Project
Designing the Future of Music Design Sprint (May - June, 2020).
California College of the Arts Design Futures Lab x Global Innovation Design (GID) x Lawrence Azerrad of LAD Design
Challenge
Even before COVID-19, the music industry had been undergoing massive changes for years. From the formats of music production, to distribution networks, to financial models, to sharing and listening; the role of music as a social, experiential, and shared experience is transforming both dramatically and continuously.
Today, with most of the world sheltering-in-place during the pandemic, the experience of live music and shared music experiences is also changing. Music festivals are grappling with virtual experiences, and technology is playing a new role in developing both the social and experiential roles music plays in our lives. Many recording artists are now seeking new ways to connect with their audiences and designers, musicians, festivals, producers, technologists and media venues are all responding to the challenge of using distributed platforms to reimagine the relationship between design, music and our most fundamental human experiences.
This unprecedented situation is an opportunity to reimagine the possibilities of social experiences, live performance, and sensory expression while we are distanced from each other. And how this imagination might expand our notions of musical expression when we are able to be together again.
Based on the rapidly evolving ways we discover, access, connect to and discover music, how might we engender deeper connection to expression, artistry, and community?Solution
Synk is a personal home music device designed to help you create a deeper connection to your music and to yourself. Combined with your music, Synk is a tool to do everything from expressing yourself, to looking inwards through introspection, to immersing yourself in your home environment.
This product creates individual music experiences in the home, that are immersive and that promote engagement by enhancing and utilizing all of the senses. By creating experiences that are meaningful and immersive, we hope to provide an external space for social connection and an internal space for introspection.
Team
Scope
Speculative Design
Visual Design & Branding
Product Design
UX Design/Research
Timeline
2 Weeks
Features
Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
The Future Happened: Designing the Future of Music
Digital Exhibition
April 2021 - 2022
San Francisco Design Week
Designing the Future of Music
LAD Design - Designing the Future of MusicJune 2020
How it works
The overarching concept for Synk was based around a form, made from a new material that, in our minds, is the successor of today’s ferrofluid; a magnetically reactive liquid made from oil and iron particles, at the most simple. The Synk fluid is suspended, animated, and manipulated through precise magnetic fields.
Product Form
The form of your sync is driven by two factors: first, your music (its tempo, timbre, texture, dynamics, valence, etc.) as it plays live and second, your physical interaction with Synk itself. This allows users to engage with music in new ways by promoting immersion, interaction, creativity, and expression.
Deepening your relationship with music will allow you to create your own custom space for relaxation, inspiration, and expression. As you listen, you can watch synk react to your music, but you can also push, pull, and make synk what you want it to be in that moment. A new expression of your thoughts and feelings.
Most importantly, synk is here to help immerse you in your music everyday in your home environment. Whether it’s daily repetitive introspection or gatherings with close friends and family, synk will help you deepen those moments and those connections.
the Synk App
The Synk app is designed to elevate your experience with Synk by providing customization, a space for social connection, a structure for personal music curation, and an avenue for discovery through smart Ai-powered music recommendations. The platform combines elements of social media and streaming services into an all-inclusive curated experience.
Process
Within the duration of two short weeks, our process quickly moved from industry research, to speculation, to user research and UX frameworks, to ideation, and finally prototyping and product design.
We were able to quickly iterate, pivot, and define our project with the guidance of Lawrence Azerrad, Grammy award winning graphic designer and organizer of the design sprint; Leila Sheldrick, Head of the Global Innovation Design program at Imperial College of London & the Royal College of Art; and Sara Dean, assistant chair of the MFA Design program and head of the new Design Futures Lab at California College of the Arts.
Speculation
The Future of Music: 2035
In this speculative future, the barriers between physical and digital have fully dissolved and all daily activities have merged with innovative technology. Ai, AR, and VR integration provide a much more vibrant, comprehensive, and immersive reality. Cloud computing and hardware infrastructure allow data transmission, access, and acquisition to be seamless and instant, with better quality. Physical materials are dynamic and versatile, in both physical forms as well as chemical reactions. This allows everything, from tangible products to intangible services, to become smarter and more interactive and prompts daily products and services to anticipate our needs and interact with us at almost every moment in our day to day lives.
Social interaction and connection is no longer bound by time and space and as such, almost all interaction is mediated by technology. Meeting IRL has become reserved only for special and necessary occasions due the inefficiency compared to other methods, sweeping government regulation, dangers of encountering contagions and breathing in pollution, and the amount of product shipment traffic and construction outdoors that causes major delays. This has changed the hierarchy of social order and the way people interact, it has sparked new laws of morality, caused many people to feel isolated and disconnected, and often leaves people craving immersive experiences.
This way of life is fast paced, but includes very little physical movement. Most of the population works from home, so houses have become equipped to provide almost everything that people need for work, entertainment, exercise, shopping, etc. Tech is integrated into all aspects of the home to provide a connective framework. People are constantly bombarded with ads, messages, and visual information. This leaves little opportunity for alone time, relaxation, + self introspection and makes people feel as if they are bottled up at home with no outlet for escape. With this said, people really miss the “old fashioned” way of life.
User Research + UX Insights
1) The need for immersion through sensory stimulation
“All of our senses aren’t fully engaged.” - Mariah Bayless
“I feel like if more of my senses were engaged it would open up my mind in new ways” - Alex Dumke
“Actually being there. Smell, taste, touch, sound.” - Ryan Mayor
2) Music’s ability to promote introspection
“It creates a safe space for emotion” - Cynthia Huss
“Music is empowering. You can relate to all aspects of it.” - Ryan Sandoval
“I play music based on the mood I want to feel or want strong emotions out of.” - Eunji Jung
“Listening to music for me is therapeutic at times. It can connect with me on a different level compared to like if I'm talking to someone. Sometimes music just speaks in ways that nothing else can.” - Celeste Wagner
“Music, for me, is an escape. It helps me be in sync with my thoughts.” - Priya Rajaraman
“When I have anxiety, listening to music helps.“ - Joe Cdebaca
Identifying Barriers and solutions
Pain points:
Lack of connection (within the self and with others)
No time or meaningful space for introspection
Oversaturation of external experiences
Lack of immersive experience (that give meaning to people's lives outside of their houses)
User Journey: Full integration
Wake up to an upbeat song with a custom alarm
Synk follows you while you get ready for the day
Tell Synk what to play while you work in your home office
Take a break with a relaxing song and immersive visuals
Move along with Synk for a fun home workout
Synk sets the mood for dinner with smooth jazz
Dance with Synk to celebrate good news or the end of the day
Unwind with meditation mode
Fall asleep to soft electronic tones and relaxing waves of color
Ideation
Visual Identity + Branding
Prototyping
Reflection
Throughout my life, music has been a constant source of inspiration and energy and definitely plays a big role in my creative process. One of the reasons why music is so powerful is because it has the ability to break down barriers; it can speak to people across different cultures and bring people together with no other common interests.
Which is why I feel music is such an important tool for us, as designers, both in our personal practices and in the ways that we utilize it to amplify experiences and communicate with others.
This design sprint is evidence of this. Even though it has been a challenging experience to work under the circumstances of the pandemic; confined to virtual collaboration, and across different timezones, our passion for music has brought us together and proven itself as a driver for creativity and connection.
It has been an amazing experience to collaborate with Patrick, Hannah, and Christian, who are all such talented and creative designers. With varying backgrounds and skillsets, we were able to approach this project on many different levels and build up each other’s ideas in ways that we could not have accomplished alone. Throughout this process I have learned so much about music, about design, and even about myself.