Logitech

Microphone Check

Creative director, through PortalLogitech · 2017–2019

Unlaunched concept

Logitech G saw a gap: a control center that lets a gamer change audio and broadcast settings without leaving the game. The answer was a dial, one control that turns and presses.

Role: Creative director, through Portal
Scope: Interaction design for a new input device
Method: A custom framework for on-device prototype reviews
Finding: Gamers did not want to look away from the game to make a tactile adjustment; the on-device test ruled the touch interaction out and the project wound down

The prototype on the bench: a brass dial over a tablet, turned, pressed and keyed through volume, inputs, modes and presets. This is what gamers tested.

The interaction model in motion: one dial, one screen, three keys.

1. Press the corresponding G key to reach modes, inputs or presets.

Banshee combined a microphone with a base, screen, and rotary wheel. The design work covered the interaction model, ten visual treatments for the same information, and screens for levels, volume, gain, and polar pattern.

Documents

Navigating with the rotary dial · The G2 and G3 keys · Increasing volume · Modes, inputs and presets · Dashboard evolution · Sitemap

2. Turn the wheel: the sub-menu is a looping list that scrolls with it.

Through Portal, I worked directly with Logitech's executive team on the interaction model, the UX and every screen.

On-device testing found that gamers did not want the visual distraction from the game that a tactile adjustment required, and that finding ruled the interaction out. Banshee was a skunkworks project.

It never launched, and Logitech retired it in 2020.

Dashboard: the cardioid pattern selected. Proposal.

Banshee: the mic on its base, the screen and the wheel. Render.

In hand

A brushed microphone sits above a black base with a watch-sized screen, rotary wheel, and three keys. Turn the wheel to adjust volume; press and hold to access gain and polar pattern.