feels like a traditional track row

Quick un-moderated testing revealed a clear winner. Though users had positive things to say about the animated state, the simple row just clicked for everyone. We honed in on making sure that the title closely resembled the user's initial query, and when we relaunched we saw click-through rates skyrocket. After releasing the feature, we quickly saw statistically significant gains in search success rate, and strong listening stats for the playlists themselves.

Outcomes

This product has become a key part of Spotify's AI strategy.

Created a core belief that instant session generation is Spotify's superpower
Increased leadership's confidence about investing in features like the forthcoming "Spotify Agent"
Powerful tool inside other search products. In testing AI Overviews, we realized that creating sessions to match a user's question is one of our biggest differentiators.
Currently undergoing a branding revitalization, and will soon be available as a major function of the Spotify Agent.