HookSounds
original in-house royalty-free music
HookSounds is a bootstrapped music platform competing with much larger, well-funded companies. My work focused on high-impact improvements that boosted both revenue and user satisfaction, driving over 30% growth through iterative design updates.
Key solutions included a redesigned homepage, new playlist feature, clearer single-license option with cart, and an updated dashboard that helps users avoid copyright claims.
Homepage & Other Marketing Pages
I worked on a couple of homepages and marketing pages to improve first impressions, communicate our business better to prospective customers and influencers.
The constraints were we didn't want to overhaul the design system that were in place – as that would take so much development time to build around, so I had to work with the already established system. This was a success – judging by the increased traffic to these website and how much longer users spend on the website. The click through rate to other parts of the website has also increased.
Some of the marketing pages that were created for HookSounds.
Simplifying Access to Alternative Versions
We introduced alternate cuts of each track to give users ready-to-use options without extra editing. Originally, these versions were hidden inside track details, making them hard to find and underused.
To solve this, I surfaced versions directly in the track list. Users can now preview variations while browsing, making the feature more visible and useful for their projects. Now we see users interacting more with versions than ever before.
To improve music discovery, I exposed the alternate version at the track level in search.
Boosting Single-License Sales
Single-license purchases had been declining because the option was buried in a dropdown and hard to use. To fix this, I redesigned the flow to make single licenses more visible and introduced a cart, allowing users to purchase multiple licenses at once.
The result was a 200%+ increase in single-license sales after launch.
UX redesign to improve targeted sales of single licenses. Reworked the cart flow as well.
Sharp improvement in single licenses following release of the new UX
Improving Music Discovery with Explore & Playlists
Users previously had only one way to find music — the search bar. This limited discovery and made exploring tracks difficult. I introduced a three-part solution: an explore page that allows both search and browse, curated playlists grouped by theme, and user-generated playlists that could be published and shared.
Since launch, the explore page has driven the highest traffic the platform has seen since inception, and engagement continues to grow.
First version of the explore page with playlists and categories
Understanding Users; Research, Recording and Feedback
For user research, we conduct random interviews with some of our users by sending emails and asking them question regarding features we want to work on, and areas of improvement.
Another tool I rely heavily on PostHog — mostly to see recording and heatmap.
Screenshot of PostHog where I watch users interacting with the website.
Building a design system from scratch and maintaining it
As HookSounds continued to grow, consistency became critical. I led the creation of a design system built from the ground up in Figma, defining the visual language and interaction patterns that now shape the entire product.
The system includes core components like buttons, inputs, navigation bars, and typography styles — each documented with states, spacing, and behavior specs. Beyond visual cohesion, the goal was scalability: enabling faster iteration, smoother developer handoff, and a shared understanding of how the product should feel.
Maintaining the system is an ongoing process. I regularly refine components, expand documentation, and collaborate with developers to ensure parity between design and code. What started as a small internal library has evolved into a living system that supports both product evolution and brand consistency.
A screenshot of the design system documentation
A screenshot of the design system documentation