M•CASTER LIVE

content creator audio companion

This project pushed the company into a new market for us: the world of the content creator. This new category of user needed to be defined, understood and delighted. Our goal was clear, create a workflow that allowed a user to quickly achieve high quality sound without getting bogged down in the minutia of audio production. To faciliatate this goal, I knew we needed to go out of house where there were no audio engineers at every desk. I directed and chose an outside design agency to create and explore concepts that would push our understanding of our new user's mindset. After identifying the user journey, UI concepts were considered before ID was started in order to focus on a frictionless customer experience. The creators just want great sound with minimal effort.

UI concept 3 was selected for ID concepting based on user flow layout and simplicity. Additionally, the portrait form factor clearly took a departure from industry cues which tend to be landscape oriented. With this subtle change, it communicated that the product was not in the formalized design language of the pro audio space. It highlighted approachability and ease of use.

The final form was developed by myself and our in-house team of engineers. I utilized the soft forms and handle idea from concept 4 in the development of the final product to communicate mobility and not tie the unit down to a specific setting like a studio. The user controlled underglow lighting allowed the hardware to match a user's set up or mood. Since this device is primarily used with a phone, it was important that it felt that it could go with the user anywhere their phone went.

MixCaster_live_Studio_R100_CMF_metallic 2_edited.png

The Analog M-Caster was quickly followed by the release of a sibling that enhanced all aspects of the product. The Studio version added sample pads, internal effects, a screen based UI, Bluetooth and metering of inputs and main output. Inorder to enhance user understanding of inputs and the selected input, I color coded the input selection with LEDs that corosponded to the input source on the rear panel.