dCS Audio Varèse
Harmonising the dCS Audio Experience: Cross-Device Ecosystem Design
Project Overview
Client
dCS Audio
Team
Nirish Shakya- UX Consultant, Leo Wong- Product Designer(digital), JUSST Engineering- Engineer and Developer, dCS Audio Research and Development Team & Special-Agent - Product Design
Duration
2 years
Year
2022-2024
Skills
(UX) Research
Data Analysis
Wireframing
User Interface
Tools
Figma
Miro
Photoshop
Illiustrator
After Effects
Project Index
Introduction
For a decade, the dCS Flagship product, Vivaldi, has set the standard in high-fidelity audio systems, offering unparalleled sound quality and innovation. With the development of a new flagship product, dCS aims to surpass the benchmarks established by Vivaldi, introducing an audio DAC, Clock, and Amp that not only matches but exceeds the expectations of audiophiles worldwide. This new product features a touchscreen display and a meticulously designed remote control, marking a significant evolution in dCS's product line.
Objective
As the Product Designer within the UX team, our mission is to conduct a comprehensive review of the current product's user flow, identifying pain points and opportunities to enhance the overall user experience. With the new flagship product in mid-development, our challenge lies in integrating UX insights to refine and elevate the user interaction across three critical touch-points: the device itself, its touchscreen interface, and the remote control.
Team Alignment Workshop
RESEARCH
In our journey to refine and enhance the user experience of dCS Audio's offerings, we initiated a comprehensive Team Alignment Workshop. This collaborative endeavour was designed to leverage the diverse expertise within dCS Audio, bringing together key stakeholders from across departments for a day of immersive discussion and creative exploration.
Objectives and Activities
Held at the dCS office in Cambridge, the workshop was structured to achieve several key objectives:
Introduction to UX Design and Design Sprint Concepts: Educating participants on the principles of user experience design and the design sprint methodology to foster a common understanding and approach.
Cross-Functional Team Alignment: Facilitating discussions among different departments to align on the project's goals, understand the varying concerns and priorities, and promote a cohesive strategy.
Idea Generation: Leveraging the collective creativity of the team to brainstorm innovative solutions to identified challenges, encouraging divergent thinking followed by convergent selection of actionable ideas.
Key Outcomes and Next Steps
The workshop yielded valuable insights into team concerns and aspirations, laying the groundwork for a unified approach to enhancing the Mosaic App's user experience. Key outcomes included:
A shared understanding of the importance of UX design in achieving product excellence.
Identification of primary user concerns and areas for improvement through collaborative discussion.
Generation of creative ideas that could potentially redefine the user experience of dCS Audio products.
Following the workshop, in collaboration with the Product Manager and Company Director, we outlined a plan for immediate next steps to validate and refine the ideas generated. These included:
Contextual Inquiries: To gain deeper insights into how users interact with the Mosaic App in their natural environment.
User Interviews: To directly capture user feedback, preferences, and pain points.
A/B Testing: To empirically test specific design changes and gauge their impact on user experience.
Crazy-8, subscription based purchase
User Persona
Contextual Inquiries
RESEARCH
Unveiling User Insights for dCS Audio
After evaluation of current Mosaic App, we conducted contextual inquiries with five loyal customers, utilising a mix of onsite and remote sessions, to gain insights into user interactions with the dCS system, as well as to validate our initial findings. This approach provided a deep understanding of user needs and pain points in their natural environments.
Finding
The key insights from these inquiries highlighted several areas for improvement:
User Interface Complexity: Users found the Vivaldi system's interface confusing and complex, indicating a need for a more intuitive design.
Preference for Simplicity: A clear preference emerged for a Spotify-like user interface, suggesting that simplification could enhance user satisfaction.
Connectivity Issues: Unique challenges, such as connectivity in large spaces, were identified, highlighting the need for adaptable solutions.
Playlist Curation: The complexity of the Mosaic app led users to prefer third-party apps for playlist management, pointing towards an opportunity for app improvements.
Enhanced Features: Users expressed interest in metadata, as well as the need for presets and a lock function to protect settings, suggesting areas for functional enhancements.
User Persona
ANALYSIS
After conducting contextual inquiries, we gained valuable insights into the pain points experienced by users of the current dCS audio system. These findings have been instrumental in developing a detailed User Persona that represents the typical user of dCS products. This persona will guide the design and development process of the new flagship product, ensuring that the solutions we implement directly address the needs and challenges identified.
Customer Journey Mapping
ANALYSIS
Utilising the detailed User Persona of Phil, an experienced audio engineer and avid music enthusiast, we've developed a Customer Journey Map for interacting with the dCS Vivaldi system. This map highlights key touch-points, emotions, and opportunities for enhancement throughout his experience, from initial setup to daily usage.
Key insights and HMWs
Insight #1
It’s easy for customers to get overwhelmed with information they find online about dCS and competitors. Even after purchase, the complexity of the system can deter customers from exploring and experimenting with their system.
“How might we simplify entry points into the journey and the information customers have to process?”
Insight #2
Buying a dCS product is a matter of pride for many customers. Hence, they want the experience and the product to be personalised. Customers desire exclusivity and want their dCS product to stoke their pride.
“How might we make customers feel like they own a unique unit that no one else in the world does?”
Insight #3
It’s third parties (eg. Installer), not dCS, that have control over the onboarding experience. This is the first contact customers will have with their new product and needs to be designed for the optimum onboarding experience.
“How might we maintain the highest dCS quality in the onboarding and setup experience so that customers feel assured and confident with the new purchase?”
Insight #4
Managing their system settings seems to be confusing and stressful for customers.
“How might we make managing settings more playful and experimental?”
Insight #5
The Support phase has the most potential points of frustration but there doesn’t seem to be an intentionally designed pathway for the support journeys customers should take.
“How might we guide customers out of their problem with ease and empathy?”
Guiding Principles
GUIDELINES
In addressing the key challenges identified in the customer journey—starting to listen to music, personalising the experience, discovering new music, and setting up the dCS system—we've distilled our aspirations into four guiding principles. These principles will steer the design of the user experience (UX) for the new dCS system, ensuring that we meet and exceed user expectations in a meaningful and impactful way.
Simple and Exciting
To streamline the user journey from initial setup to daily interaction, making each step intuitive and engaging.
Empathy: Be Universal and Inclusive
To cater to a diverse user base with varying levels of technical expertise, preferences, and accessibility needs.
Get as Close as Possible to the Source
To provide users with the highest quality audio experience by ensuring the music output is as true to the original recording as possible.
Learn, Test and Review
To continuously evolve the system based on real user feedback and technological advancements.
Designing the UI Screen
DESIGN
The introduction of a UI screen on the new dCS system represents a significant leap forward in enhancing user interaction with high-fidelity audio equipment. To fully leverage this advancement, we developed a User Flow that encapsulates the capabilities and interactions across three critical touch-points: the system's UI screen, the remote control, and the companion app.
UI Screen Functionality
The UI screen on the system offers users a refined browsing experience, including:
Transport Control: Users can play, pause, skip, and control volume directly from the UI screen.
Album Art Display: The screen showcases album art, enriching the listening experience with visual context.
Play Queue Viewing: Users can view their play queue.
Signal Path Preset Adjustment: The screen provides the option to change signal path presets, offering users customisation of their audio experience.
Control View and Distance Mode: When not actively engaged, the UI screen displays the current track, ensuring users can always see what's playing at a glance.
Design the Multi touchpoint User Flow
DESIGN
To ensure our Figma prototype comprehensively addresses the diverse ways users interact with the new dCS system, we've meticulously developed user flows for five distinct scenarios. These scenarios are designed to reflect real-world usage, guiding the development of our prototype and the formulation of a discussion guide for user testing.
Connecting to a USB Source: Simplify the process of connecting to and playing audio from a USB source across all three touch-points.
Connecting to an HDMI Source: Address the complexities associated with HDMI connections, including CEC settings, ensuring a seamless setup and user experience.
Quickly Playing Something: Ensure users can effortlessly play their chosen audio content quickly, which is a fundamental interaction identified in our research.
Onboarding: Create a memorable and positive first impression through an engaging onboarding process that highlights key features and functionalities.
Finding Something to Play: Facilitate an intuitive and enjoyable experience for users to discover and select music, reflecting the second most common interaction identified.
Storyboard
PROTOTYPE
Conducting Online User Testing for the New dCS System Without a Working Unit
The unique challenge we faced in user testing for the new dCS system was the absence of a working unit. The interconnectedness of the remote, system, and app, crucial to the user experience, could not be demonstrated in a live environment due to the early stage of development and concerns regarding non-disclosure agreements (NDA). This limitation required a creative approach to simulate the user interaction and gather meaningful feedback.
To bridge the gap between concept and experience, we leveraged the power of storytelling and visualisation through storyboard and Figma simulation.
Prototype
PROTOTYPE
De-branded Prototype
In response to the necessity of adhering to non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and protecting the proprietary aspects of the new dCS system, we've taken a strategic approach in developing our prototype for user testing. This involves creating a debranded version of the prototype, ensuring that specific identifiers, such as the dCS logo and any unique design features that could reveal the product's identity, are omitted.
External User Testing
RESEARCH
Goals of the user testing
We ran an external user testing for 3 goals
- How intuitive are the interactions between the three touchpoints?
- Can users get to music faster?
- Is the product exciting to use?
Overall the SUS score was 67.2 points. We gathered a lots of useful insight in different aspects.
On-boarding Experience
Participants expected power-on via the PUK's Power button, potentially influenced by its placement on the armrest, suggesting pre-setup expectations.
A preference emerged for completing setup directly on the UI Box, avoiding device switching.
The automatic detection of the unit and QR code scanning for app download were highlights, though some animations and instructions during PUK setup caused confusion.
Ambiguity in onboarding instructions and post-TIDAL setup messaging led to misunderstandings about available actions and adding other streaming services.
System updates, while anticipated, were seen as an impediment to immediate use. The clarity of sections on the UI Box was well-received.
Remote Control (PUK) Usage
Expectations for PUK battery life varied widely, as did charging times. Users anticipated comprehensive UI Box control via the PUK, similar to a TV remote.
A desire to navigate the UI Box using the PUK wheel was strong, with physical interaction with the UI Box seen as a hindrance.
Features like the wheel's push-down function and the 'i' button for information were intuitive, yet some icons (source and signal path) confused users, and multi-tapping for source change was not obvious.
The star button's function versus its label caused confusion, highlighting a need for consistent iconography and immediate feedback for actions like favoriting tracks.
UI Screen Display Mode
The 'i' button's functionality was mostly intuitive, but its long-press action was less so. Participants expected continuous play from the selected source and found technical details on the "Now Playing" screen less accessible to non-audiophiles.
Features like lyrics display and VU meters received mixed reactions, with some seeing them as delightful and others as unnecessary.
Iteration
DESIGN
Conducting Online User Testing for the New dCS System Without a Working Unit
After receiving insights from external user testing, we diligently continued iterating on the design of our new flagship product, focusing on aspects feasible for refinement given the prototype's stage. Despite the inability to conduct physical, in-context user testing due to the product's readiness, we concentrated our efforts on the UI screen design and the remote control's interaction with the UI screen.
UI Screen Design Iteration:
We refined the UI screen into two views—distance and control. Enhancements included enlarging the text size for better legibility from a distance and adjusting the colour output for greater vibrancy, utilising an actual screen for color testing.
Settings and System Configuration:
A card sorting exercise with the dCS team, excluding developers, helped reorganise the settings menu into a more intuitive tree diagram, aiding in system configuration understanding.
Settings Page Navigation Design:
Initial design simplicity was reconsidered following user feedback, which highlighted an expectation for the UI screen to serve as the system's main control terminal. We opted to enhance usability by ensuring users could access and adjust all settings directly from the UI screen, necessitating a navigation redesign.
Art Mode and Lyrics function Suspension:
Given the mixed feedback and high development costs associated with Art Mode and Lyrics Display function, we opted to prioritise essential functions, temporarily pausing this feature's development.
Next Step
As we approach the final stages of developing the new dCS flagship product, our focus shifts towards refining the prototype based on the insights gathered from our iterative design process. The next crucial steps involve:
Closed Testing of Physical Prototype:
To bridge the gap between theoretical design and real-world use, we will conduct closed testing sessions with a select group of users under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). This will allow us to gather candid feedback on the physical prototype's usability, aesthetics, and overall user experience in a controlled environment.
Incorporating Feedback into Final Iterations:
Feedback from the closed testing phase will be meticulously analysed and used to inform the last round of design iterations. This phase is critical to ensuring that any remaining issues are addressed and that the product aligns closely with user expectations and needs.
Preparing for Soft Launch:
With the final adjustments in place, our attention will turn to preparing for the soft launch in September 2024. This preparation includes finalising marketing materials, coordinating with retail and distribution partners, and ensuring that our support teams are equipped to provide exceptional service to early adopters.
Monitoring and Support Post-Launch:
Following the soft launch, we will closely monitor user feedback and product performance to quickly address any unforeseen issues. This proactive approach to post-launch support is essential for maintaining user trust and satisfaction.
Ongoing Communication with Early Adopters:
Engaging with our early adopters through surveys, forums, and direct communication will be vital in the post-launch phase. Their insights will not only help in fine-tuning the product but also in identifying potential areas for future enhancements.
By meticulously planning and executing these next steps, we aim to ensure that the new dCS flagship product not only meets but exceeds the high standards set by its predecessors. The introduction of this product represents a significant milestone for dCS, reinforcing our commitment to innovation, quality, and an unparalleled audio experience.