ROKU Wireless Speakers
As their breakthrough audio product, ROKU approached us to translate their current streaming device language into a line of quality wireless speakers. The language for this device would define the look of all of the audio products down the line and needed to be accessible to their cost-conscious market.
Role: Lead Designer
Year: 2017
Goals
01
No-Hassle
The device was intended to require almost no human interaction. There would be one single button for pairing and everything else would be handled automatically.
02
Familiar
Roku wanted these to feel like an evolution of the bookshelf speaker. They wanted to have that familiar paradigm but in a modern age.
03
Powerful
These speakers needed to feel powerful, both in their sound and their aesthetic.
Concept Development
A major request from Roku was that the design would pair with a custom remote that would come with the speakers. This led us down a path of a nested remote area on the top of many of the concepts that would contain the remote when not in use. We played off of various forms derived from the common bookshelf speaker and ultimately landed on a front/back split design with a nest in the top for the accompanying remote.
**For the privacy of the company, these explorations cannot be shown publicly.
Design Development
We iterated on various nesting methods for the remote and tested these with 3D prototypes. We also designed custom fabric for these speakers with a two-tone color scheme that made us of a dark thread and a silver thread to elevate the overall product and give the front face a sophisticated glimmer when in passing. Various common wall-mounts were tested to ensure that the speakers would be easy to install and that the pairing button would be accessible at all times.
