SoundMind
Wear mindfulness, unlock productivity
Role:
UX Researcher & Designer
(Group of 3: Kosha & Nicolette)
Duration:
Sep- Nov 2023 (12 Weeks)
Quick Peek
Case Study in a Nutshell
Reframing the Problem
When phones take over
College students often find themselves glued to their phones, leading to disrupted focus, poor sleep, and increased anxiety. Here's how screen time impacts them:
Overworked Brain, Lost Sleep
Excessive scrolling zaps their focus and keeps them awake long after lights-out.
Stress and Burnout
Being “always on” piles up tasks and fuels anxiety, leaving them drained and overwhelmed.
Restrictive Solutions Don’t Stick
App blockers & screen limits often feel like digital handcuffs, leading to frequent uninstalls.
The Solution
A gentle nudge toward balance
Think of SoundMind as a gentle companion on your wrist. It uses soft vibrations and color changes to remind college students to pause and consider if now is the right time to scroll, helping them develop healthier habits.
How SoundMind Solves the Problem
Behavioral Awareness
Vibrations and color changes create immediate awareness of unproductive screen time.
Empowerment, Not Restriction
Unlike restrictive apps, SoundMind encourages conscious choices with insights, not limiting access.
Seamless Integration
This origami-inspired bracelet fits in with everyday outfits (and doesn’t scream “tech device!”)
Customizable Feedback
Users can personalize notifications—vibrations, visuals, or in-app—to fit their lifestyle.
Promising Early Results
What we've achieved
System Usability Score (71.67)
Positive feedback
Areas to improve
Promising Early Results
Promising start with room to grow
Great potential
SoundMind shows great potential in addressing mobile phone addiction, but there’s room for improvement.
Next Steps
We’ll experiment with different data visualization techniques to better present usage info.
Trailer Video
Let's Dive DeepeR
The detailed case study
Empathizing with Users
Understanding student challenges with phone addiction
Survey: want change, not action
75% of students want to reduce screen time, but only 11% are making an effort.
Real talk: phone compulsion
Participants frequently checked their phones and lost track of time.
What we heard from students
Key Challenges
Frequent phone checks & misjudged usage
Students checked their phones between 17 to 300 times daily, averaging 105 times.
Screen Time Misperception
Tackling the Problem
Why we need a smart wearable solution
The professor's challenge: make it wearable
Our professor challenged us to create a wearable device, setting the direction for our design process.
Our Big Question
Ideation
Brainstorming a wearable for phone addiction
How we approached the problem
We focused on sensory cues—smell, touch, hearing, and sight—to gently remind users about their phone usage.
Concepts explored:
Morpho Wear
An origami-inspired wearable that changes shape and provides haptic feedback.
Over Glow
Warmth-emitting wearable tracker for unproductive usage thresholds.
TheraDiv
Scent-based cues to reward productivity, or refocus users.
Why Morpho Wear?
Combining haptic vibrations and visual color changes proved to be the most effective, offering immediate, unobtrusive feedback without requiring constant alertness.
Why iOS first?
iOS provides more detailed screen time data. For Android, we planned manual data collection as needed.
Introducing SoundMind
A wearable solution for mindful screen use
How SoundMind enhances daily life
SoundMind offers a wearable solution that seamlessly integrates into daily life, providing real-time, personalized feedback on screen usage. Unlike restrictive apps, it uses gentle haptic and visual cues to promote awareness without disruption.
How SoundMind fits into daily life
Co-Design Workshop
Shaping the SoundMind experience
Bracelets preferred
Reasoning
Since the wearable provides visual cues, it needed to be within the user's peripheral vision.
Origami-inspired Forms Resonated
Students found the design unique and aesthetically pleasing.
Symbolism
Folding & unfolding symbolize growth & withering, reflecting productive & unproductive habits.
Pivot
Heat emission challenges in movement design
Shift in strategy
Embracing haptic feedback
We incorporated gentle vibrations for discreet alerts
Introducing color changes
Color-changing lights visually represent your usage patterns
Final Design (Wearable)
Origami-inspired bracelet: a mindful companion
Origami-inspired aesthetics
This bracelet isn't just wearable; it's a piece of art that symbolizes your habits and lifestyle.
Comfortable material for all-day wear
Lightweight, translucent polypropylene bracelet for all-day comfort and subtle visual feedback.
Smart feedback to keep you on track
Haptic alerts
Feel gentle vibrations when you're close to or over your screen limits.
Visual cues
Colors change with usage. It stays colored during normal use but flashes white to remind you to take a break.
Final Design (InterFace)
Designing the experience: making it simple and intuitive
Real-time alerts
Stay informed with notifications on your wearable, app, or phone.
Customize your experience
Track your progress
Visual summaries of screen time, highlighting productive vs. unproductive usage.
SoundMind in Action
What our user testing revealed
Our goal was to evaluate how well SoundMind notifications encourage mindful device usage and assess the usability of our prototype. Here's what we learned through hands-on testing.
Methodology: the wizard of Oz method
We used the Wizard of Oz method, simulating a functional system. Participants included Master’s and PhD students in design fields.
What did participants do?
1
Track productivity
Compared their memory with actual screen time.
2
Set preferences
Customized notification settings.
3
Try the wearable
Experienced haptic and visual feedback.
4
View insights
Interpreted app-based usage reports.
5
Reflect and adjust
Reassessed their habits and adjusted app categorizations.
What We Learned
User feedback in a nutshell
Wearable experience
Haptic and visual cues
1
Subtle vibrations were a hit as gentle reminders.
2
Some users liked discreet cues, while others enjoyed engaging color changes for better focus.
Design and comfort
The wearable was praised for being stylish and comfortable.
System Usability Score
App interface insights
What worked
1
Integration with the wearable for seamless tracking.
2
Customizable notifications were a big plus.
What needs work
1
2
3
Graphs and reports were tough to interpret.
4
Users struggled to locate and adjust options easily.
Lessons Learned and Next Steps
Key takeaways from our project
Customization enhances use
Customizable haptic, visual, and auditory notifications cater to individual preferences, enhancing sustained use.
Simplicity Improves Experience
Intuitive interfaces improve user experience by simplifying navigation and clarifying icons.
Clear data drives change
Easy-to-understand visualizations help users understand their habits and encourage positive changes.
User involvement reduces confusion
Collaboration with users during the design phase leads to more intuitive and universally understood interfaces.
Iterative design enhances UX
Continuous feedback and multiple cycles of prototyping, testing, and refining enhance the user experience.
Future Plan
What we plan to do next
Enhance the Interface
We'll work closely with users to develop intuitive icons, simplify navigation, and improve data visualizations.
Expand Testing
We'll engage a more diverse group of users to gather broader insights and ensure our product is effective across different demographics.
