A Messy Angel: Design Review of "Music Angel" Digital Speaker
Gadgets nowadays are capable of having more than one function. The most innovative ones are usually the ones that mix simplicity and performance, but nowadays gadgets don't really have a lot of soup when it comes to music output. To be honest, I'm not really particular when it comes to music output of a particular device - I'm not even familiar with bass, treble and stuff the like - that's why it's not really a priority for me to choose a device that would excel in its music output (though I've owned a lot of phones in the XpressMusic line of Nokia). To add, I also know that there are many external devices (speakers) that would really stand out when it comes to music output so having a device that would have outstanding speaker performance is not really a priority.
At present, speakers also evolved to all-in-one devices that would do a lot more than be a speaker per se. There are those with FM radio capabilities, Alarm clock functions, Bluetooth wireless pairing and a lot more! But with these capabilities comes buttons, instructions, connectors and the like... Well, we have one, which depicts man's innovation - since it does a lot of stuff for a small device - but also exemplifies man's ignorance in design and usability.
I came home one day and I saw this device. It's really nice to look at since it's small and sleek, it plays nice music too. Unfortunately, it's not really the most likeable speaker.
Music Angel Digital Speaker comes with 5 colors, we have the silver metallic one. It's nice, the build seems strong - because of the metal casing. It comes with a USB 2.0 to MicroUSB/3.5mm headphones jack port for the connectivity for different devices. The device really seem nice... Well let's not really get our hopes up, since what you see isn't what you always get.
The Control Buttons below the speaker and the On/Off switch
Connections available: 3.5Mm Headphone jack, microUSB plug, microSD card slot and a USB 2.0 plug.
At first use, I thought it's just a speaker. So I used it to play music from my iPhone. I opened the device and it lit up. Suddenly a loud music exploded and I almost drop the device. Apparently it read the microSD card inserted and played the MP3 files. So now i learned that this device plays and reads MP3. Well it's not a problem, the problem came when I tried changing the mode to AUX out. I really don't know how to change it since it only has these buttons below. I assumed that resetting the device would detect my connected phone so that's what I did. Upon opening it, it again played the first song from the SD card. Well so much for my first use. I asked my siblings and they told me that I have to press the middle button for several seconds to change it's mode. That's what I did, I expected that it would play the music my phone was playing, but it played another music instead. To my shock, it played from an FM source. So now I learned that this small device is also a FM radio. Once again I pressed the middle button and I'm fortunate enough that it played the music my phone is playing.
It comes with a connection cord for USB, microUSB and 3.5MM audio jack.
On another encounter, I decided to use the device as a mp3 player. I inserted a new microSD card with a new playlist, well, it did it's part of playing the music but the thing I hate is how inconvenient the control buttons are. They are positioned directly under the speakers, so if you plan to change the music, you need to flip the speakers just to change the song. It's really inconvenient in a sense that you want to exert the least effort in doing a small thing.
Connectivity gon' haywire!
For connectivity, it's also quite confusing since I don't really know how to connect it properly - in a sense that, I dont know which USB port to use to access the MicroSD card, micro or the USB 2.0.
To sum up, it's nice to have this all-in-one speaker at times, but it somewhat needs redesigning for the user not to be confused and what not.
1. Confusing Modes and function Switching
2. Confusing connectivity and accessibility
3. Impractical positioning of control buttons
1. it would be better to place all the connectors in one place for easy accessibility.
2. adding a mode button would simplify the mode changing scheme of the speakers
3. moving the position of the controls perpendicular to the speaker output would be better than having it directly below the speakers.
4. I understand the design concept would be minimalistic but for a total minimalistic feel, making the control buttons smaller would be better.
This post is for the subject HCI of UA&P.