Chord
A low-energy, low-stakes yet meaningful approach to interpersonal connection for van-dwellers.
Discipline
Industrial design,
User experience,
Interface design,
Brand identity,
Illustration
Duration
10 weeks
Team
Emily Wang,
Sasha Noerdin,
Shelley Tsui
What is Van-Dwelling?
“Van-dwelling” is catch-all for most sorts of vehicle dwelling, be it van, car, pickup, school bus, step van, etc.
Some van-dwellers live this lifestyle by choice to gain a sense of freedom, self-sufficiency, personal sustainability, and mobility without paying for conventional stationary housing, while for others it might be one step from living on the street or in a shelter.
A search of #vanlife on Instagram turns up over 7 million posts, up 312% from 2017.
When we take a closer look at these posts and other online content, we see a clear trend in how this lifestyle is represented: all we see is community, friendship, freedom, and fun.
However, according to a 2018 survey of 725 van-dwellers from around the world, 36% of van-dwellers actually live alone.
Research
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02
03
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Literature reviews
Observations of online communities
User interviews
Competitive analysis
01
Van-dwellers not only perceive their lifestyle transient, but their personal relationships as well.
Van-dwellers often deal with loneliness and having a smaller circle of friends.
02
Van-dwellers want to connect with others but are often unsure how.
Our solution should be a low-energy, low-stakes mode of connection between van-dwellers.
03
Insights
Sharing photos is not an immersive or relatable experience.
Our solution should utilize sense of sound to prompt memory immersion + share with others.
“Sometimes it feels like I’ve been on the road so long that I don’t really know how to approach others.
'Hey, I’m a van-dweller too!’ will usually start up a conversation, but always ends up the same.”
Problem Statement
Design a low-energy, low-stakes yet meaningful approach to interpersonal connection for van-dwellers despite the fleeting contact they might have with others.
01
Shareable
A conversation starter to be shared with friends, family, and strangers.
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Portable
Lightweight so you can bring it with you anywhere during your adventures.
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Design Guidelines
Personalized
Celebrates all the unique twists and turns of your van-dwelling journey.
Technological Considerations
Near-Field Communication (NFC) is a type of Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. It’s primarily used in smartphone tap-to-pay features and in all debit/credit cards.
NFC allows for cards to be recognized by simple contact. Its wide range means it can also recognize every single card within a stack.
Why not an app?
It’s easier. Every phone has its NFC antenna in different place. As a result, it can be difficult to find the right read point.
It’s more meaningful. Physical cards encourage in-person sharing and communication. Moreover, they serve as a physical aide for story-telling and personal reflection.
"A form that begs to be held and displayed.”
SMALL, TACTILE, SOFT
What is Chord?
With Chord, you can revisit the echoes of the Grand Canyon or the waves by Santa Monica pier.
Not only does Chord provide a way to revisit these sounds but it allows you to share them with others. Each recording that exists within a Chord card can be given to someone else and remind them of a new sight, a new sound, and a new person.
01
Lay your card on the card reader and start recording.
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The card reader sends the new recording to the cloud.
Our service saves the recording in association with the card’s unique ID.
Layer your cards to create unique soundscapes! Your card reader can read multiple recordings simultaneously!
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How Chord works, explained:
Each card has its own unique ID associated with its RFID chip.
When a card reader reads your card, it’ll ping the cloud to check if there’s a recording associated with the ID.
If there is, it’ll play it back!
Strike a Chord with Others
Use Chord to strike up a conversation with others and give them something to remember you by.
Leave messages behind for them by personalizing the card back.
Make a Unique Memory
If your audio doesn’t fit a Chord card in the starter pack, order blank cards to create your own.
The possibilities are endless!
