Sound Surge
Bringing an innovative hearing health app to a new market
A COLLABORATIVE UPDATE
Sound Storm was originally developed by Deepend for National Acoustics Laboratory before I joined the company. I have been leading the experience design on various updates and continuous improvement projects.
This large update, called Sound Surge, is currently in development and takes Sound Storm to a new market in the US.
The original award winning project is described well in this case study by Deepend
ROADMAPPING DIGITAL PRODUCT OPTIONS
The complexity of options available to us in creating a new digital product out of the legacy Sound Storm app required us to communicate possibilities with all stakeholders. So, Deepend founder Matt G and myself collaborated in creating an overview in an interactive visual map on Miro.
A (MAINLY) PRODUCT DESIGN APPROACH
Because this project started with a legacy design, our major design updated is a mix of fact-finding, wireframes for new functionality and updated UI elements to meet modern criteria for resolution and accessibility and to satisfy user needs we learned about over time.
A FACT-FINDING MISSION
A major update of a legacy product, by its nature, often results in going to the vault and finding documentation – what software is used changes over time.
For this design, the original was delivered in a layered photoshop file, so my own legacy skills came in handy (I first learned Photoshop Version 1 as a teen helping out in my dad’s creative agency)
INCORPORATING USER KNOWLEDGE IN ACTION
Drawing on the critical user knowledge from team members Kath O’Malley (product owner) and Isaac Nault (product manager), we found the best and most viable UI update together.
As experience lead, I made sure to incorporate what the team learned from real live users over the years, so we could create an update that is even easier to use and understand than the original.
As the new app is about to go live in schools around the US, I hope it will help even more children understand their teachers in noisy school environments – a cause that has been dear to my heart. Good luck, Suno!