During the IED Master in Interaction Design (2018), our team was given a design brief by the Hewlett Packard Company. They needed us to “Show what Mixed Reality is by explaining its potential through the lens of HP products".
"Mixed Reality is a combination of technologies that merge the real and virtual world to produce new environments or experiences."
-Hewlett Packard @ HQ Sant Cugat, Barcelona, Spain
Design Brief
“Tell us how to show what Blended Reality is by explaining its potential through the lens of HP products?”.
Through research, it was found that analog formats had a special way of empowering creators and consumers to enjoy the process of their products while digital technologies offered very smooth user experiences through simplicity and accessibility. For the proposal, we merged these technologies into a new innovative experience through an international loved language: music.
The opportunity
Our target audience is more eager than ever to look for two things:
Personalization + Unique Experiences
The idea
A service that allows music fans to 3D print their own personalized vinyl and to experience music in a new and unique way.
We designed a platform and a physical integration of HP technology and Mixed Reality. We worked in pairs to cover different aspects of the project starting from UX research, sketching, prototyping, testing, building a UI kit, and designing a brand identity.
How does it work?
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Personalize your own playlist and cover art through a mobile app
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HP will print your vinyl & send it to your home
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You get to enjoy your vinyl record with your record player
Who we designed for: User Persona
Frank the Fan, 32
“I Love to find music that goes with my mood, music I can connect with”
Goals / Hurdles:
- Discover new music through music streaming apps, YouTube, and friends.
Connecting with artists and music fans around the world - Loves to collect vinyl records and wants his collection to be well-curated and meaningful
Critical to Success:
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It is important to have a device to listen to his music
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Attends shows and purchases merchandise to remember the experience more
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Feels like he needs more personalization beyond the digital experience of using streaming services
Mobile app prototype
Branding
Product prototype
We presented at Sonar +D Barcelona
We had the most amazing opportunity of presenting Bitbump at Sonar +D; We showcased the product prototypes at our exposition booth and got to talk about the project in front of an audience. We were really happy about the positive response we got.
We got some media coverage ❤️
Our final product is the highlight of our unique experience and ultimately, our answer to the initial brief. It encapsulates our proposed way to establish positive connections with our audience through innovation that evokes wonder, helping us explain what Blended Reality is in a simple and effortless way.
My role as researcher, product designer, and main visual designer in this project thought me many important lessons.
Thank you to all my fellow students in this project: Yanfe Pedroza, Laura Ochoa, Caterina Armenter, David Neto, and special thanks to Estefanía Farías for her great insights of choosing the path of music.
Thank you to all the contributors and mentors that helped and guided us through this creative process and to the Hewlett Packard team for their support.