Background
Forté is a passion project that reimagines how we experience music—transforming passive listening into immersive, location-based soundscapes. Instead of static playlists, Forté curates music tailored to your environment. Visiting the MET in New York? You’ll hear timeless classics that elevate the art around you. Wandering through a quiet mountain town? Tune into a playlist that captures the soul of the scenery. Born from my love for music and design, Forté is an exploration of how sound and place can harmonize—and maybe, one day, it’ll grow into something even bigger.
Core Problem
One of the challenges in today’s world is growing isolation—people often retreat indoors, absorbed in passive entertainment. With this passion project, I set out to reimagine how we engage with the world around us by turning something universally familiar—music—into an interactive, location-based experience. The goal was to create a playful, meaningful way to reconnect with our surroundings and make everyday moments feel a little more alive.
The Approach
My approach started with researching popular music apps to understand common patterns and user expectations. This helped shape Forté’s initial UX and overall tone. A key part of the process was designing the interactive “scanner,” which detects your location and curates music to match. I focused on making it feel intuitive, playful, and central to the experience—something that would spark curiosity and encourage exploration.
Steps Taken
To begin, I conducted a competitive analysis to identify shared mental models and user behaviors that could inform Forté’s design.
With those insights, I moved into branding and early UX development—focusing on user flow, functionality, and tone.
Finally, I introduced playful UI elements and custom interactions to give the app a distinct personality, setting it apart from traditional music platforms.
Results and Impact
While Forté remains a passion project, the true outcome was a deep growth in my design understanding and a piece of work I consider a form of interactive art. To me, design is more than functionality—it’s an emotional experience, something that can ground us, inspire us, or even transport us to a specific moment in time. Whether or not Forté becomes a real product, it stands as a creative exploration I’m proud of—both playful and meaningful.