Resona

With only a day and a half to ideate, design, and pitch, our approach was a blend of entrepreneurial mashups and rapid iteration. We drew inspiration from Google Earth, Spotify, and Uber, envisioning a map-based platform where users could explore live-streamed and archived sounds from around the world. Imagine the patter of rain in the Amazon, the distant call to prayer in Marrakech, or the chatter of a Tokyo street market—Resona would bring these moments to life, forging emotional connections through sound.

BRAINSTORMING & IDEATION

We mapped out core questions:

• How can sound transport someone to a specific place?

• What makes an audio experience immersive and meaningful?

• How can we incentivize people worldwide to record and contribute to authentic soundscapes?

From Concept to Creation: Our Process

UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM

Modern entertainment often lacks a sensory connection to cultural authenticity. People yearn to experience the world in ways that connect them emotionally to places and their unique sounds. Existing platforms focus on visual or generalized sound experiences but fail to provide:

• Real-time, immersive soundscapes

• A way to explore the emotional and cultural context of global sounds

RESONA logo design by me

GATHERING INSIGHTS

Our research—through surveys, interviews, and market analysis—revealed a clear gap in sensory streaming:

• Sound is deeply tied to memory and emotion, yet existing platforms lack immersive, location-based audio.

• Users crave authentic soundscapes to relive moments or explore places through real, unfiltered audio.

• No platform combines live sound, user-generated content, and curated archives in an interactive map experience.

UNDERSTANDING THE USER

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

User Interface & Design

WIRE FRAMING

DESIGN SYSTEM

We sketched and wireframed a map-centric UI, ensuring an intuitive and immersive navigation experience. Users could explore by location, sound type, or mood, creating their own global sound journeys.

PROPOSAL

A map-based media streaming platform where users can:

1. Discover Sounds: Explore the map to hear real-time or archived sounds of any location (e.g., Istanbul’s seagulls, Amazon’s rainfall).

2. Connect with Cultures: Learn about the story behind each sound (cultural significance, context).

3. User Contribution: Enable locals to live stream sounds or record and upload unique soundscapes to the archive, earning revenue

KEY FEATURES

• Interactive Map Interface: Choose any location to play live or archived sounds.

• Live Streaming Option: Real-time sounds for authenticity and spontaneity.

• Sound Archive: Curated and user-contributed sounds available for playback.

• Cultural Context Overlays: Stories, images, and information accompanying each sound.

• Personalization: Create playlists of favorite soundscapes or subscribe to live feeds from specific regions.

Our Pitch

With just minutes to present our vision, we focused on storytelling.

Imagine a student in Boston missing the sounds of home in Mumbai.

A traveler longing for the call to prayer in Marrakech.

A musician searching for inspiration in the sound of Parisian cafés.

Resona isn’t just an app—it’s a bridge between cultures, memories, and experiences, allowing people to explore the world through sound.

App Prototype Demo

Takeaways & Impact

Working on Resona was an intense yet exhilarating experience—from rapid ideation to refining our vision under tight deadlines. This project challenged me to think holistically about user experience, market viability, and technical feasibility while embracing the power of storytelling in product design.

Resona is more than an app concept. It’s a reminder that sound holds stories, and through those stories, we stay connected—to our memories, to distant places, and to each other.