The Frame
Multifunctional Portable Car Navigation
2006 for Asono Korea
Asono was a small digital media electronics development company based in Norway, specializing in products such as portable media players and MP3 players. Their South Korea office aimed to independently develop a new product tailored for the South Korean market.
They focused on the growing demand for multifunctional car navigation devices in South Korea and planned to develop a product that reflected this trend.
Defining Device Identity
Initial consumer research showed that people preferred multifunctional features such as media playback and DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) on car navigation devices, as they wanted to use them as portable media players outside the car. However, it was still important to consider in-car usability, since car navigation remained the device's primary purpose.
Balancing the roles of a portable media player and a navigation system was the main challenge in meeting the needs of the target consumers. Concept development was carried out with a focus on solving this challenge.
A New In-Car and In-Hand Digital Multimedia Experience from Inside the Frame
The Frame was designed with a slightly raised and stepped metallic border along the entire front surface to emphasize the screen area, the main interaction zone and to convey its multimedia player-like character through detailed design elements.
The main navigation button, power button, and mode selection buttons are grouped on the right side of the simple rectangle form. An additional chrome frame surrounding the main navigation button enhances intuitiveness, and its placement supports easy one-handed control. Intuitive mode selection buttons, located in the bottom right corner near the speaker, enable quick switching between different device modes.
The front-facing speaker provides clear voice guidance when the device is used as a car navigation system, as well as high-quality sound when used as a portable media player.
The Frame is designed to strike a well-balanced harmony between usability and aesthetics, bridging the roles of a portable media player and a car navigation device.
It offers a new kind of in-car and in-hand digital multimedia experience from inside the Frame.
*The Frame was not produced due to internal circumstances on the client’s side.
Design Team: Joongoo Lee (Industrial Design Lead) and Sungpil Lee (Project Lead / Manager) at Yangji Design, Inc. Busan. South korea.
Design Credit: Asono Korea / Yanggi Design, Inc. Busan. South Korea.