Week Five: Research of a Whisper
This next brief, The UX of Whispering, asked us to look at whispering not just as a way of communicating, but as a social experience. This Brief felt the most abstract of the ones we had been given in my opinion. To begin, our group started with a few body storming activities to physically experience the act of whispering in different ways. We experimented with a regular whisper, a blindfolded whisper, location whispers, a party scenario, “scream with no breath”, an echo whisper, a telephone game, and a cup whisper. I felt that each activity brought up a completely different aspect of whispering that I never thought of, like how an echo amplifies a whisper
We each used a Directed Storytelling interview to explore the question, “Tell me a story about a time you were in a place that had restrictions based on noise volume, and how you communicated.” My interview was about the experience of visiting the Sistine Chapel, a place where silence is both enforced and emotionally charged. The person I interviewed described the space as “hushed but alive”. Visitors relied on gestures and mouthed words to communicate. Every few minutes, the crowd’s whispers would grow louder, and guards would say, “shhh.” This idea of control over volume added to our body storming insights: whispering is not just about being quiet; it can also be about being in control.
When we combined our interviews on a mind map, similar elements were tension, control, and connection. Many of us observed how whispering often comes up when you are being told to control your volume level. It can be playful, secretive, or reverent, yet always rooted in human interaction and authority. From our group discussion and feedback, we decided to move forward with developing the idea of a “Speaking Choir.” This concept will explore how people collectively react to control and how people react to different gestures that are social gestures that are used to control volume. The idea fascinates me because it merges physical gesture, emotion, and collaboration into one experience.
Although this week felt particularly challenging due to the abstract brief, it’s also been one of the most thought-provoking for me. I’m still building confidence in how to translate something as intangible as a whisper into design, but I’m excited to keep experimenting. Next week, we’ll be exploring gestures and new methods to develop the Speaking Choir, finding ways to turn quiet, controlled communication into an experience.
