Soft Messages introduce a different communication experience within the intimate setting of the home. It possesses a similar quality as a Post-It you leave for your loved ones to wish them "good luck at their school exam" or inform them that you "won`t be back for dinner". Unlike traditional messages which demand immediate attention, these Soft Messages are only relevant and accessible within the context of the home. Therefore they possess a personal touch, as they are recorded as a voice memo and listened to on the physical product in a similar way an answering machine worked. Due to the fixed physical location Soft Messages creates a more personal connection between sender and recipient.

Designed to seamlessly integrate into any shared living space, from family households to shared student apartments, Soft Messages utilize a modular approach tailored to varying household sizes. Furthermore creating the opportunity for various Tile Designs ensuring an adaptability to diverse home environments and each family member or roommate.

Abandoning conventional displays and buttons, Soft Messages prioritizes more expressive Interactions, with an emphasis on human-to-human connection.To record and send a message, users simply lift the Tile of the intended recipient up. Upon receiving a message, the recipient taps its Tile down and the messages start playing. For those who wish to carry a certain message with them all time, a "like" button on the side saves it to their smartphone library.

Soft Messages complement communication within the home through personalized, location-based voice memos.

Background

Soft Messages addresses the intricate communication within co-living environments, such as families or shared apartment residents. Families share not only tangible assets like food, washing machines and vehicles, but also the coordination of daily activities, including cooking, laundry, and children's schedules. While residents of shared apartments do cohabitate and share certain amenities, they don't usually live as closely together as families. They may share common spaces such as kitchens and laundry rooms, but they still maintain a more independent lifestyle.

Thus, we prioritize families as the primary user group and shared apartments as a secondary user group. Taking families as an example, communication within them remains challenging. Smartphone communication may become disorganized due to the intertwining of work and life information, leading to miscommunication. The different schedules of each family member also make the process of delivering timely messages to all members increasingly complex. In addition, since younger children mostly do not have access to mobile communication tools, their fleeting emotional moments are often missed by their parents who are at work. Older children might have communication tools, but they do not see their parents as often as their full schedules of school, sports, and friends. Brief text messages take up most of the communication time, while the emotions and feelings conveyed behind the messages are lost.

Project Statement

Soft messages are created, consumed and relevant within the context of the home, connecting the messenger and the recipient without having the same disruptive characteristics a regular message has. They have similar qualities as a post it you leave for your loved ones. These messages are not urgent in the moment, but relevant in the context of the home. Due to this contextual nature of the messages, which can only be recorded and accessed at home, we strive to create a more personal and meaningful connection between sender and receiver. The product enables users to record voice messages and send them to individual members or broadcast them to the entire household, fostering a sense of connection and closeness. This is supported by a range of analog and expressive interactions aimed at engaging users of all ages. These playful interaction patterns, from lifting a tile for recording to tapping to listen, encourage creativity and spontaneity, allowing users to express a wide range of emotions and sentiments.

Introduction

In terms of design, Soft Messages utilizes a modular approach to accommodate different family sizes and preferences. Each member of the household has their own individual tile on the product, allowing for personalized interaction and communication. The device comprises a speaker unit with processing power, complemented by modular adapters that rotate and connect seamlessly to the main unit. These adapters are then completed by a variety of tile designs, ranging from sleek and minimalistic to expressive and customizable options. Whether it's a subtle grey tile, a colorful perforated plastic tile for inserting icons and letters, or a whiteboard canvas for doodling, Soft Messages adapts to suit the aesthetic preferences and visual appearance of the family’s home. The "like" feature further enhances the user experience of Soft Messages, allowing individuals to favorite messages that resonate with them personally. When a message is liked, it is saved and stored on the user's phone, serving as a digital time capsule of meaningful moments and interactions. This feature not only enables users to revisit cherished messages but also facilitates the preservation of memories and milestones, making Soft Messages more than just a communication tool—it becomes a repository of family history and shared experiences.

Development

In developing Soft Messages, our design process was anchored in understanding the diverse dynamics of household interaction and communication. With a team consisting of different cultural backgrounds, comprising members from China, Germany, and Sweden, we began by drawing from our own experiences as a starting point. These experiences laid the foundation for our initial idea, which we then further refined through extensive research and testing.

Our research journey involved conducting numerous informal interviews to gain insights into the communication structures and dynamics within families. These interviews were conducted as normal conversations in a non-intrusive manner, allowing us to delve into personal topics without creating a hostile or overly structured environment. It was during these interviews that the concept of "Soft Messages" emerged—a term encapsulating the idea of communication within the home, devoid of the disruptive characteristics associated with traditional messaging.

From this conceptualization, we embarked on rapid prototyping, with a focus on refining interactions that resonate emotionally with users. Through several feedback testing loops, we iteratively evolved the concept, exploring variations from a localized communication tool to a more playful, decentralized modular approach. As a result of these two extreme approaches, we combined the best of both worlds, offering individual storage compartments for each household member while maintaining a unified anchor in the home.

User testing played a crucial role in shaping Soft Messages, with three distinct iterations focusing on refining interaction patterns based on user feedback. Testing involved individuals from diverse backgrounds and with varying approaches to such a product, ensuring its usability and appeal across a broad spectrum of users. During testing, we asked the participants to first explore the product on their own simulating the product's feedback and after that explore the product with minimal instruction. An especially challenging task was decreasing the mental load users experience due to the device giving no visual feedback and the interaction patterns being somewhat different from common audio recording devices.Minimizing the possible interactions to just a few key special interactions and keeping everything else simple was a step towards solving this problem.

Furthermore, sound design played a pivotal role in conveying much-needed information to the users. This necessitated sounds to be carefully crafted to provide clear and intuitive cues for users. From short and snappy sounds for basic interactions to more expressive sounds for liking and sending, sound design was an important factor in user testing and underwent iterative refinement alongside interaction patterns.The auditive color palette of Soft Messages was designed to strike a balance between playfulness and seriousness, complementing the visual design of the device. Inspired by the sounds of a piano, the auditory feedback matches the tactile experience of interacting with the device, creating a cohesive and intuitive user experience.

Through this holistic design process, Soft Messages emerged as a communication tool that seamlessly integrates into the home environment, fostering meaningful connections and interactions among household members.

Conclusion

The feasibility of the Soft Messages business model is supported by a number of trends and existing products that indicate potential pain points and market acceptance. The popularity of voice messaging apps highlights users' preference for personal and expressive communication, laying the groundwork for Soft Messages' contextual approach. Additionally, the increasing adoption of smart home technology suggests a receptive market for seamless integration of communication tools within the home environment. Furthermore, growing concerns over data privacy and surveillance underscore the demand for more private and secure communication solutions, positioning Soft Messages as a viable alternative to traditional messaging apps.

Soft Messages offers a fresh perspective on home communication, diverging from conventional methods to provide a unique experience tailored for the modern household. It also doubles as a repository of cherished moments, allowing residents to store and revisit memories captured through voice messages. This feature transforms Soft Messages almost into a time capsule of family life, comparable to a photo album with only voice messages. In a world dominated by digital clutter and impersonal interactions, Soft Messages fosters a different approach by prioritizing simplicity, intimacy, and meaningful connections.