The future of podcasting : Envisioning an audio stories community for listeners and creators, where they connect through similar interests and share inspiring content.

Abstract: This project explores the future of podcasting as a digital audio media format for stories. As podcasts continue to grow in popularity the medium becomes more and more influential amongst all age groups. Unfortunately, existing solutions do not give enough attention to all possible aspects of the medium. Podcasts carry an untapped potential as they are often treated similarly to music files. This project consists of a platform, Cast3, with two separate products directed to listeners and creators of audio stories. The platform gives users a possibility to connect with similar minded people around specific topics through clubs. Inspiration and Method To understand the needs of listeners and creators of the stories, I immersed myself with the storytelling world and conducted a thorough research with conversations with both users groups, opportunities evaluations and concepts testing. The insights gathered during the research brought the conclusion that both listeners and creators tend to want more involvement and have stronger community gathered around audio stories. That is why the project’s goal is to form an audio story community for listeners and creators, where they connect through similar interests and share inspiring content. Result The final outcome of the project consists of a platform Cast3 that has 2 separate products directed to listeners and creators of audio stories. The platform gives users a possibility to connect with similar minded people around specific topics through clubs. The clubs are the spaces where listeners can exchange information, discover new content through a word of mouth and bond with the creators through live shows. The creators’ needs are supported through specialised tools that help to record stories and help to learn more about the listeners. The users of the platform can interact with audio stories through a redefined media format called freecasting. The new format improves a listening experience and respond to presently existing needs of listeners as well as creators.