mixtwojacks
Design and oversee the digital experience of an innovative audio tool for the film industry
OVERVIEW
mixtwojacks is an electronic device tailored for the sound department of the film industry that combines the audio signal from the receiver with the walkie talkie’s one allowing the operator to use just one pair of headphones to hear both the live recorded sound and the crew communications, making their job more comfortable and efficient.
ROLE
Product Designer, Product Manager
TOOLS
Figma, Notion, Wix
TIME
2 months
Entertainment
INDUSTRY
B2C
🚀 Statistics on the product since its launch in May 2024
652 products sold for 110 EUR/product via mixtwojacks.com
Global resonance: the product has been purchased in Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Spain, USA, and Mexico
Marketing: 3 official retailers
mixtwojacks - a passive headphones combiner specially crafted for the film, TV, and live music industries
Understanding the product
01
When the creator of mixtwojacks approached me to design the digital experience of his product, he did so because he knew I had the skills to understand the product’s context, having worked in the film industry’s sound department myself.
I immediately recognized mixtwojacks as an outstanding product because I had faced the problem myself, which is why I was confident that many other professionals in the film sound industry would have quickly see the value in the solution it offered.
But to ensure that the product could land on the digital market in a truly impactful way, it was necessary to answer some questions:
🖥️ How can we clearly convey the value, functionality and features of mixtwojacks in its digital experience?
👥 How can we create a community around a handmade product that can revolutionize the way many people work in the film industry?
✈️ How can we scale this product from Italy to international markets?
When I was recording sound on set…
thinking about how much I would have wanted mixtwojacks….
Competitive landscape
02
In defining the uniqueness of mixtwojacks and integrating its aesthetics and digital experience into the relevant audio market, I analyzed the digital experiences of brands and products such as Sennheiser, Sound Devices, and Viviana Products.
From this analysis, it emerged that:
📝 Each site carefully attends to the technical descriptions of the products it sells.
🧭 The navigation offered is straightforward and guides the user step-by-step in discovering a product and also related products.
👤 All websites provide a very detailed contact page where users can easily reach out with any questions.
🎨 The colors used typically create strong contrasts, with a neutral color for the background and a more vibrant one (often matching the colors of the product itself) for call-to-action elements.
In this context, I was clear about the guidelines to follow to integrate mixtwojacks into the experience and aesthetics of its competitors, but I was also identified some significant growth opportunities:
1
Unlike the products from sites like the ones mentioned above, mixtwojacks can still leverage the marketing aspect of being a handcrafted product with unique, producer-made pieces, offering a great opportunity for community building, as each buyer will feel they own something truly special.
2
The creator of mixtwojacks works in the audiovisual field, and this has allowed him to identify at least one other professional category to which, with the necessary adjustments, mixtwojacks can be useful: assistant directors, who, like boom operators, often need to listen to two audio signals.
3
The visibility of mixtwojacks can be increased through retailers around the world while still preserving its uniqueness as a handmade tool.
Design
03
Once I identified the aesthetics and growth opportunities for mixtwojacks, I created sketches of my low-fidelity wireframes to start reflecting on information architecture and how to manage the elements on the screen.
The website would include:
✅ Homepage
✅ “How It Works” page
✅ Products page
✅ Contact page
Homepage
“How it works”
Contact page
Products page
At this point, I moved on to translating my sketches into Wix, the website builder the client wanted me to use for mixtwojacks.
Selling and scaling the product
04
The strategy we implemented to start selling mixtwojacks was:
🗣️ Word of mouth. In the Italian film industry, most professionals are well-connected, so we focused on getting mixtwojacks talked about within that community.
📱 Social presence. We also created an Instagram page and designed product’s content to create brand awareness.
🎧 Social network. To reach a broader audience, we researched the most effective social media platform for connecting with film industry workers across Europe and globally. We identified Facebook as the best option, where we engaged with large, active communities of sound department professionals and shared the product launch with them.
⌨️ Retailer outreach plan. Make a list of retailers to contact and send them a product sheet for mixtwojacks.
The stats
Website statistics revealed that:
🌐 mixtwojacks quickly spread across Europe and beyond, with the product being purchased in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, the USA, and Mexico.
🥳 A total of 214 units were sold in 4 months.
🥸 One of the most visited pages was the “How It Works” page, which clearly shows an interest in understanding the behind the scenes of how the product works.
…and that’s not all
In the short time since its launch, mixtwojacks already has three official retailers: Durian Sound, in Poland, and Zeigermann_Audio, in Germany, and Audiosense in Belgium.
What’s next?
Continue reaching out to retailers by sending the product sheet.
Gather feedback on both the product and its digital experience to continually improve it.
Collect testimonials from those who have purchased and used it to feature on the website.
Conduct research to expand the mixtwojacks user base to other creative industries.