2024

Cochl

Reimagining the future of senior care through the establishment of Cochl's Sound AI-driven healthcare dashboard

UI/UX Design

Image of an iPhone lying on a table
Image of an iPhone lying on a table

As the UX Design Intern for Cochl, I worked cross-functionally to design a Sound AI-powered healthcare dashboard, decreasing monitoring operation costs by 45%.

TIMELINE

Jun - Aug 2024

ROLE

UX Design Intern

TEAM

Co-founder

Senior Designer

Software Engineer

Product Manager

TOOLS

Figma

What is Sound AI?

What is Sound AI?

A next-generation software that understands any sound like a human.

I was the UX Design Intern at Cochl, a deep tech startup that develops cutting edge Sound AI technology. Based on proprietary audio machine learning techniques, Cochl creates a sound AI system that understands any form of “sound”, not just “speech”.


I designed a smart healthcare dashboard built upon Cochl’s Sound AI technology. By working cross-functionally, I played an essential role in exceeding business goals.

BACKGROUND

Cochl's sound AI solution prevents senior falls in nursing homes via real-time monitoring.

Our B2B client is Fujimiso Nursing Home located in Japan. The proprietary technology is grounded on Cochl.Sense, which analyzes acoustic sounds and returns identification results to clients.


Cochl's sound AI technology is a more viable option than surveillance cameras because it's non-intrusive and cost-effective.

Automated monitoring

Unlike camera surveillance, sound AI does not require continuous human monitoring.

Low maintenance cost

The cost of installing and maintaining Cochl.Sense devices is inexpensive.

Privacy preservation

Visual privacy is protected and relevant sounds are selectively detected.

BACKGROUND

BACKGROUND

PROBLEM SPACE

However, the current device activity tracker lacks practical application of sound data.

The current Device Activity Tracker notifies instances of thud (fall), scream, yell, and etc. This dashboard outlines details of the detected sounds and also notifies the user of major alerts.


However, end users struggle to understand how the provided data can be useful in their day-to-day lives.

Current Device Activity Tracker for Fujimiso Nursing Home (2023)

Current Device Activity Tracker for Fujimiso Nursing Home (2023)

What's the solution?

Create a sound AI-driven healthcare dashboard that's informative and preventative.

This project introduces additional sound tags including snore, cough, laughter, etc. Beyond notifications, our goal is to provide a healthcare dashboard that offers informative and preventative insights for end users.


For example, sound data on the duration and decibel of snoring can help explain sleep disorders as well as health issues. Cochl’s healthcare dashboard not only provides information but also suggests action items.

USER PERSONAS

Our primary persona — caregivers are less tech savvy, but willing to leverage our dashboard.

Our primary persona would be caregivers since they interact with the residents on a daily basis and have direct access to their health data. Through our dashboard, they hope to monitor residents' health more effectively and efficiently.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

By analyzing competitors, I discovered new opportunities in elderly monitoring categories.

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

Detectable Cochl.Sense sounds were categorized.

From 250+ detectable sounds, I selected 26 sounds and categorized them into 3 domains relevant to the nursing home. To align with the stakeholders' needs, my team and I decided to focus on the health domain.

USE CASE SCENARIOS

Cochl's new dashboard provides useful insights for caregivers.

Sleep Tracking

Physical Health

Mental Health

USER TESTING

Based on user testing feedback, we refined the dashboard by focusing on data applicability.

We conducted 8 task-based usability testing sessions to gather initial impressions of the dashboard and collect feedback on any features that were unclear. Through this, we refined mid-fidelity prototypes to hi-fidelity prototypes.

PROTOTYPE

Final Dashboard

Final

Dashboard

SLEEP DASHBOARD

Monitoring sleep and snoring patterns leads to effective health management.

PHYSICAL HEALTH DASHBOARD

The physical health dashboard enables early illness detection and immediate response to accidents.

MENTAL HEALTH DASHBOARD

Recognizing signs of emotional distress can enable early intervention, improving mental health outcomes.

DESIGN COMPONENTS

The sticker sheet allows a modular, scalable system for cross-collaboration.

Accessibility in design allows users of diverse abilities to use the dashboard with ease.

In a data-sensitive space, how did we design for privacy?

User consent and control

Clear and accessible consent prompts were given, ensuring users were aware of what sound data was being collected and for what purpose.

Data minimization

Data minimization strategy was adopted, collecting only the essential sound data needed to inform personal health status.

Privacy by design

Privacy considerations were baked into the design process from the outset rather than being added on as an afterthought.

IMPACT

Elderly monitoring operation costs were reduced by 45% through a user-friendly dashboard.

TAKEAWAYS

Designing the dashboard illuminated the process of transforming sound into visual data.

  1. Always revisit the needs of the main persona

    The presentation of sound data, UX writing, and healthcare advice must be appropriately tailored to our main persona, caregivers.

  1. Prioritize data usability over data visualization

    Our ultimate goal is to ensure that our end users can intuitively understand, effectively analyze, and further utilize our report.

  1. Cross-collaborate to analyze sound data

    In order to leverage first-hand sound data, we need to conduct a more deep-down analysis of its impact, applicability, and potential.

Next Project

Next Project

Reimagining the future of senior care through the establishment of Cochl's sound AI-driven healthcare reports

© 2025 Hannah Park. All Rights Reserved.