Sonic Studio

The primary purpose of “Sonic Studio” is to optimise the user's experience of sound settings, further providing in-game noise cancellation and volume stabilisation to enhance everything you hear and performance.

Due Date: 2021, 11 ~ 2022, 10

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Requirement & Challenge

The Requirement:
“Sonic Studio” was originally an independent software, the new requirement is to integrate this product into another software “Armoury Crate”.

The original functions were redistributed to two different devices:

Added “Sonic Studio” sub page in the motherboard page, which only supports other brands of headsets.
Added headphone page, which supports ROG/TUF headsets.

The Challenge:
Since there is only one sub page to put all functions, the original functional specifications, information structure and usage scenarios must be re-disassembled and organised to conform to the operation logic under the new structure.

Requirement & Challenge

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Product Analysis

IA - Legacy

Problems Statement

Scenario A: Can the user fully understand the function operation?

Is the function name being understood correctly and in accordance with its operational flow?
Can the information architecture guide users through the setup process?

Scenario B: Basic settings & equalizer settings

After verification, it is found that the function settings of the two pages are sync to each other.
Merge two sub-pages and integrate the same functionality to avoid confusion and poor user experience.

Scenario C: Sonic Studio - App binding headset and sound settings

• The software list cannot be updated automatically and immediately, and a manual update button needs to be

added to the UI after evaluation.
• Can the app switch to different sound settings quickly?
- Current mechanism: The user must select a specific headset to set the sound effect parameters, and only one

set of settings can be stored.
- Future planning: The application can store several sets of different settings for quick switching.
• The “Device Routing” function level is higher than the “Sonic Effects”, so when the former turns off the function,

the latter must be switched to the disabled state at the same time.

Scenario D: Record Studio - App binding microphone and sound settings
• The software list cannot be updated automatically and immediately, and a manual update button needs to be

added to the UI after evaluation.
• Can the app switch to different sound settings quickly?
- Current mechanism: Only one set of settings can be stored.
- Future planning: The application can store several sets of different settings for quick switching.

Solutions

After analyzing the product problems and discussing the main usage scenarios of all functions with the product manager, the operation tasks and UI improvement directions are redrawn.

Solutions:

Added “Sonic Studio” sub page in the motherboard page, which only supports other brands of headsets.
Added headphone page, which supports ROG/TUF headsets.
In terms of functional brick planning, the left side is defined as the basic function settings of the device, and the right side is defined as advanced function settings.
It can store several sets of different settings for quick switching in the headphone device page.

HCI Considerations 1：
The lower layer software of “Sonic Studio” should be able to detect and control the sound card “3.5mm and USB ports”.

HCI Considerations 2：
The “Sonic Studio” control page will block all functions for “ROG/TUF Headphones”, and at the same time pop up a prompt window to guide the user to the headphone device page.

HCI Considerations 3：

If the user inserts three different types of headphones, after adjusting the sound effect settings for each, the set values can still be retained, and can be read again after plugging and unplugging.

HCI Considerations 4：

If the user inserts the same type of USB headset at the same time, the list will show two devices, and you can adjust different settings for each, but after plugging and unplugging, only one product ID set value will be retained.

Product Analysis

Solutions

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Product Planning

IA - Redesign

Layout

Gestalt Psychology - Law of Perceptual Grouping
It is advocated that human cognition is to perceive as a whole, rather than to perceive each part separately. The law of perceptual grouping is the relevant law of how people perceive as a whole under the Gestalt psychology school.

Law of Proximity-

People tend to think of "close" objects as a group, and through the law of proximity, we can make related functional elements a group.

Law of Similarity-

People tend to think of "similar" objects as a group, with components having a similar appearance, allowing the user to perceive that they are a group of choices.

Law of Common Area-

People tend to think of "similar" objects as a group, with components having a similar appearance, allowing the user to perceive that they are a group of choices.