Enhancing Podcast Discovery in the SiriusXM Automotive App
Overview
Problem: SiriusXM's podcast offerings are growing but remain hidden behind a complex UI. Users also lack access to popular third-party podcasts, limiting their content variety.
Goal: Design a seamless in-car podcast experience that brings in third-party shows and elevates SiriusXM’s catalog through intuitive discovery, curation, and personalization.
Role:
Lead Product Designer
Timeline:
10 months / 2024-2025
Tools:
Figma
Team:
PM, Product, Streaming, Engineers, Research
Research Summary
Insights from user interviews and unmoderated testing, focused on in-car podcast listening behavior.
Participants
Total: 38 participants
Age range: 25–64
Vehicle type: 2020+ models with touchscreens or CarPlay/Android Auto
Listening time: ≥1 hour/week in-car
Subscription mix: SiriusXM subscribers & non-subscribers
Platforms used: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, SiriusXM
Listener types: Casual and dedicated podcast users
1. Resuming Playback Is Critical
Insight: Users want the option to pick up where they left off, especially for serialized content.
“I would want it to resume where I finished off. If it didn’t, I’d have to click more buttons, and who’s to say that it remembered my place?”
— 2023 Podcast Behavior Study
2. Autoplay Should Prioritize Same Show
Insight: Users are okay with autoplay, but only if it's another episode from the same show. They do not want different shows to autoplay.
“I like to make my own choices. I might want to hear what they’re suggesting, but I don’t want them to automatically play it.”
— 2025 Podcast Autoplay Study
3. Users Expect an Episode List
Insight: When tapping on a saved podcast, users expect to see a list of episodes. This helps them stay in control and pick based on mood or time.
“At the very least, I would have the ability to go back and look at the previous episodes.”
— 2023 Podcast Behavior Study
4. Podcasts ≠ Talk Radio (But Topics Matter Most)
Insight: Users often differentiate between podcasts (on-demand, topic-focused) and talk shows (live, varied). However, they want both grouped by topic, not format.
“They’re definitely different. A podcast is related to a topic, whereas a talk radio show surrounds the host.”
— 2025 Podcast vs. Talk Show Study“The most important thing is to find the specific topics I’m interested in.”
— 2025 Podcast vs. Talk Show Study
5. Users Want Control Over Playback Defaults
Insight: Participants asked for the ability to choose their default action; resume, play latest, or view all episodes.
“That should probably be a setting in there, because everybody’s a little bit different.”
— 2023 Podcast Behavior Study
Users Choose Podcasts Based on Drive Time & Simplicity
Insight: Participants frequently select podcast episodes that match their drive length and prefer simple, easy-to-use interfaces while driving. They want quick access to relevant content and minimal friction when choosing what to play.
“Make it easy, one press. Don’t ask me if I’m sure. Just make making a decision easy.”
— 2023 Podcast Entity Pages Study
“I usually pick a podcast that matches the length of my drive.”
— Participant paraphrase from same study
7. In-Car UX Must Be Effortless
Insight: Safety and ease of use are top priorities. Participants don’t want to fumble with screens or hunt for content while driving.
“It’s helpful to have it in my car. I can really quickly glance at it and just click one button. I don’t have to go search for another podcast.”
— 2025 Podcast Autoplay Study
User Goals | Business Goals | Design Goals |
|---|---|---|
Find and play favorite podcasts easily | Increase in-car engagement and app usage | Integrate 3rd-party podcasts into the platform |
Discover new and relevant shows | Attract and retain a broader audience | Make podcast discovery intuitive and engaging |
Minimize distraction while driving | Align with safety and automotive UX standards | Ensure safety and minimal distraction for drivers |
Access both SiriusXM and 3rd-party podcasts | Expand content offering and compete with major platforms | Balance SiriusXM original content with external offerings |
Resume listening seamlessly | Improve retention and subscription stickiness | Enable quick resumption of podcasts between drives and on the companion app |
User Flows
Entry Points Flow
There are multiple entry points for podcasts and episodes, making them more accessible, so that users can explore the massive collection of on demand content to suit their in vehicle listening needs.
2-Tap Tiles
Podcast tiles will be immediately playable upon the first tap, and then it will display the “More Info” state. If tapped again, it will go to the podcast entity page.
More Episodes List
While playing a podcast episode, a user can view all of the episodes within that podcast by tapping the “more episodes” button on the Now Playing screen. They can also tune to another episode in this list. More episodes are also accessible from a podcast entity page.
Primary and Secondary Player Controls
There are intuitive and consistent player controls that allow listeners to control audio while playing podcast episodes. They align closely with the companion app and meet industry standards, but are optimized for the car. The primary and secondary controls for podcasts and live shows are as follows:
New Episode Notification
If a user has favorited a podcast, they will receive a toast notification when a new episode is available for that podcast. Notifications can be customized in settings.
Autoplay
If a currently playing episode is about to end and there are more available episodes within a podcast, the sidebar will display an 'up next' queue. If no action is taken by the user, the next episode will play automatically . If there are no more available episodes within a podcast, the queue will play the most recent episode from a similar podcast.
High-Fidelity Designs
Podcast Entity Page
This is an example of a podcast entity page, where it can show a resume listening episode, saved episodes, as well as the latest episodes and recommendations for similar podcasts.
Artist Entity Page
Episodes can also appear on other entity pages, such as an artist entity, if our catalog has an episode with that artist as a guest.
My Episodes Entity Page
New, saved, and downloaded episodes are be combined in the My Episodes entity page, and accessible by tapping the the My Episodes tile in Favorites.
Expected Outcomes
Though the feature has not launched yet, internal stakeholders approved the design and passed it to engineering for feasibility testing. The final design aligns with SiriusXM’s goals to grow its podcast footprint and increase app retention.
Anticipated Impact:
+20% increase in podcast plays
Broader listener demographics
Increased subscription stickiness due to content variety
Reflection
This project challenged me to balance content expansion with driver safety and simplicity. It pushed my thinking around in-car UI, content personalization, and strategic partnerships.
