Why Actively Using Our Ears Matter

An exploration of voice UX through an auditory exhibition

Located inside the Temasek Shophouse in Singapore was a brightly decorated exhibit tucked away in the corner. The Lend Me Your Y…ears exhibit featured a row of phone booths full of auditory tales and experiences from seniors and the older generation. Each partition featured a phone display accompanied by a small description of the senior who would be sharing their story. This was exactly what the 55 Minutes team and I had come to visit.

The Lend Me Your Y…ears exhibit

One of the first few things that caught my attention was the analog phone display — a familiar yet essential item from my youth, long before the era of smartphones. Almost instinctively, I reached out to pick up the phone — hoping to hear the stories from the other end of the line — before quickly realizing that the phone was just a prop.

Reaching out to listen to the phone only to realize it was just a prop.

The intended interaction began with scanning the QR code that was placed on the analog phone. Scanning the code would redirect the visitors to a microsite where one would be able to listen to the audio version of the shared stories. Each audio clip delivered unique stories from the previous generation, compressed into a short five to 10-minute format.

Scanning of the QR code to listen to the audio clip.

Reading the transcript of the audio clip.

Post-visit takeaways

Overall, here are my thoughts on the user experience of the exhibition:

1. I enjoy the compact format of the exhibition and appreciate the deliberate attempt to blend both the physical and digital domains — from dedicating a physical location, and placement of analog phones to microsite and QR codes.
2. However, I did have some reservations about the need for the physical space and wondered if the format could have been better off as an ongoing podcast series. Part of me was hoping to hear more about the stories and wisdom from a generation before us. Looking back, I reckon that being physically present resulted in a more intimate and connected experience and reduced the chances of being distracted while stories were being passed on through generations.
3. The overall spatial experience could have been further enhanced to complement the audio experience. For example, the analog phone could transmit the stories as well instead of simply being a prop. Another idea could be to implement more interactive elements such as playable videos, photo displays, or objects of memorabilia around the exhibitions to keep the visitors engaged as they listen to the stories.

For example, the playable videos featuring each storyteller can be shown through the cutouts of their silhouette to accompany the audio.

Regardless, it was a great learning experience to observe how voice UX can be applied in a real-life context and reminded me of our work at 55 Minutes, where we are constantly keen on experimenting with different forms of experience design — with voice being one of them.

From Screens to Conversations

Experience design is the bread and butter of 55 Minutes. The essence of experience design is to create products or services that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users. We often associate experience design as one of the crucial ingredients when designing static screens such as websites or mobile apps. However, the term experience design and its guiding principles can be applied to other domains such as spatial design, voice interfaces, and games.

The 55 Minutes team has been exploring the potential of Voice User Experience, also known as voice UX or VUX. We believe the way businesses and consumers interact with each other will shift towards less dependence on interfaces and there would be increasing demand on using our voice as a form of completing tasks or having our needs met. The defining merits of voice UX lie in its ability to facilitate hand’s free interaction. Gone are the days of struggling to use the touchscreen display with greasy, frozen fingers. There is so potential for voice UX to make its significance in the realm of experience design, especially now with the wider adoption of voice assistive technologies such as Siri and Alexa. The more intriguing potential would be how our voices are unique and carry emotions with them, and that’s what my team and I were curious to dig into for this exhibition!

Example of using voice to ask Siri a question.

Given our growing interest in this emerging field, the team is constantly on the lookout for inspirations — both online and offline — related to voice UX. Visiting the Lend Me Your Y…ears exhibit has enabled my team to learn more about the possible applications of voice UX because creating opportunities that foster curiosity and enable continuous learning are a few of the core values that we care about here at 55 Minutes.

Values that drive us

Every company has values that they hold on to. Like a compass, values provide a sense of direction and foster coordinated beliefs that a group of people within a team share in order to work towards a common goal. Without values, there is no direction or sense of purpose in what a company does or how it operates.

At 55 Minutes, we go by these values:

1. Growth and development
2. Spirit of excellence, with kindness
3. Empathy towards others
4. Open and authentic communication
5. Collaboration
6. Joy and Fun

As someone who is always curious and likes to explore and learn new things, I find myself resonating with these values.

Organizing spontaneous get-together sessions like this trip to the exhibition, and other initiatives the team comes up with, helps us explore our curiosity and expand collective knowledge on specialized domains. This aligns closely with the company’s core values and culture that prioritize growth and development while creating moments that are memorable and joyful for the team.

I’m grateful to work at a company where the values closely align with my own and where we are actively living out our values. I love that the team makes conscious efforts to embark on adventures and activities, such as visiting the Lend Me Your Ears exhibit, that allow us to go deeper into the subject matter and apply the learnings to the work that we do.

So do get in touch with us if you are a seasoned practitioner in voice UX, audio UX or someone who is looking for voice-related solutions or simply wants to be a part of the conversation! We can grow and develop together.

Kay is a designer and a part-time sloth. In her free time, she likes to hibernate and consume algorithmic content on YouTube. When she is off abroad, she enjoys dérive-ing and hanging around at local supermarkets.