Client

Students with hearing impairments

Services

UX Design
Service Design

Industries

Education

Date

Mar - Oct 2018

Seesound

Seesound

Service Design

Service Design

Seesound is a service that provides music experience for students with hearing impairments. The aim of this project is to allow students to experience music with sense of sight and touch while playing instruments.

Seesound is a service that provides music experience for students with hearing impairments. The aim of this project is to allow students to experience music with sense of sight and touch while playing instruments.

Issue Finding

Music is often regarded as an unnecessary subject for deaf students.
However, according to a survey on the necessity of music education for deaf students, 80% said that music education is necessary.

Why we updated our website?

Not every website needs a redesign. The first step is to conduct research to understand how your website aligns with user experience and expectations. A clear analysis can reveal whether minor adjustments or a full overhaul is necessary.

In our case, it was evident that we needed a redesign that reflected how much we’d grown. While our site was functional, Notitia had evolved significantly over just a few years, and our website no longer represented who we are and what we do.

In our research we had identified key pain points in the user experience. We wanted to address these challenges to create a seamless and friendly experience, ensuring our website effectively communicated our services and values.

Although the need for music education for deaf students is widely recognised,
why can’t it meet their musical needs?

Discovery

Deaf students have a strong desire to express their feelings through playing musical instruments.

According to a survey of 140 secondary school students at schools for the deaf in South Korea, 65% said that playing musical instruments was one of the most important areas of music activities.

Deaf students have a strong desire to express their feelings through playing musical instruments.

According to a survey of 140 secondary school students at schools for the deaf in South Korea, 65% said that playing musical instruments was one of the most important areas of music activities.

Then, what types of musical instruments do they want to play?

According to the survey, the top three instruments they want to play are piano, violin, and guitar. Also, deaf students express interest in engaging in multiple activities, including choir and ensemble performances.

Field Research

In order to understand the characteristics of the students, a music class for deaf students was observed, and interviews were conducted with 10 deaf students.

We found that the students primarily received information through visual channels. During music class, they relied on the teacher’s facial expressions and mouth movements to understand content.

In addition, when listening to music, they enjoyed experiencing it through vibrations, which is why they like going to places such as clubs or festivals.

In order to understand the characteristics of the students, a music class for deaf students was observed, and interviews were conducted with 10 deaf students.

We found that the students primarily received information through visual channels. During music class, they relied on the teacher’s facial expressions and mouth movements to understand content.

In addition, when listening to music, they enjoyed experiencing it through vibrations, which is why they like going to places such as clubs or festivals.

Then, what kind of musical instrument performance experience can be provided?

Project Statement

“Experience music through the senses of vision and touch while playing musical instruments.”

“Experience music through the senses of vision and touch while playing musical instruments.”

Based on the findings, we designed an experiential interactive installation that allows deaf students to experience music visually while playing musical instruments.

Visualisation
(Unity Program)

Visual expression will be shown differently depending on the shape and characteristics of the instruments, allowing each instrument to be visually distinguished and recognised.

While playing the instrument, the sound will be visually displayed in real time on the screen.

(The visual expression outcomes were developed in collaboration with developers using the Unity program.)

Visual expression will be shown differently depending on the shape and characteristics of the instruments, allowing each instrument to be visually distinguished and recognised.

While playing the instrument, the sound will be visually displayed in real time on the screen.

(The visual expression outcomes were developed in collaboration with developers using the Unity program.)

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