Creating a New Audio Experience
Bose Frames are sunglasses with built-in speakers that deliver an immersive yet open listening experience
Do people desire an open ear listening experience?
The Context
Typically, the larger a speaker, the more powerful it is. As speakers get smaller, the sound gets tinnier and hollower. In 2016, an engineer in Bose’s R&D group had developed a speaker that was incredibly tiny and yet still able to produce good quality sound. This was a technology without a use case. We asked ourselves, what if we packaged these speakers into a wearable, to give people the out loud listening experience of a speaker, but the privacy of a headphone? Would anyone want this?
The Outcome
We were able to prove through a prototype testing with headphones owners that the open ear listening experience is highly desired. As a result, we were able to overcome internal skepticism around the idea, and launch the Open Ear product category with Bose Frames - sunglasses with built-in speakers.
Bose Frames surpassed all sales expectations.
The Deliverables
Concept Validation, Target customers and use cases, Form Factor Preferences, Jobs to be Done by Open Ear Audio
The Team
Mechanical Engineer
Acoustic Engineer
Industrial Designer
Product Manager
Design Researcher (me)
Notable Contributions
Building internal conviction for open ear audio through compelling presentations and business case
01
develop research questions
Internal Questions and Assumptions
We began the process by conducting internal stakeholder interviews to understand the assumptions, questions and biases around the project. We learned:
There was a lack of conviction that customers would want or need an open ear listening experience.
We had just released the Bose Soundwear Companion, which did not sell very well because it was a product without a use case. Some feared that we would be making the same mistake twice by launching an open-ear audio product.
A key stakeholder for this project was predisposed against the idea of open-ear audio because they feared it would cannibalize sales for our traditional headphones offerings.
Research Questions
Therefore, we knew our research would need to answer the following questions in order to determine whether or not Bose should launch the open ear audio category.
Do people enjoy the open ear listening experience? Do they consider this a headphone. speaker or a different category of audio product all together?
Would people buy this instead of headphones or in addition to headphones?
What are the key use cases that would trigger the purchase of an open ear audio product?
02
research design & execution
To answer those research questions, we knew we would need to provide our study participants with prototypes they could use and evaluate over a prolonged period, to develop informed and nuanced opinions about the product and experience.
We recruited 22 participants across the US, Germany and France (major markets for Consumer Electronics) and had a balanced sample across age, gender and potential use cases.
03
key insights and recommendations
Overall, we found that many enjoyed the open ear listening experience for the situational awareness it gave them, particularly outdoors. Runners and cyclists believed this to be a better alternative to headphones so they could be aware of passing cars. Still others simply enjoyed the ability to listen to their audio content while still being tuned into their natural surroundings.
Based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback on the prototype, we recommended wholeheartedly that Bose follow through on developing an open ear audio product.
Our participants valued this product for any occasion when they wanted awareness and/or mobility (walking, exercising, biking, working, errands, chores), rather than for a specific use case.
With reference to product positioning, we recommended emphasizing the key benefits and jobs to be done rather than a specific use case, which could end up alienating some of the addressable market for this product.
We also found that people did not consider this a replacement for headphones but rather a supplement to their headphones, which assuaged the internal worry that this product might cannibalize headphones sales.
We recommended avoiding using the term ‘headphones’ to describe this product, to avoid confusion.
04
the outcome
The research provided the conviction required to forge ahead with productizing the open ear audio concept, which launched in December 2019 with Bose Frames.
