Roger is a low technological and simple noise cancelling phone accessory, which can alleviate the communicative challenge related to conducting phone conversations in noisy environments such as concerts. The low technological aspect of the product makes is a cheaper and more durable alternative to noise cancelling phone accessories, which is particularly useful at concerts, festivals, or similar situations, where a user is less likely to bring expensive and electronic phone accessories.
During use the phone is inserted into the pocket of the product and the product is placed with the funnel covering the ear. When held against the ear, the product creates a tight fit, thus allowing for the sound isolating properties of the silicone to act as noise cancelling during use.
Roger was developed using a user-centered design approach with iterative prototyping and testing throughout the design process. The prototype was made by 3D-printing a mold that was then used to cast the silicone to shape the products.
The product was then tested by 100 festival-goers at Roskilde Festival, which is the second largest festival in Europe. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected and analysed for the purpose of further validating the existence of the problem as well as getting insights into the product's functionality in intended context, aesthetics, size, and potential user demand. The product was additionally tested by two other potential user segments in different contexts: auto-mechanic shops and construction sites. The tests for all three user segments validate that there is a communicative challenge in each of the three respective contexts, and there was a general consensus regarding the functionality of the product which was found to be great. However, some participants did not like the aesthetics of the product.
