Design

From the Concepts to a Design

Our music player design was driven by user needs of workers in cube farms. Specifically, we wanted to emphasize the personal space of the player and the natural integration of the player into work. Through our user research, we determined that a player must fit into the flow of work. Workers in cube farmers used music as background noise and as a way to elevate their mood. Music also offered an individual personalization to the uniformity of cubes.

The user needs were significant in determining our final design. From our initial concepts, we took the best features from the concept scenarios and combined them into a single music player design.

As we started our final design, we assumed the player would be used in a friendly work environment. That is, the company culture supported the use of players and distributed it to every employee. This was a company that emphasized individuality and fun. In addition, the company would use the player as a way to attract employees and to keep the morale high. From this, our design could freely take advantage of the space within the cube rather than acting as a stealthy, personal player.