Ting
2015-09-01Ting is a technical solution to aid and complement the hard of hearing when having conversations in noisy environments. It comprises of a wearable microphone built into a ring that allows for better sound quality by easy manipulation of the direction; and a speech to text software suite that aids the user when clarity of sound is an issue.
My role in the team mainly included user research and prototyping engineering. This product concept participated in the CHI Student Design Competition.
The whole report can be accessed here
User research
01 Interview & observation
We conducted deep interviews with four hearing-impaired people. We could observe one of our lecturers who was assisted by a palantypist for two months.
02 Talk with an audiologist
By visiting a Boots branch and talking with an audiologist in the hearing care department, we got more general information about users.
03 Questionnaire
We designed a questionnaire to further validate our assumptions. There were 8 responses of high quality.
04 Competitive Analysis
By exploring existing technologies, such as Roger Pen, hearing loops, we analyzed their solutions and the limitation of current design.
Persona
Personas were built in order to better understand users’ requirements, the goals of our solution. This is useful for building more concrete design requirements.
- Clarity of sound and better volume pick-up.
- Using a communication medium other than sound.
- User feeling that the technology is in control.
- A discreet technology.
Design sketches
Sketches were made after brainstorming:
- Articulate the details of design interaction points.
- Explain the features to users and get feedback more easily.
- Explore design alternatives quickly.
Storyboard
A storyboard helped us understand the scenario mapping.
Interface & mockups
Mock it up until you can make it.
