The following where the methods used:

1. Research Plan (photo research plan cover and inside) Our project started developing a research plan with the aim of identifying: population sampling, participant recruiting approach, participant reward approach, recruitment profile, recruitment screener script and protocol (Activities and questions). 

2. Interviews (foto users and semantic profile + pictures of students) We interviewed extreme and careful users, as well as experts in the field. The goal was to extract key observations, interesting moments, insights and to compare and contrast the users and their different ways of thinking and acting about hearing loss.

3. Ethnographic interviewing (foto users and semantic profile + pictures of students) Ethnography seeks to answer questions concerning the lifestyles and behavior patterns of living human beings, to understand the link between culture and behavior and how cultural processes develop over time. To facilitate the ethnographic interviewing, we created a deck of playing cards with 5 specific activities related to hearing health. We designed the activities to be fun games that would probe our participants about their knowledge of hearing loss. We aim to uncover issues surrounding hearing health and provide insight on user awareness. 

4. Digital Cultural Probe (foto users and semantic profile + pictures of students) A cultural probe is an ethnographic research kit, custom-designed to elicit day-in-the-life insights from subjects’ personal experiences. It allows for self-reporting, minimal influence from the researcher, and requires appropriate framing and engagement. We deployed a digital probe in the form of a tumblr blog to reach ten participants across the globe. We hoped to make their experience of understanding noise-induced hearing loss immersive and interactive. We wanted to encourage active participation and share the gratification that comes with publishing individual work. http://nihlproject.tumblr.com

5. Contextual Inquire (fotos) Contextual inquiry is a user-centered design ethnographic research method, part of the Contextual Design methodology. A contextual inquiry interview is usually structured as an approximately two-hour, one-on-one interaction in which the researcher watches the user do their normal activities and discusses what they see with the user. We defined and conducted a tag-along visit that included contextual inquiry investigation and dialogue. The report on our contextual inquiries was triggered by: visual cues, paralinguistic cues, and behavioral cues. 

6. Experience map: An experience journey follows a person’s (or object’s) journey and breaks down the experience into a linear chronology of events. The experience journey for a headphone user involves several touchpoints throughout a typical day. Use can be pretty predictable, but behaviors and habits change depending on surrounding environment and mood. We developed a typical user journey and also a compelling journey.

7. Thick Descriptions: The thick descriptions are all the interpretation perceived from the research. The goal was to identify design opportunities for products or services. 

8. Conclusions: The opportunity spaces for earbuds is very broad. So far these are only used to listen to music and most recently as a microphone. If a team of designers had to consider key issues for the redesign of earbuds, hearing health and awareness of surrounding sounds should be in their priorities. The ideal headphone offering would supply both great quality sound and protect hearing health – and do both intuitively. Appealing to a user’s need for ritual and emotional connection through a product that can learn habits and individual needs is the first step in creating a culture of hearing health awareness. Further, headphones can play an active role in making a user’s day and tasks more enjoyable, seamless and personal through intuitive alerts and media selection - all while maintaining proper levels. This direct connection would place hearing health education in users’ hands, providing a record of hearing health and making the issue real and tangible. Supporting existing listening habits with a nurturing and knowledgeable device has the power to change NIHL statistics for the better and reverse its current trend.