Mimi Music
Services
Concept, Design, Development, End-of-Life Support
Technology
Android, iOS
Client
Mimi Hearing Technologies GmbH, Good Hearing Initiative e.V.
Year
2018 – 2020
WHAT WAS KARLMAX’S ROLE IN THE PROJECT?
We took over the Mimi Music Apps, technically updated and adapted them to current trends. In 2020, the external interfaces of the streaming services would have had to be completely replaced. That’s why we supported them during their end-of-life.
Why does the user need the app?
Because each of us hears differently, the Mimi Music App creates a customised sound.
What can the app do?
Every person hears differently. For an optimal audio experience with your smartphone, music launched in the Mimi Music App can be personally adjusted to your hearing capabilities. For this purpose, the hearing test app is used to create your own hearing profile. With the Mimi Music app, the user is able to create playlists from their own sources or from Spotify and fine-tune each song through “mimification”. If the left ear does not hear as well as the right, the songs are adjusted for the left ear without overloading the right ear. In addition, there is an information area within the app about hearing and hearing protection. It is a pity that this app is no longer available in this form.
The challenge
The requirements for the result were high: Completely new navigation on Android, elimination of known bugs and the redesign of the layout were on the agenda. And as usual, we did not plan the new design in a vacuum but with several parties. A compromise for the branding had to be found between the different stakeholders.
Bug-fixing, adjustments to a contemporary design, new branding and the improvement of the user experience should enable the app to reach a wider audience. Unfortunately, during the project it became clear that the external interfaces of the streaming services would have to be completely replaced in 2020. As a result, after the cost-benefit analysis, the decision was made to discontinue the app and to plan a final update with end-of-life information.
How did we proceed?
We adapted the Android app to the style of the iOS app, which mainly meant rebuilding the navigation. Instead of the menu button with a complicated unfolding mechanism, we added efficient navigation via tabs at the bottom of the screen.
Both apps, Android and iOS, got a new design in the new corporate colours. In articles for healthy listening and via links, we integrated the app’s stakeholders with logos as well as their own content.
At the end-of-life of an app, interesting questions arise: Are there alternatives? Can or do users perhaps still need to back up data? Will the app continue to work even if it is no longer available in the store? We answered these and other questions with our customers and integrated the necessary information into the app.
The app was taken offline on March 1 2020. R.I.P.
Behind the scenes – or: How I became more aware of the issue of hearing protection
Entering the world of Mimi Apps was very exciting for me and also a little alarming, as I found out that my ears do not hear 100% perfectly. This made me think about the issue of hearing protection. This became possible in the content area of the app.
Starting from that point on, I asked my children not to scream directly into my ear anymore. It’s still a “work in progress”. I also bought good earplugs for concerts or club visits and I am more self-confident about wearing them. I tell my friends that hearing protection is important to me and recommend the Mimi Apps to them.
Thank you, Mimi and the Good Hearing Team. I have become more intensively involved with the topic of hearing protection and hopefully will be able to hear well now for as long as possible.
