Geolocation-Based Audio Experience
Geolocation-Based Audio Experience
Geolocation-Based Audio Experience
Overview
Timeline
Timeline
36 hours
Role
Role
Product Designer
Skills
Skills
Visual Design, Interaction Design, User Research, Product Thinking
Team
Team
2 Product Managers, 1 Graphic Designer
Context
Producthon is a 36-hour design challenge at Tufts where participants build a product from 0 to 1 which solves a problem in a given space. The theme for Fall 2024 is entertainment, focusing on media streaming.
I mentored a student designer with no prior Figma experience and worked with the entire team through the whole design process, from research to prototyping. On day 1, we chose a problem, brainstormed ideas, formed a hypothesis, created a questionnaire, and collected 39 responses. On day 2, we conducted 4 interviews, analyzed our findings, sketched wireframes, developed a style guide, created high-fidelity designs, created brand identities, and prepared a pitch deck.
Our app concept, Resona, is a sensory map platform that streams live and archived sounds from locations around the world. By combining geolocation, immersive audio, and cultural storytelling, Resona provides a unique auditory experience for people feeling homesick or those interested in exploring different cultures through location-specific sounds.
Problem
Bread & Roses serves over 10,000 households every year, yet volunteer operations still heavily relied on spreadsheets, emails, and manual coordination. As volunteer demand grew, administrative work became the bottleneck and unable to scale accordingly.
Solution
I designed a 0→1 operations platform that helped Bread & Roses coordinate volunteers, attendance, communication, and reporting from a single system. Shipped and launched since 2025.
Problem
Bread & Roses serves over 10,000 households every year, yet volunteer operations still heavily relied on spreadsheets, emails, and manual coordination. As volunteer demand grew, administrative work became the bottleneck and unable to scale accordingly.
Solution
I designed a 0→1 operations platform that helped Bread & Roses coordinate volunteers, attendance, communication, and reporting from a single system. Shipped and launched since 2025.
How It Started
It all started with a casual conversation among us international students
It was clear - sound is more than just noise; it’s tied to memories, culture, and identity. That’s when we knew we had something special to explore.
Research
We wonder if this emotional connection to sound is universal
We conducted literature review and mixed-method research with participants from varying international backgrounds to prove our hypothesis.
"Homesickness is a practically universal experience to any person, regardless of age, gender and cultural background, separating from their home."
👩🏻💼 "Homesickness is a practically universal experience to any person, regardless of age, gender and cultural background, separating from their home."
(Fisher, 2017; Thurber, 2005)
"Musical emotions and musical memory can survive long after other forms of memory have disappeared"
👩🏻💼 "Homesickness is a practically universal experience to any person, regardless of age, gender and cultural background, separating from their home."
(Oliver Wolf Sacks, CBE, British neurologist, naturalist, historian of science, and writer)
From a background research
79.5%
strongly associate sound with the concept of “home”
92,4%
associate sounds with the experience of a place
60,5%
think of the nostalgic and emotional feelings from sounds at home
From our survey with 39 responses
Homesickness is multifaceted and deeply tied to mood and nostalgia.
"Homesickness is the sadness I feel when I'm away from home, but it’s not always negative. Sometimes it brings a sense of nostalgia and happiness as I reflect on good memories from the past." - Interviewer 1
👩🏻💼 "Homesickness is a practically universal experience to any person, regardless of age, gender and cultural background, separating from their home."
"I want something that can understand my mood at the time and generate sound or music based on that." - Interviewer 2
👩🏻💼 "Homesickness is a practically universal experience to any person, regardless of age, gender and cultural background, separating from their home."
Authenticity and cultural context are essential for trust in sound recommendations.
"As long as the sounds are authentic, like they’re from locals - not just foreigners guessing what it’s like." - Interviewer 3
👩🏻💼 "Homesickness is a practically universal experience to any person, regardless of age, gender and cultural background, separating from their home."
"I usually use Spotify to listen to songs. But when it comes to sounds, you can NEVER hear similar sounds to your home. You can’t replicate it." - Interviewer 4
👩🏻💼 "Homesickness is a practically universal experience to any person, regardless of age, gender and cultural background, separating from their home."
Synthesis & Insights
The deep rooted insight is
Sounds evoke deep emotional connections to home and culture for people away from home, yet they struggle to find platforms that recreate these unique auditory experiences.
👩🏻💼 "Homesickness is a practically universal experience to any person, regardless of age, gender and cultural background, separating from their home."
How might we…
… bridge users' emotional and cultural connections by creating a sound streaming platform that provide real-time, immersive, and location-specific audio experiences globally?
👩🏻💼 "Homesickness is a practically universal experience to any person, regardless of age, gender and cultural background, separating from their home."
Product Preview
TUNE IN TO LIVESTREAMING SOUND SESSIONS FROM YOUR HOMETOWN
Immerse yourself in real-time sounds from your hometown with just one tap.
TUNE IN TO LIVESTREAMING SOUND SESSIONS FROM YOUR HOMETOWN
Immerse yourself in real-time sounds from your hometown with just one tap.
SEARCH AND FILTER FOR SOUNDS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD
Discover global soundscapes with advanced search and filter options. Toggle between either a list or a map view for more personalization.
INTERACTIVE MAP GETS YOU TO EACH CITY AND SEE THE ARCHIVED SOUND PLAYLIST
Explore cities worldwide through an interactive map and access their real-time and archived sounds.
Next Steps
👨🏻💻 Deepening user testing
If given more time, I would delve deeper into usability testing with our mid-fi wireframes and also our hi-fi prototypes. This expanded testing would be a valuable resource for user feedback, which is crucial for iterations to ensure the app evolves to serve its users’ needs better.
🧐 More research on cultural nuances
If given more time, I would also expand on understanding cultural contexts and auditory preferences. Sounds carry unique meanings across different regions and cultures, so refining our content to align with these nuances would make Resona even more engaging and authentic. This could involve partnering with cultural experts or conducting focus groups with users from diverse backgrounds to ensure our platform respects and celebrates cultural diversity.
Geolocation-Based Audio Experience
Geolocation-Based Audio Experience
Geolocation-Based Audio Experience
Overview
Timeline
Timeline
36 hours
Role
Role
Product Designer
Skills
Skills
Visual Design, Interaction Design, User Research, Product Thinking
Team
Team
2 Product Managers, 1 Graphic Designer
Context
Producthon is a 36-hour design challenge at Tufts where participants build a product from 0 to 1 which solves a problem in a given space. The theme for Fall 2024 is entertainment, focusing on media streaming.
I mentored a student designer with no prior Figma experience and worked with the entire team through the whole design process, from research to prototyping. On day 1, we chose a problem, brainstormed ideas, formed a hypothesis, created a questionnaire, and collected 39 responses. On day 2, we conducted 4 interviews, analyzed our findings, sketched wireframes, developed a style guide, created high-fidelity designs, created brand identities, and prepared a pitch deck.
Our app concept, Resona, is a sensory map platform that streams live and archived sounds from locations around the world. By combining geolocation, immersive audio, and cultural storytelling, Resona provides a unique auditory experience for people feeling homesick or those interested in exploring different cultures through location-specific sounds.
Problem
Bread & Roses serves over 10,000 households every year, yet volunteer operations still heavily relied on spreadsheets, emails, and manual coordination. As volunteer demand grew, administrative work became the bottleneck and unable to scale accordingly.
Solution
I designed a 0→1 operations platform that helped Bread & Roses coordinate volunteers, attendance, communication, and reporting from a single system. Shipped and launched since 2025.
Problem
Bread & Roses serves over 10,000 households every year, yet volunteer operations still heavily relied on spreadsheets, emails, and manual coordination. As volunteer demand grew, administrative work became the bottleneck and unable to scale accordingly.
Solution
I designed a 0→1 operations platform that helped Bread & Roses coordinate volunteers, attendance, communication, and reporting from a single system. Shipped and launched since 2025.
How It Started
It all started with a casual conversation among us international students
It was clear - sound is more than just noise; it’s tied to memories, culture, and identity. That’s when we knew we had something special to explore.
Research
We wonder if this emotional connection to sound is universal
We conducted literature review and mixed-method research with participants from varying international backgrounds to prove our hypothesis.
"Homesickness is a practically universal experience to any person, regardless of age, gender and cultural background, separating from their home."
👩🏻💼 "Homesickness is a practically universal experience to any person, regardless of age, gender and cultural background, separating from their home."
(Fisher, 2017; Thurber, 2005)
"Musical emotions and musical memory can survive long after other forms of memory have disappeared"
👩🏻💼 "Homesickness is a practically universal experience to any person, regardless of age, gender and cultural background, separating from their home."
(Oliver Wolf Sacks, CBE, British neurologist, naturalist, historian of science, and writer)
From a background research
79.5%
strongly associate sound with the concept of “home”
92,4%
associate sounds with the experience of a place
60,5%
think of the nostalgic and emotional feelings from sounds at home
From our survey with 39 responses
Homesickness is multifaceted and deeply tied to mood and nostalgia.
"Homesickness is the sadness I feel when I'm away from home, but it’s not always negative. Sometimes it brings a sense of nostalgia and happiness as I reflect on good memories from the past." - Interviewer 1
👩🏻💼 "Homesickness is a practically universal experience to any person, regardless of age, gender and cultural background, separating from their home."
"I want something that can understand my mood at the time and generate sound or music based on that." - Interviewer 2
👩🏻💼 "Homesickness is a practically universal experience to any person, regardless of age, gender and cultural background, separating from their home."
Authenticity and cultural context are essential for trust in sound recommendations.
"As long as the sounds are authentic, like they’re from locals - not just foreigners guessing what it’s like." - Interviewer 3
👩🏻💼 "Homesickness is a practically universal experience to any person, regardless of age, gender and cultural background, separating from their home."
"I usually use Spotify to listen to songs. But when it comes to sounds, you can NEVER hear similar sounds to your home. You can’t replicate it." - Interviewer 4
👩🏻💼 "Homesickness is a practically universal experience to any person, regardless of age, gender and cultural background, separating from their home."
Synthesis & Insights
The deep rooted insight is
Sounds evoke deep emotional connections to home and culture for people away from home, yet they struggle to find platforms that recreate these unique auditory experiences.
👩🏻💼 "Homesickness is a practically universal experience to any person, regardless of age, gender and cultural background, separating from their home."
How might we…
… bridge users' emotional and cultural connections by creating a sound streaming platform that provide real-time, immersive, and location-specific audio experiences globally?
👩🏻💼 "Homesickness is a practically universal experience to any person, regardless of age, gender and cultural background, separating from their home."
Product Preview
TUNE IN TO LIVESTREAMING SOUND SESSIONS FROM YOUR HOMETOWN
Immerse yourself in real-time sounds from your hometown with just one tap.
TUNE IN TO LIVESTREAMING SOUND SESSIONS FROM YOUR HOMETOWN
Immerse yourself in real-time sounds from your hometown with just one tap.
SEARCH AND FILTER FOR SOUNDS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD
Discover global soundscapes with advanced search and filter options. Toggle between either a list or a map view for more personalization.
INTERACTIVE MAP GETS YOU TO EACH CITY AND SEE THE ARCHIVED SOUND PLAYLIST
Explore cities worldwide through an interactive map and access their real-time and archived sounds.
Next Steps
👨🏻💻 Deepening user testing
If given more time, I would delve deeper into usability testing with our mid-fi wireframes and also our hi-fi prototypes. This expanded testing would be a valuable resource for user feedback, which is crucial for iterations to ensure the app evolves to serve its users’ needs better.
🧐 More research on cultural nuances
If given more time, I would also expand on understanding cultural contexts and auditory preferences. Sounds carry unique meanings across different regions and cultures, so refining our content to align with these nuances would make Resona even more engaging and authentic. This could involve partnering with cultural experts or conducting focus groups with users from diverse backgrounds to ensure our platform respects and celebrates cultural diversity.