solemate by 57N Design from norway

A user centered approach has been the fundamental focus for the process of Solemate. Early in the design process a target group analysis was conducted in order to list values for the initial brainstorm. The culture of young adults were examined in especially public spaces such as the park, beach, street and other spaces that invites for longer and shorter stays. Based on this we were able to create different use scenarios which helped determine what key values to focus on such as fresh, expressive, fun and robust, and together with the brief from Jabra this became the whole foundation for the design pitch.
In the ideation phase features as carry functionality, bumper protection and functional transparency was brainstormed and sketch on, while still keeping a young and fresh attitude towards the design language. At the end of the sketching phase, 6 different speaker concepts with about the same level of detail were handed in. After Jabra had done their evaluation they were happy to announce a further collaboration with Solemate as the chosen design.
The further process was then carried out in close collaboration with Jabra and acoustical, mechanical and hardware engineers departments - Everybody working in their specific area but all with the common goal; to make the best portable bluetooth speaker.
Along the way new features occurred which we as the design team were expected to solve. An interesting design task was that Jabra wanted a 3.5 mm audio cable integrated in the product, as this was something the competitors did not have and it would therefore add more value to the product. Again we started sketching at different solution to the problem and came up with the idea of a shoelace cable imbedded in the rubber sole. This was a solution that was easy to produce and the cable was hidden away while still being easy accessable for the user.
As most design processes compromises has been made but we, in the design team, have always questioned the possibilities and searched for alternative solutions before compromising the industrial design. An example of this was the stitches we had designed as a real thread but after several iterations and trials it seemed too difficult to control in the production line and also too expensive, the result and compromise became a inmolded rubber thread.
Overall we are very pleased with the design, sound and build quality, which seems to be a general perception among the users according to the Amazon reviews.