Introduction
Hello friends! My name is Vivian and I’m a Wellesley first-year interested in Media Arts and Sciences and Economics. In taking Product Creation for All, I hope to gain an understanding of the creative process from brainstorming to iterations to production to testing. I wish to learn about balancing user needs with production limitations. And having spent my whole life in apartments with no garages, I’m also very excited to learn fabrication in the lab. In the future, I see myself working in product design and user research.
Product Analysis: Shure Earphones
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| "R" and "L" labels |
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| How do you put these on? |
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| Now they're snug! |
What's good and bad about these earphones?
These in-ear earphones have a bendable wire component that creates a tight sound seal customized to each user. Its purpose is two-fold: to noise-reduce and to keep the earphones snugly attached. It’s effective in all sorts of situations from studying in a loud room to exercising. On the other hand, these earphones are so confusing to put on! As illustrated in the photos, each earpiece is labeled with “R” and “L”, but there’s nothing to indicate which side is “up” and how to orient the wire. Yet having extra labels everywhere would also be confusing and aesthetically unappealing.
Questions
On a small device like a pair of earphones, how can we make usage intuitive without compromising aesthetics (as wearables are often also fashion statements)? A few ideas: color code top/bottom and right/left (color combinations could vary based on self-expression), or mold the earpieces to a thumb shape to help with gripping and inserting.
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