Design

What's It Going To Be?

From the research, we knew our product would have wireless headphones. We also knew that our commuters were asking for their music player, phone, and PDA to be combined. However, as creating a product that combined all three was not our goal, we thought, "Why have a device?"

We used our idea of a ubiquitous system that stores music as a means to eliminate the need to carry a device. That meant the focus of the design would be the headphones and the controller.

The headphones are small and rounded, with a shape that suggests femininity without being overbearing. To help communicate to others that the user is wearing headphones, we added a slight illumination to the edge.

headphone sketch

Also, because we wanted to make the product hassle-free, we elongated the bottom of the headphones so they could also act as microphones so they could detect and answer phone calls from a mobile phone.

To encourage keeping the two headphones together when not in use, we designed them to snap together.

snapping together

But where was the controller? We recognized the commuter's bag to be the most contextual place to put the controller.

bag sketch

Designing the controller proved to be one of the most challenging aspect of our product. We started with typical buttons, but were pushed to think about alternative solutions.

We did some more bodystorming and focused on where the commuter's hands would be and analyzed the direction of hand and possible controller placement.

control sketches

We modeled our controls after natural hand placement and movement, and associations with moving the hand forward translating to an increase in volume and backward with a decrease in volume.

To prevent controls being used accidentally, the user must first run their finger along a recessed fabric edge.

Process Sections

The Plügg Team