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ASMaRt Gallery

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Source: Scientific American

What is ASMR?

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a sensory-based and neo-studied phenomenon in which “individuals experience a tingling, static-like sensation”, and is associated with feelings of relaxation and well-being (Barratt & Davis, 2015). Many people who enjoy ASMR watch ASMR videos on Youtube or can listen to ASMR on Spotify or other audio-centric apps.

Why ASMaRt Gallery?

There aren't many apps available that are solely ASMR-focused. Furthermore, apps that are ASMR-centered only feature a select number of ASMRtists (a term for ASMR video and sound creators). 

Where do you experience ASMR?

The fertile technological grounds of the internet have served as a burgeoning environment for cultivation in interest, production, and sharing of ASMR videos, in which “ASMRtists” produce audiovisual “triggers” like gentle hand movements, whispering, and light tapping sounds.

 

Check out some of these ASMRtists:

Gentle Whispering

ASMR Glow 

Whispers Red 

What about the benefits?

Two large scale online experiments indicate that watching ASMR videos “increased pleasant affect” for people who experienced ASMR and is furthermore associated with “reduced heart rate and increased skin conductance levels” (Lara, Poerio 2018). These results reveal that ASMR is a “reliable and physiologically rooted experience” and therefore may have therapeutic benefits for both psychological and physical health (Lara, Poerio 2018).

My Role.

UX Researcher. Participant. UX Designer. ASMR Listener.

Self study.

For a class project, I decided to conduct a study on myself to determine which relaxation technique would be most beneficial to my pandemic-induced stress: ASMR, Meditation, or Sitting Still. I measured my heart rate and blood pressure before the treatment (ASMR, Meditation, or Sitting Still), set up a timer to undergo the treatment for 20 minutes, and then did post-treatment measurements.

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Graph demonstrating the effects of ASMR on my heart rate over 6 weeks.

Data collection.
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Spreadsheet for recording treatment, date & time, pre/post readings, and additional comments.

Data analysis.

From the data spreadsheet, I created a few dashboards for data visualization and analysis.

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Results.

The numbers below reflect the average changes of each research technique explored over a 6 week period:

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ASMR produced the greatest changes, mirroring the previous ASMR studies' results.

Although the relaxation techniques' data were not orthogonally collected, the average changes in my heart rate and blood pressure suggest that relaxation techniques such as ASMR are beneficial for alleviating physiological representations of stress.

Outcome: ASMR reduced heart rate and blood pressure more than meditation or sitting.

Click below to download and read my full research article

Competitor Analysis

I chose a competitor analysis to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of top ASMR apps. I chose YouTube which houses the greatest repository of ASMRtists, Spotify which contains audio recordings of ASMRtists, and Tingles which is an ASMR-focused app.

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Good

Bad

OK

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YouTube

  • Not enough specificity for ASMR

  • Unable to sort by genre

  • Primary source for ASMR videos

  • Images are larger – more scrolling

  • More ASMRtists than other apps

  • Don't have to have an account to watch

Spotify

  • Playlists

    • Able to create new playlists easily

  • Only sounds, no videos

  • Able to share sounds through social media

  • Must have an account

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Tingles

  • ASMR focused

  • Unable to select multiple options for quiz

  • Easy navigation

  • Aesthetically pleasing

  • No free option

  • ASMRtists and videos are fixed to app

  • Sleep timer

Wireframes.
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Paper prototype.

I drafted paper wireframes to sketch out some ideas for the app design.

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I then used Figma to create a mid-high fidelity prototype.

Figma.

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Click the phone to access the

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Prototype

Key Features.
Playlists.

  • Create, name, and organize playlists

  • Follow your favorite ASMRtists

  • Search for ALL ASMR videos and add them to playlists

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  • "Like" Videos and add them to your playlists later

  • Download playlists or videos so you can watch them without WiFi

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Social Media. 
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  • Follow your friends' favorite ASMR videos and playlists

  • Follow popular ASMR playlists from other ASMRt gallery users

  • Explore new videos related to your favorite types of ASMR

  • Navigate easily between your Gallery, Search, Home, and Profile pages

Experience ASMR.
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  • Set a Sleep Timer to prevent "runaway" playtime

  • Download videos from the ASMR Theatre

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