Tom Hutton
Tom Hutton
Tom Hutton

Introduction:

This project developed as a self-initiated product design project looking into people’s listening habits in the city and the fairly niche genre of apps catering towards ‘sound walks’.

Year: 2023
Role: Concept, Identity, UX/UI, Sound Design

Tom Hutton

Research:

The project began with conducting various forms of research ranging from interviews to desk research. Primarily I aimed to gain better understanding into peoples listening habits as well as market research into existing apps.


Key Insight:

Through research I learned that many more people than I expected struggle with the noise pollution of the city and resort to music apps purely in order to isolate this noise. I also learned that there are many conditions which make people especiially sensitive to sound including those with ADHD, autism and tinnitus.


Inspiration

I was inspired by a rather niche app called ‘Hear’ that uses the. The app was only available for iOS and is since not available, but the concept of using the microphone’s sound input as a source feels like a simple yet highly unexplored use of the technology.

Tom Hutton

Product Offering:

This simple concept of not only isolating the sound around you, but also controlling it became the focus dor the app and informed the visual identity.

Tom Hutton

Definition of user:

• Tinnitus sufferers
• People struggling with auditory over stimulation
• Commuters
• Audiophiles

Tinnitus:

Through research into Tinnitus I learned that the option of creating custom sound ‘collages’ is heavily used for sufferers in order to simply fall asleep. This became an additional feature for the MVP.

Tom Hutton

Modes:

The user is able to select between a ‘mode type’ each aimed at a different user type/scenario.

Tom Hutton

Visual Identity:

The visual identity was designed with the focus on creating a tranquil experience with a highly reduced cognitive load on the user as possible. I implemented common design patterns such as a similar way of selecting modes as on a phones camera app. Inspired by the album cover of Brian Eno’s Ambient music.

Tom Hutton

Prototype:

As a proof of concept I created an animated prototype following the specific user journey of the Commuter User persona type.