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What I learned from designing custom-fit earphones
UE FITS earbuds were designed to provide users with a custom fit through a unique molding process. The earbuds’ Lightform technology allowed users to mold the earbuds to the shape of their ears, enabling improved comfort and sound isolation. Designing such a personalized product presented unique challenges. This piece will cover lessons learned from collaborating with cross-functional partners and designing an intuitive molding experience.
Collaborating effectively with cross-functional partners
There was an accompanying UE FITS app that guided users in molding their earbuds. Once the earbuds were molded, users could connect their earbuds to the UE FITS app to further customize their desired sound profile.
For this project, I was responsible for uncovering what mattered most to our users and translating those insights into feature recommendations for our app development team.
It was common for users to use their earbuds with multiple devices, such as a phone and a laptop. We learned that they would connect both devices to the app. However, the initial version of the app didn’t show which device the earbuds were connected to, which caused confusion.
As a result, we had a decision to make. We could prevent users from connecting to a device other than their phone to avoid this issue altogether OR create a new feature that would display what device users were connected to.
Initially, I assumed it would take too much development work to create a new feature, so I communicated to the team to go with the first option. However, after further discussion with the team, I learned that it actually wouldn’t be that difficult to display the connected device name because we already had this information.
This scenario taught me that instead of making assumptions based on limited knowledge, I could convey to our developers what the ideal user experience is and allow them to contribute their knowledge and expertise. In this instance, the ideal experience was that users could be connected to different devices, know what they were connected to within the app, and still be able to use the app functionality as expected. This approach can often lead to a better end result than simply prescribing a specific path based on assumptions.
Designing an intuitive custom molding experience
The Lightform technology in the earbuds was irreversible, so once the earbuds were molded and hardened to the shape of one’s ears, they could not be molded again. The irreversible nature was similar to the custom moldable night guards you can get from the drugstore. This video shows the overall flow for setting up the earbuds.
The app guided users to hold the earbuds in their ears for 60 seconds while the Lightform technology hardened the ear tips to the shape of the ear. As the ear tips hardened, they would become warm but not uncomfortably hot. With these factors in mind, our goal was to design an intuitive setup experience that reassured users every step of the way and gave them a heads-up about what to expect.
In early versions of the app, we experimented with a simple countdown timer and a progress bar to inform users how much time was left. We learned that 60 seconds was a long time to hold a static position, which could even cause some users to worry about whether they had done things correctly.
We wanted to encourage users to enjoy the unique molding experience, but we also acknowledged that it is natural for users to feel a bit of anxiety due to the irreversible nature. To strike this balance, we made a few changes before and during the molding process. Before the molding process began, we played a short sound snippet and told users to adjust the earbuds to a position where they could hear the bass. Hearing the music assured them that they were on the right track.
During the 60 second molding process, we incorporated meditative animations in the app such as rippling waves and displayed encouraging text to let users know what was happening. We also played a relaxing yet upbeat song through the earbuds.
These changes made the molding process more enjoyable and helped the time pass more quickly, while reassuring users to trust that they had done things correctly.
In conclusion, designing the UE FITS experience provided invaluable lessons in collaborating effectively with cross-functional partners and designing an intuitive setup experience that makes users feel like they are supported each step of the way. While custom-fit earphones may be a unique product, these learnings can be applied to many different applications.
