Notes on choosing music for prototyping:
We know music acts on the emotions, but my (unfounded) hypothesis is that during active work (such as prototyping) music also occupies just enough of our cognitive load to distract us from our inner critic (helpful during quick lo-res prototyping explorations). As long as it's upbeat, music seems to propel prototyping activities, but there are some subtleties to consider.
Volume: It seems fine to raise the volume above "background" level, some bopping, dancing or whistling seems to enhance mood & engagement. That said, too loud can be quite distracting -- this is a judgment call.
Lyrics: Generally, we've found it's good to avoid lyrics, although lyrics in a foreign language seem to be less distracting (except of course, to those who speak the language). Occasionally a song that has prominent lyrics does still work for reasons unknown: Beck's "Que Onda Guero" appears on this mix & seems to be such a track.
Repetition & Rhythm: From a purely subjective point of view,in my observations repetitive music with prominent rhythm sections seems to keep people focused on the task at hand (when the prototyping is physical in nature). My guess is that our brains like to have something predictable to latch onto. On this mix Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man" & Lee Morgan's "The Sidewinder" are a good examples of songs that feature a lot of repetition and seem to be crowd favorites.
Tone: As mentioned, music sets the tone... it can add urgency or can be used to calm the nerves. Despite being a little slow in tempo, the last track of this mix -- "Strange Bath", by John Brion -- gives a surreal game show feeling that has proven enjoyable for short, timed prototyping challenges.
Familiarity: Something to be considered... do you use music that is familiar to all or something that is a bit exotic? I'm not sure yet, both can be distracting or engaging.
DISCLAIMER: I use a variation of Herbie Hancock's "Chameleon" that is a personal edit (mine ends around 4m30s -- GrooveShark, the source of these tracks only had the full version). The edited version cuts out a good portion of the meandering psychedelic jam during the last half of the song -- you may want to skip this last bit as it could distract & derail prototyping efforts. The beginning of the song features such a nice groove (you may notice heads bopping & bobbing to the rhythm) that it is worth the risk! I've placed it as the last track so you can fade it out if you wish.
Notes on the fidelity mix:
A small portion of the mix for a 2 day design thinking workshop in Boston. Most songs featured here were used as intermission / welcome music or as part of our 1 hour introductory wallet project.
Learnings:
A big discovery on this trip was the use of song duration to time each phase of our intro project. We added music over the empathy and interview phases for the first time just to get the background energy up in a large open space. Soft music with no lyrics seemed to compliment the activity and felt like it created a relaxed, conversational context (like music at a dinner party). (The two Django Reignhart tracks on this mix were used for this purpose.)
Small variations in volume (I'm talking minute changes) seemed to have a drastic amplification effect on level of chatter in the room -- if you want people to talk louder to raise the energy in the room just tap the volume up a tiny bit and you may find a cascading effect that amps up the whole room (just don't turn it up so loud that people are shouting uncomfortably).
Look for a wallet mix with timed tracks to show up here in the near future...
Mix for a design thinking activity at the Residence of the Mayor of Amsterdam.
The room was a opulent 17th century salon with opulent wall carvings, chandeliers & pink fabric wall coverings. Because it was adorned with such a specific and ever-present character, musical accompaniment proved quite a challenge. We began with some old-time (1920's) gypsy jazz, then once the mood was set, brought in some old instrumental favorites (who knew "booty butt" would play well at the Mayor's house -- but it did). We ended with a little lounge music from the early 2000's.
Opening the windows and letting some air & a touch of traffic noise helped set the mood as well.
