Aurora Gnìomh: Aplacaid Ghluasadach by Ping Chen

Aurora Gnìomh: Aplacaid Ghluasadach by Ping Chen is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 Duais Iarainn A' Design Award in Dealbhadh Theicneòlasan, Aplacaidean agus Bathar-bog Fòn-làimhe Competition Category.

IarannFòn-làimhe· 2026

Aurora Gnìomh: Aplacaid Ghluasadach

by Ping Chen

Client: Aurora

Duais Iarainn A' Design Award Winner in Fòn-làimhe Category

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The Design

About Aurora Gnìomh: Aplacaid Ghluasadach

Teacsa: 'S e aplacaid ghluasadach a th' ann an Aurora a chuireas taic ri riaghladh fhaireachdainnean dha daoine le ADHD tro eadar-obrachadh stèidhichte air ceòl. Tha an eadar-aghaidh a' ceangal cruthachadh liosta-chluiche a tha a' freagairt air staid, leabhar-latha ioma-fhaireachdainn, agus geàrr-chunntasan pàtrain làitheil. Bidh gach innteart sa leabhar-latha a' ceangal an traca làithreach ri sleamhnagain dèine faireachdainn agus nota goirid. Bidh an sealladh ghluasadan a' soillseachadh nan amannan cudromach far an do leasaich ceòl an aire no far an do lùghdaich e cuideam. Bidh modh lèirsinneach sioncronaichte ri ruitheam a' toirt seachad sanasan gluasaid socair fhad 's a tha thu ag èisteachd gus taic a thoirt do bhunaiteachadh.

The Recognition

About the Duais Iarainn A' Design Award

Tha Aurora Gnìomh: Aplacaid Ghluasadach air Duais Iarainn A' Design Award a bhuannachadh, aithneachadh urramach a bheirear do dhealbhaidhean math a choinnicheas ris na riatanasan proifeiseanta is gnìomhachais a thathar a' sùileachadh bho chruthachaidhean a chaidh an dealbhadh gu math. Tha buannaichean Iarainn a' nochdadh sgil mhòr, speisealachadh àrd, tuigse eòlaiche agus comas cruthachail an luchd-cruthachaidh. Thathar an dùil gum bi Aurora Gnìomh: Aplacaid Ghluasadach na chruthachadh air a bheil mòran meas, ion-mholta agus gràdhach a tha practaigeach agus ùr-ghnàthach. Tha an dealbhadh seo a bhuannaich Duais Iarainn A' Design Award a' cur nan cleachdaidhean as fheàrr sa ghnìomhachas còmhla agus tha feartan teignigeach comasach aige ceangailte ri eòlas-dèanamh agus tàlant. Tha meas air Aurora Gnìomh: Aplacaid Ghluasadach airson a dhùrachd agus chaidh a dhealbhadh gus leasachaidhean càileachd beatha a thoirt seachad a chuidicheas le bhith a' dèanamh an t-saoghail na àite nas fheàrr.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Aurora is a music-based emotional support app for people with ADHD. Unlike traditional music platforms that recommend by genre or history, Aurora learns from users' mood journals to generate state-matched playlists, highlight moments when music helped, and reveal daily regulation patterns. Rhythm-synced visuals add gentle grounding during listening. The result is a low-effort tool that turns everyday songs into long-term self-regulation habits for wellbeing support.
Dimensions & Packaging: Platform: Mobile app (iOS and Android concept). Core inputs: current track metadata, time stamp, multi-mood intensity sliders, and short text notes. Core outputs: state-matched playlists, daily mood pattern summaries, highlighted key moments, and rhythm-synced visual modes. Data model links each journal entry to a song and a time period to support calendar navigation and trend views. Visual modes include multiple selectable patterns designed for low stimulation.
Tags: ADHD support, emotional regulation, mood based playlists, music journaling, rhythm synced visuals, neurodiverse wellness, focus support, calm support, behavior design
Production Technology: Aurora is designed as a mobile app concept with interactive prototypes. The experience is structured around three modules: playlist generation, mood journaling, and visual listening mode. Mood inputs are captured with multi-dimensional sliders and saved as time-stamped entries linked to the current music track. The app then summarizes entries into daily patterns and generates state-matched playlists based on past mood and listening records. Rhythm-synced visuals are designed to respond to BPM and audio energy.
Design Challenge: The main challenge was designing for mixed emotional states without adding cognitive load. Many mood trackers force a single label, while detailed journaling can feel too demanding for ADHD users. This was addressed by using a small set of mood dimensions with quick sliders, blended visual cues to reflect mixed states, and an insight-first trend view that highlights only the most meaningful moments instead of showing every entry.
Research: Research Objectives: Understand how people with ADHD use music to manage focus and mood.
Methodology: Semi structured interviews and concept testing. Data Collection and Research Tools Used: Interview notes, affinity mapping, storyboard and UI prototypes.
Participants: 10 adults with ADHD. Results: Music helps regulation but playlists rarely match the moment and helpful tracks are hard to recall.
Insights and Impacts: Led to mood logging, pattern highlights, and state matched playlists. Effect of the Research in Real-Life Phenomena such as Business, Society and Design Itself: Supports neurodiverse wellbeing and reframes music as intentional support.
Inspiration: After interviewing 10 people with ADHD, I saw a repeated pattern: music helps them focus or calm down, but generic playlists rarely match the moment, and it is hard to remember what worked later. This gap inspired Aurora. I combined mood journaling, pattern insights, and rhythm-synced visuals to turn listening into a repeatable self-regulation tool.
Project Duration: Aurora was designed over approximately 8 weeks in the United States (Boston, MA). Work included user interviews, synthesis, concept development, wireframing, and high-fidelity UI prototyping.
Operation Flow: Users listen to music, then log a quick moment: what they are listening to, how they feel across a few mood sliders, and a short note. Aurora turns these moments into state matched playlists and a daily trend view that highlights when music helped stabilize focus or calm. A visual mode adds gentle rhythm synced motion during listening to support grounding and reduce overstimulation.
Patents: Copyrights belong to Ping Chen, 2025.
Team Members: Ping Chen
Haowei Zang