Bowers & Wilkins

Case study access

Digital experience

Designing the app pairing experience

Roles

Product designer (me)
iOS engineer
Android engineer

Scope

Redesigning the first-time pairing flow in the Bowers & Wilkins Music app — from the moment headphones are powered on to a confirmed, active connection — reducing friction and increasing completion rates.

Setup to first listening: 48–56s → 30–35s

Duration

4 months

01 — 02

The challenge

First time pairing a headphone

The goal of the first-time experience isn’t to learn the device — it’s to start listening right away and become immersed in your favourite music.

02 — 02

Outcome

Connection established. True sound still pending.

Although the app supported high-quality streaming integrations, the setup process introduced friction. Many users were unwilling to link accounts, unfamiliar with supported services, or required additional time to create accounts before they could fully experience the product’s audio quality.

01 — 02

The challenge

Pairing felt like a task

It didn't feel like an enjoyable experience — more like a necessary step to get to the music.

02 — 02

1st Iteration

Start listening to your favourite music

Aiming for faster access to music through free qobuz integration. Users are able to search and stream music without the need for account creation.

The onboarding experience shouldn't explain the product — it should help users feel its value immediately.

To deliver that first impression, we needed a way for users to experience premium audio quality without the friction of account linking and service setup. This introduced several challenges across product, engineering, and UX.

Before

01
Sign up 3 taps — federated login
02
Pair headphones 6 taps
03
Link streaming account 5 taps
04 Come back to the app
05 Start playing

After

01 Sign up
02 Pair headphones
03 Search for music
04 Start playing

Challenges

01 / 05

We weren't a streaming service and didn't own any content. The app could only display content available through linked streaming accounts — meaning users had to complete account linking before seeing or playing anything meaningful.

No streaming provider supported playback access without account linking. Solving this required cross-functional collaboration between product and streaming partners to explore new possibilities and align on a workable solution.

We needed to design a playback flow that bypassed traditional account linking while remaining technically reliable, scalable, and compliant with service limitations.

Multiple directions were possible, but as a small team we had to prioritise a solution that was both impactful and feasible — something we could design, build, and validate quickly.

The experience needed to support two user states — users without linked accounts, and users with existing integrations. We had to define how these flows coexist, when content should appear, and whether the experience should persist after account linking.

Interactive prototype

From discovery to first play

When a B&W device is detected nearby, the app surfaces a focused modal — giving users a clear choice: set up now, or do it later. Once the product setup is complete, users can dive straight into music.

Tap Start set-up to walk through the full onboarding flow.

Reset prototype

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