Project Aura
True-Wireless Headphones Concept
PROJECT INFO
Brand | Shokz
Design | frog design
Year | 2022
ROLE & SKILL
Design Strategist | Market research, User interview,
User testing, Insight synthesis, Design principle & strategy
Industrial Designer | Ideation sketch, 3D modeling, Rendering, CMF design, Prototyping
Defining the Design Archetype for the New
Open-Ear Audio Species
It's a preliminary project studying the design principle for the brand new open-ear headphones before Shokz developed the innovative OpenFit. It's equipped with their new DirectPitch™ technology, producing a full audio experience to immerse without headband but a flexible ear hook design. This new product allows users enjoy all-day comfort and hear their own soundtrack while staying truly open to the world around them.
CHALLENGE
Filling the imagination gap in the new product frontier
When crafting a product within a novel category, the biggest challenge wasn't just the design, but helping the users understand a concept they’ve never seen before. To achieve the goal, it is crucial for the team to integrate every aspects of user experience, including ergonomics, user behavior, user cognition, as well as acoustic engineering.
APPROACH
Envisioning future experiences with tangible experience
We engaged users through analogous storytelling and low-fidelity prototyping to capture authentic reactions without bias. By iterating on these artifacts and research topics, we bridged the imagination gap, distilling profound insights to drive our design strategy for this new category.
Talk about analogous experience
Low-fi prototype to learn users' perception
DESIGN PRINCIPLE
Comfort is the key, ensuring not only a pleasant
wearing experience but also visually inviting.
Visual comfort takes precedence in our product design approach. Our exploration has yielded three crucial insights: firstly, the guidance for seamless wear; secondly, the pivotal role of the visual center in instilling a sense of stability; and lastly, the imperative of avoiding sensitive ear areas.
Wearing Mechanism
Visual Guidance
DESIGN THEME
Exploring design within the survey-validated directions
Through small volume of quantitative survey, we identified distinct formal preferences across the Chinese and U.S. markets. We developed the design language according to the popular product archetypes that were mostly selected by the participants from the study.
Iconic Tech
Emphasize the new technology with iconic design element
Reliable Pal
Convey the trustworthiness and approachability via the plump shape
Smart Accessory
Casually fashionable impression with minimalistic design
DESIGN EXPLORATION
CONCEPT LUNA
Concept Luna embodies minimalistic design, comprising two distinct components: the cylindrical earbud and
the extended ear hook. These elements seamlessly unite, exemplifying a clear and uncomplicated concept.
Visually comforting
The product's silhouette perfectly matches the shape of the auricle, providing a stable and comfortable perception for the user.
Extrusion for functionality
Seamlessly integrate the contacting pivot and mics into the black silicon for better acoustic affect and ergonomics.
Intersecting volume design language
Join the two main components of the headphones with a straightforward intersection, conveying minimalism.
CMF exploration: Earth tone
Opt for a warm earth-tone color scheme for the headphones to offset the coolness of the metallic finish, creating a more sophisticated look.
DESIGN EXPLORATION
CONCEPT BREEZE
Concept Breeze boasts a seamless unibody structure, devoid of any visible joints. This design evokes a sensation of lightness and smoothness, akin to the feeling of air itself. Our aim is to provide users with a sense of unburdened comfort, allowing them to immerse themselves in the audio experience without any disruptive distractions.
Contrasting tactile experience
A soft surface on the inside ensures a comfortable wearing experience, while the outside features a hard touch.
Clipping on the Auricle
The unified surface is the main visual element on the ear, giving a light and stable impression through the careful placement of the edges around the auricle.
Streamlined unibody
Integrate the design elements into one unibody, seal it with streamlined surfaces to create sleek impression.
CMF exploration: Morandi color palette with pattern
A mix of the neutral and peaceful Morandi colors with soft,
subtle textures to create a calm yet surprising sensational experience.
CREDITS
Brand
Shokz
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Design
frog design​
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Team
River Cheng, Mingmin Wang, Kuo-Chieh Wang,
Tsung-Yu Lu, Chloe Wang
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Photo Credit
Shokz