Beats Pill+ App

Role
UI / UX Design for iOS and Android

Project Deliverables
Design Strategy
Design Research
Digital Prototypes
Design System

Year
2015 - Present

Key Features
↳ Multi Speaker Mode
↳ DJ Mode
↳ Name Generator
↳ Software Updates

Key Metrics
↳ 2nd Apple Android app
↳ 1st Beats Connected product

The Objective

The Beats Pill+ was the first speaker released after Apple acquired Beats, and it had something to prove. It wasn’t just about replacing the oversized Pill XL with something smaller and backpackable — it had to feel bigger than its size, socially, emotionally, and sonically. We kept the physical UI incredibly simple, while a companion app unlocked the advanced features that transformed a straightforward speaker into the centerpiece of a community.

The Approach

Out in Venice Beach, we spoke to skaters, beachgoers, and friends swapping phones around the skate park. Their setups were messy and fragile, but full of energy — and that’s where the app stepped in. Multi-Speaker Mode let sound grow as friends arrived, chaining speakers into portable music communities. DJ Mode turned every hangout into a collaborative session with infinite DJs, and the playful Name Generator gave each speaker a personal identity that made the brand feel alive.

Challenges

The biggest challenge was making it all feel effortless. Multi-speaker sync wasn’t easy in 2015, and designing for multiple DJs without chaos meant hiding a lot of complexity under the hood. We also had to work within technical limits — the number of connected speakers and DJs had caps, not because the idea wasn’t bigger, but because the hardware and wireless stacks of the time held us back. Still, where the competition felt sterile and solitary, we embraced the messy, human side of music — and designed for it. 

“...Only Dre could make something sound this clean and still knock like that — double the party!” 

— Snoop Dogg at the Pill+ launch

Results

The result was more than a backpackable speaker. The Pill+ app gave the first Apple-era Beats product a cultural footprint that punched far above its size — shared, alive, and a little louder than life.