Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 Earbuads
UX, Interaction Design
2024
Available for purchase @Cisco
Overview
Bang & Olufsen and Cisco have partnered to create a line of co-branded headsets, including the over-ear Cisco 980 and in-ear Cisco 950 earphones, designed for corporate customers.
These earbuds are fully integrated with Cisco’s Control Hub platform, allowing IT teams to easily monitor and manage their collaboration devices and accessories. Developed through close collaboration, these B&O-designed products feature intuitive physical button gestures, customizable options, and voice prompts to enhance the user experience.
My Role
Senior Product designer(1)
SW Interaction Design
HW Interaction Design
Team
UX designer(1)
UX researcher(1)
Product manager(1)
HW engineering team
B&O SW/UX/PM team
Project summary
Led interaction design for Cisco 950 headset, focusing on intuitive gesture and button behaviors. The finalized design was implemented and shipped globally, aligning enterprise requirements with user-friendly experiences.
Collaborated with cross-functional teams to define headset interaction patterns balancing technical constraints, Teams certification needs, and user simplicity. These interactions are now part of the shipped Cisco 950 headset.
Problems
Complex gestures to memorize.
Lack of voice prompts.
Opportunities
Support Microsoft and Webex.
Customizable buttons.
Assumptions
Symmetrical button gestures
[Pros] Since both earbuds are identical, user can easily memorize the behaviors.
[Cons] Limited number of gestures.
Asymmetrical button gestures
[Pros] It can contain more gesture controls with different features.
[Cons] User may difficult to remember all the gesture controls.
Challenge
Aligning gesture controls with basic guidelines while better understanding general user behaviors and ensuring that users can easily follow key gestures and audio feedback.
Observation
Physical product interactions are deeply personal. While there are general guidelines and expectations, each user brings a unique perspective. In gesture design, there may not always be a single correct solution, but there are certainly approaches that can lead to poor user experiences.
Decision
Prioritized interaction requirements included general B&O gesture behaviors, Microsoft features, and Webex integration.
To add exclusive features for Microsoft, we adopted an asymmetrical approach, allowing more control on the both earbuds.
Interaction specs
Clear interaction definitions on both earbuds benefit users by simplifying button usage.
Call and music controls are on the right earbud, while noise cancellation is on the left, providing a clear and intuitive understanding of each earbud’s functions
Result
Defined and delivered key interaction patterns that shipped with Cisco 950 headset, enhancing everyday usability for enterprise and consumer users.
My design decisions shaped the final interaction model, improving accessibility and reducing user confusion in real-world use cases.
Contributed to the launch of B&O and Cisco 950 earbuds , with my defined interaction behaviors now adopted as core product features.
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