Echoes
As a hearing impaired or deaf, you can stay aware of what’s going on around you, right on your wrist.
Timeline: 1 month.
November to December 2022
My role: UX design, UI design, Marketing
Context
A group of students in their last year of a Master's degree are working on an entrepreneurial project to create an IoT solution to help deaf and hearing impaired individuals in their daily life because not hearing the noises around them at home can be very challenging . I have been asked to help them with this project.
The challenge
How can we create an effective solution for the deaf and hearing impaired to be aware of noises in their home without investing in a connected house? Also, we had a short timeline for this project, we had to deliver the solution in 1 month.
The solution
A connected watch that uses IA technology to detect and identify surrounding noises, alerting users with a discreet vibration system. Unless the other solution on the market, it does not require a connected home. It’s also available on smartphone for ease to use.
The design process
4
PUTTING MY IDEAS ON PAPER
Then I started ideating and the main challenge was to design the "noise detection" and "sound identification" feature while taking into account even people who don't have a connected home.
5
TESTING AND ITERATE
I interviewed people, mainly doing A/B tests and asking for feedback on my initial solution ideas and hi-fi wireframes to know areas that need improvement.
6
DESIGNING
Finally, I refined the high-fidelity wireframes and created a prototype of the connected watch.
Get to know the user better
"I have to constantly check to see if the microwave is finished or the toaster. All of these seemingly simple tasks become much more complicated and mostly frustrating on a daily basis."
How it impacted people
Based on 5 qualitative interview.
100%
of people believe that this product can significantly improve their daily life. In particular with regard to the detection of surroundings noises
80%
of people are likely to adopt this solution
5/5
of people find the product easy to use
💡They want to be more in control of their environment. To have this feeling, they thought of a bracelet that vibrates at every alert. This is because they want to be notified every time a noise is detected.
💡They want to have peace of mind, without having to constantly wonder what's going on around them.
💡They willingly rely on technology to help them hear better (hearing aids, connected objects with visual cues, ringtone signaling...) but get frustrated if it's hard to use it.
💡 There are different levels of deafness, therefore, people expect technologies to be equally varied to address each specific problem.
💡They are afraid of missing an important event: the baby crying, the phone ringing, the doorbell ringing...
💡Most want a solution at hand and consider wearing a bracelet that vibrates to be alerted by the various noises that can be heard in everyday life.
Wireframes
At the beginning, I had a lot of trouble to find the right word when the watch identified a sound. As the user should not be left in the dark, I had to put a button. At first I thought of "analyze" but it was not obvious.
Wireframes
So I replaced it with "discover" which allows people to discover which sound it is.
Some ideation
Introducing Echoes, a new solution for the hearing impaired and deaf community
Uses IA technology to detect and identify surroundings noises
Unless other solutions on the market, you don’t need to invest in a connected home
Main takeaways
WHAT I LEARNED
For this project, I worked closely with a product manager, which allowed me to have a global vision of the product. Based on the product playbook, the 4D framework and the Agile method, I was able to have a more concrete vision of product development.
MISTAKES AND STRUGGLES
One of the most challenging parts of this project was to really put myself in the shoes of deaf and hearing impaired people. Since I was not in charge of the research, I had to do more research in parallel to better understand these people.
WHAT I WILL DO DIFFERENT NEXT TIME
Since the solution is adapted on a connected watch and on an application, I think it is better for the next times to dig more on how to make a responsive design.
The design process
1
DEEPENING THE RESEARCH
Deepened research by conducting additional market analysis and secondary research to gain a deeper understanding of the target community.
2
DISCOVERING THE PROBLEM
People who are deaf or hard of hearing feel a lack of control over their environment and have difficulty performing daily tasks due to lack of awareness of everyday sound and difficulty using technology.
3
UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE
Different levels of deafness require varied technology solutions. People fear missing important sounds and prefer wearable vibrating devices to alert them to everyday noises.