Gemini
Principal Designer · Bose · 2019
What I did — Design Thinking Sprint Lead, WoZ prototypes, Concept Animatics, Mobile App Design, Product Storytelling and Executive Presentation, Sound Design, Instructional Design
Outcomes — Concept Video, Mobile App Prototype with Hardware Integration, User Resonance Testing, UI Patent
Collaborator: Audio UX (auxnyc.com), sound design.
Gemini is a gestural user interface designed for all-day wearables — an exploration into what ambient, screenless interaction could look like when audio and motion take center stage.
The design process leaned heavily on Wizard of Oz prototyping to move fast and learn faster. Using Keynote soundboards to simulate real-time experiences for research participants, the team tested information delivery from everyday services — Slack, Spotify, Microsoft Outlook, SMS, and more — through connected audio devices, without needing a line of engineering code. This approach kept the focus on what mattered: whether the experience resonated with real users in real moments.
From there, the team explored a range of gestural UI options, developing interaction patterns that felt natural and low-effort for a wearable context — including head nods and other human-based gestures that mirror the intuitive cues people already use in conversation.
Sound design was a first-class element of the work, developed in collaboration with Audio UX. The resulting tones are percussive, textural, bright, and brief — with the menu-opening interaction expressed as a four-note gesture that mirrors the feeling of a UI unfolding.
Experimenting with UI Options
These initial prototypes were to see if real-time acceptance and retrieval of information from some of our most-used applications would be valuable. Services we explored — Slack, Microsoft Outlook, Spotify, Foursquare, Accuweather, SMS, NYTimes.
Head Nod (YES) and Head Shake (NO)
Audio Carousel with Nod to Select
4-Direction Selection Menu
Concept Video
After evaluating our interactive prototypes, we saw potential in our 4-way directional audio and gestural menu. In order to help our internal partners and leadership understand our vision, we decided to create a concept video. This video would illustrate the UI across some potential use cases.
Sound Design
We got to work with our long-time collaborators at Audio UX. Together we landed on a set of tones that were percussive and textural. We focused on making sure they were bright, warm, simple, and brief. The opening of the menu is a four-note gesture, representing the unpacking of the UI elements.
Patented
After the user research study and presentation of all of our process and findings, we worked within the internal team to apply for a utility patent for the UI. Ultimately we were granted that patent. (To this day I think the visual figures the lawyer created for the patent are amongst the G.O.A.T.s.)
(https://patents.google.com/patent/US11036464B2/fr)
