BEOGRAM ENCORE GIVE YOUR RECORDS AN ENCORE PERFORMANCE
JOSEPH SANCHEZ DSID 128 F11 SPEER
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PROBLEM STATEMENT BOOMER RESEARCH INITIAL EXPLORATION PERSONA MARKET RESEARCH BRANDING CONCEPT REFINEMENT FINAL MODEL INTERFACE
PROBLEM STATEMENT
CREATE A PRODUCT THAT CATERS TO THE “ACTIVE” LIFESTYLE OF A BABY BOOMER IN THE YEAR 2020. ACTIVE MEANING EMOTIONALLY, PHYISCALLY, OR MENTALLY DYNAMIC
BABY BOOMERS “Baby Boomers are worried about staying young — looking well, eating well and living well. They are interested in getting their children through college and paying for a high quality of life. They work long, hard days. They are concerned about their health and their fitness. They seek convenience, speed and quality for a reasonable cost. They are at the peak of their personal and professional lives — and at the peak of their spending habits. With retirement looming on their horizons, they seek retailers and service providers who can meet their demands for customer service, ease of purchase, flexibility, high performance and efficiency.” - www.missourbusiness.net
Boomers are pioneers. The have ignited and lead social change, revolutions, and forged a path to the time that we live in now. At the core of the generation, they are about keeping their appearances and lifestyle without sacrificing convieince. This is seen in most aspects of their lives, from the laws they have passed to products being created.
BOOMER TRENDS looking at marketing websites such as, onehourbookkeeper.com, an independent business advice blog, have listed their top 10 prediciton of the boomer market for 2010 in 2006 their list consisted of: (1) sense of humor (2) calling the shots (3) good relationships with their kids (4) they have the resources to spend (5) retire at an older age (6) hold on to their youth (7) political change (8) shift in career/sources of income (9) staying current yet accessible (10) discerning and loyal Now in 2010 its interesting to see that the market has actually shifted in that direction, with companies such as oil of olay appealing to their need to hold on to their youth, target pharmacy allowing them to call the shots by making their mecication more easily accesible allowing for autonomy, and lincon appealing to the boomers need to be current and accesible.
EMPATHIC RESEARCH
1
Activity Breakdown: Getting in the Car 1. getting and choosing the right key 2. inserting the key into the door 3. missing the door, and having to reinsert the key
4. putting cell phone and glasses in the cup holder
8. struggle to reach and pull the door closed
5. unlocking the door
9. stuggle to get and put the sunglasses on
6. opening the passenger side door placing bags in the back (one by one) 7. pulling myself into the car and situating my body
10. actually get them on and check myself 11. turning the ignition
Activity: Getting in the Car
IN THEIR SHOES
time/task
action
obstacle
solutions
7:20 getting into the car/ driving to school
I got to get my keys out of my pocket, find the right key, and tried to put the key in, but I completely missed. After I opened the door I set down the phone and sunglasses in my hand, it was hard to bend my knees and back. I unlocked the back door and I put the bags in, the elbows were hard to move. Then I got into the drivers seat extremely difficult. Put my sunglasses on, which was also hard. put the key into the ignition and turned the engine and drove.
the bulk added to my body made it hard to get the keys out of my tight pocket. I completely missed the door when trying to insert the key. I opened the door which was the least difficult task, putting the bags down in the back was the 2nd hardest task, hands above shoulders is a hard maneuver to do. The hardest task was getting into the car where I actually struggled to bend my legs and pull myself up.
things such as key holes could be indicated better, some sort of way to lift the bags would be beneficial and also bigger toggles and places to grip would be essential
Analysis When I taped up to “age� my body, it was a very interesting experience. Just in the process of taping up I could just feel my demeanor change a lot, these feelings were amplified when I went around doing other things while taped up. I was a lot more self conscious of what I could and could not do. When I actually preformed my task, it felt as if it took twice as long to do the task the first time around. It brings the importance of thinking about making things that are accessible and aid in the process of everyday life without making it feel like a tool.
To fully understand the boomer market, I participated in empathic research, where we had done one task as ourselves, and the same task as ourselves in the future. In order to to simulate the effects of aging, I wore multiple layers of clothing and taped up my joints. I wore gloves and taped the fingers. Not even beginning the task. I already felt the effects. During this time I found myself to be more self-conscious than I was normally due to my physical limitations. I was able to fully empathize with the need to feel younger than you acutally are and used that as a jumping off point during my initial exploration.
“PUT ON YOUR OWN OXYGEN MASK FIRST BEFORE HELPING OTHERS.”
INITIAL EXPLORATION Keeping in mind the feeling of self consciousnes that had risen through the empathic exercise and the fact that boomers will not be able to retire when they wanted, I explored the concept of how to retire without retiring. Mainly, how to take care of oneself. The ideation ran the gamut of how to take care of yourself and later focused on 3 ways specifically.
HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR WELLBEING 1) Maintain healthy eating habits 2) Get consistent sleep. 3) Commit to regular exercise. 4) Set aside 15-30 minutes for every day for relaxation. 5) Breathe deeply. 6) Listen to music. 7)De-clutter your house and your life. 8) Laugh as much as possible.
3) COMMIT TO REGULAR EXERCISE. Commiting to regular exercise is someting that is also important to the boomer generation, with a myriad of ailments that may appear as a result of their crazy lifestyles it would be important to stress this. The Concepts ranged from a light up yoga mat to a virtual mirror trainer.
6) LISTEN TO MUSIC. Listening to music was something that is big for the boomer generation considering they had watched the evolution of music in America go from the crooners of the WWI to the Rock and Roll of the Beatles. Something that mixed the nostalgia of records and modern technology was explored
7)DE-CLUTTER YOUR HOUSE AND YOUR LIFE. Seeing how the lifestyle of the boomer generation had redefined the nuclear family, I explored the coffee table as a means of redefining the center of a household and dealing with generational gaps.
RELAXATION THROUGH MUSIC “Baby Boomers have a high level of interest in both health and value, but they also still like the idea of having a little fun with the products they purchase. ‘Sometimes it’s not about health or practicality,’ - Boomers & Technology: An Extended converstaiotn, AARP The combination of the empathic exercise, the list of ways to take care of your well being had lead me to choose music. It has the quality to change your mood and keep you mentally and emotionally healthy regardless of how old or young you are, but still had a strong connection to the boomer generation. I looked specifically at the record player seeing as its one of the most iconic images of the boomer generation.
gets home after a crazy day at the office
changes clothes, gets ready to some more work at home looks at music
looks through collection and “puts on� a record. in a fun interactive way
the music and record player create an appropriate atmosphere to do a little work and relax
STORY BOARD
THIS IS JIMMY or Jim, he was born in June of ‘54 in California and he is 57 years young. He has lived all over the state but is currently in the Bay Area. Married with 2 kids that are about graduate from college. His small construction company has gone off to a small start but looks promising. Even after working all day with his crew, Jim enjoys dirt biking, sailing, skiiing, jogging and is fairly tech savvy.
10 years later, Jim’s doing well for himself. Recently divorced, he currently resides in Santa Cruz. His 2 kids are both married, 1 with 2 kids and the other is expecting. He sees them often. His small construction company is thriving and he has sold half. However due to unforeseen back injury he has been forced to slow down, from working on site to running the office. His outdoor activities have been limited to biking and light jogging due to his back, is now looking for new ways to take care of himeslf and spend his time.
THIS COLLECTION OF IMAGES IS A COLLECTION OF JIM’S TASTES, PREFERENCES AND INTERESTS
PUTTING ON THE RECORD 1. go through records
6. select speed
2. pick a record & take it out
7. move stylus & place it on the record
3. pull paper sleeve out of album cover
8. adjust the levels
4. pull record out of paper sleeve
9. enjoy music!
5. put the record on the turn table
10. flip record
PROS
CONS
- music is carefully selected
- music playing will only be that artist in particular
PLAYING THE PART Before I began to ideate concepts based on the record player. I had to be aquainted with one. I borrowed a turntable and console and used it, and I began to empathize and build a relationship with the music playing. I found myself amused and also disdained with the level of involvement that the player required, but mostly in love with the process. To fully understand the ceremony involed with playing records I broke the process down and created a list of pro’s and con’s
-creates an ambient mood - it is a HIGHLY involved process - interaction with artifact and & machine (record and player) - more fun than a cd player or a tape cassette - it is an active listening experience - its kinetic nature makes it more unique than other older methods of playing music
- record can skip - needle is easily broken - the player is just there when not in use - the ablum art is gorgeous, never displayed as record played and just tossed aside
PROJECT GOALS looking at the sequence of events and the list of pros and cons of using a record player I created a list of goals that I want the project to achieve. I want to create an object that:
- uses with old records - is as involved as a record player but not as time consuming or volitile - displays record and the movement as it plays - displays the album art - creates ambience & an environment
complex
OPPORTUNITY
tacky
basic
sophisitcated
ON RECORD Looking at the wold of record players and where they are heading, a lot of record players either look super retro, exceedingly technical, or absolutely minimalistic. A common list of features include: -
CD Player Record Recording USB connection AM/FM Connection
Its interesting to see where the record player is heading for the future, because record players now are either exceedingly specialized (turntables for DJS) or a retro novelty. What is missing is a record player that takes into account features that a casual user like a baby boomer would want or use.
PAST PRESENT & FUTURE When looking for things to integrate into the concept I looked for interesting trends in record players that happened around the 80’s when the boomer generation were in the position to spend money on cool things, but might have not been able to afford it. So after finding a myriad of vertical record players such as the Sony PS-F5 & PS-f9, and their increasing collectors value I thought it would be interesting to explore. Presently, there are algorithms that we use all the time to discorver music and keep a specific kind of mood going for long periods of time, such as Pandora and Spotify, I thought that it would be a good way for boomers to explore music also. In terms of the future, semi transparent OLED screens are somthing that would provide a way to display digital information and allow the actual artifact of the record and album art to still be displayed properly
EXPLORATION developing the record player, I tried to use retro codes to make it relevant to boomers, when I realized how it sort of steerd the concept in the wrong direction, I began to just explore how display the album art and work with a digital interface
EXPLORATION I went from large retro pieces, referencing the 50s 60s and the 70s to heading towards a more simplistic shape that would be wall mounted with hints of retro but staying mostly modern
BANG & OLUFSEN Keeping in mind the look that I was going for, Bang & Olufsen was a great choice. It provided me with a few points: - it was a higher end brand that had existed as boomers were growing up, and is still cutting edge today - the vintage pieces were essentially timeless - they are already producing products that would point to them creating something along these lines In terms of styling, I would reference the vintage codes, but honor the modern materials and color story
REFINEMENT Taking off where I had left off with the simplistic modern shape with vintage references and choosing B&O, I re-evaluated my goals stressing the display of both the record and the album sleeve, I went with this configuration and mocked it up
MOCK UPS MOCK UP 1 In this mock up I was exploring the idea of a simplistic monolithic shape that would just look discreet. In this model the digital interface was the main and only feature
MOCK UP 2 In this mock up I was at the point of wanting to include the physical artifact of the record and the display of the sleeve, messing with the configuration that made the record look like it was coming out of the sleeve
MOCK UP 3 In this mock up I was exploring how to integrate the OLED touch screen, and display the album cover. The art would slide behind the glass and the Record player portion would move “in and out� to fully expose the record and display both objects in parallel
REFINEMENT After the mock up process, I went back to my initial goals, and thought of how to enhance the experience and it lead me to this thumbnail
FINAL CONCEPT
BEOGRAM ENCORE
give your records an encore performance
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.168
.761 2.500
.639
1.400 .192
12.000
2.350
13.000
13.568
.895
13.000
1.000 15.500 13.700
2.800
1.000
BEOGRAM ENCORE IS DISPLAYED ON YOUR WALL
USER SEQUENCE
INSERT YOUR RECORD INTO THE PLAYER
PLACE YOUR SLEEVE ONTO THE LEDGE
ENJOY THE RICH SOUND OF YOUR RECORD AS THE COVER GLOWS
USING BANG & OLUFSEN’S “MORE OF THE SAME” OR OTHER FEATURES, MAKE THE MUSIC LAST
INTERFACE: RADIO Choose the Radio option from the main menu
You cna view a list of stations based on similar artist or mood
INTERFACE 3
Album art, song title, and artist’s name are displayed as it currently plays, you can also see what’s next
When the song is done the information moves down, and you can see what was played, what is playing, and what is next
INTERFACE: “RECORD COLLECTION” Choose the Record Collection option from the main menu
You cna view your “Record Collection,” any full cd or recrod you own on the server by artist, mood, or similar artist
INTERFACE 1
Choose and enlarge the desired album and slide the “record� out of its sleeve and onto the player
Enjoy the album as the record in the player spins in the opposite direction, indicating that the interface is in use
INTERFACE: MIXES CHoose the Mixes option from the main menu
You cna view all a list of all your songs by either name, aritist, or mood
INTERFACE 2
Drag the song from the list into the customizable album art specially chosen by you
Enjoy the album as the record in the player spins in the opposite direction, indicating that the interface is in use
EXPLODED VIEW back plate internal components (chips and power source) stylus motor upper housing faceplate OLED display stylus bottom wheel board stylus bottom wheel stylus stylus railing stylus wheel stylus belt upper stylus plate upper styuls wheel stylus housing glass panels vanity stylus wheel
FINAL MODEL