All work

Sonova (via Capgemini) — Connected hearing devices

Hearing care,
beyond limits

A companion app for connected hearing aids — device control, appointments and a hearing test — designed for people managing their hearing every day.

Product Designer — 2023–2024, eighteen months.

Product
Companion app for connected hearing aids
Audience
Elderly primary users plus the clinics that serve them
Constraint
European medical-device regulation
Brands
Four regional brands one codebase, one layout
Remote Control: volume for the left and right hearing aid, the current profile and both battery levels on one screen.

The 10-second version

From a few-screen MVP to a full hearing care hub — with advanced configuration of the aids, appointments including a video call where a specialist tunes the device remotely, and a hearing test.

Advanced configuration Step 1 of 3

Volume, profile and both batteries in one place

The state of each aid stays visible while you change it — nothing hidden behind a menu.

A video call in the app: the audiologist on screen, the person in a small self-view, and the connection state of both aids in the header.

The 10-second version

From a few-screen MVP to a full hearing care hub — with advanced configuration of the aids, appointments including a video call where a specialist tunes the device remotely, and a hearing test.

Appointments Step 2 of 3

The clinic reaches the device, not the other way round

An audiologist joins by video and tunes the aids remotely — the visit happens without the trip.

The hearing test in progress: one tone at a time, with the step counter and a single button to confirm what was heard.

The 10-second version

From a few-screen MVP to a full hearing care hub — with advanced configuration of the aids, appointments including a video call where a specialist tunes the device remotely, and a hearing test.

Hearing test Step 3 of 3

A guided test that says what it measured

One decision per screen, one tone at a time — and a plain result that sends anything more to an audiologist.

01The product

Onboarding highlights what the app does

The primary function is controlling the hearing aids themselves; appointments and the hearing test support the relationship between a person, their device, and their clinic.

Onboarding card one: what the app is for. Onboarding card two: changing the volume of both aids. Onboarding card three: sound profiles and advanced settings. Onboarding card four: the in-app hearing test. Onboarding card five: remote appointments with a specialist.

Controlling the device

The core job: control the aids, clearly and confidently.

The home screen reporting the connection state of the left and right aid separately, in words.
Remote Control: volume for each aid, the active profile and both battery levels.
Editing a sound profile: four sliders — background noise, speech focus, loud sounds and tone — under one recognisable name.
Streaming balance: a single slider running from background sound to the television, with no numbers.
Device settings: model, licences and behaviour options, one level below the daily controls.

You know both aids are on before anything else

Volume, profile and both batteries in one place

Your own setup, saved and named

One slider between the room and the television

The technical drawer, kept out of the daily path

Appointments

A specialist tunes the aids without the trip to the clinic

Booking covers online and in-person visits. The video call goes further: the audiologist joins in the app and adjusts the settings while the person stays at home.

  1. Choose online or in person
  2. Find a store nearby
  3. Pick a date and a slot
  4. Come to your appointment
The in-app video call: the audiologist on screen while both aids report their connection state.

The hearing test

The test runs as a guided sequence, from the opening screen to the result.

  • The opening screen of the hearing test, with a note that no personal data is saved while the test runs.
    01 Starting the test
  • Collecting the information the test needs before it starts.
    02 Collecting information
  • Preparing — getting the room quiet before the tones start.
    03 Preparing the room
  • The tones running one at a time, with a single button to confirm what was heard.
    04 Running the tones
  • The result: a plain verdict, the level measured for each ear, and a line saying the test does not replace one performed by an audiologist.
    05 The result
02What made it hard

One set of decisions, every regional brand

The same product carried several regional brands, and every theme had to hold the contrast and target sizes an elderly audience needs. The structure was fixed at the system level, so a change of brand never became a change of layout.

myAudioNova

The entry screen in the myAudioNova brand: the wordmark on a green field, above a welcome card.
Remote control in the myAudioNova brand: volume, profile and both battery levels.

Boots Hearingcare

The same entry screen in the Boots Hearingcare brand: the wordmark on a navy field, above a log-in card.
The same remote control screen in the Boots Hearingcare brand — same hierarchy, different palette.

The user guide

A device under medical-device regulation ships with a document that explains it, so the guide was part of the release rather than an extra. I led ours: building it out, and keeping it current as the product changed.

User guide, page 8: the overview of the home screen. User guide, page 13: the edit-profile screen taken apart, each control named in the margin. User guide, page 33: the last step of pairing, once both aids are connected. User guide, page 35: what to do when a hearing aid will not connect. User guide, page 47: reaching the options of a sound profile from remote control. User guide, page 103: how to stream audio to the aids. User guide, page 109: the account section — personal details, appointment history, quotes and invoices.

100+ pages

The three hardest limits

  • Constraint 01

    Medical-device regulation

    European MDR

    Ruled out

    Loose wording, implied medical claims, and any result screen that could read as a diagnosis.

    Produced instead

    Copy checked line by line, and a test that reports what it measured while pointing to a professional for the rest.

  • Constraint 02

    Readable at arm’s length, first try

    Sets the floor for everyone

    Ruled out

    Dense panels, low-contrast styling, small targets, and flows that move faster than the person using them.

    Produced instead

    Large touch targets, high contrast, one decision per screen, and states you can name out loud.

  • Constraint 03

    Several regional brands

    One app, many skins

    Ruled out

    Brand-specific layouts, and decoration that only worked in one palette.

    Produced instead

    A structure that survives a change of palette, with contrast and target sizes fixed at the system level.

In closing

Every release goes through the full regulatory process

Every iteration shipped through the same cycle: prepared, documented, tested by an outside body because the regulation does not let us test our own device, and only then released. The guide is part of the device for the same reason. Design to that rhythm and you decide slowly and rarely.

The project settled something else for me: I want to know who a product helps, and what it changes for them. I have kept close to those people ever since.