Aura
Ban Boring Meetings
Overview
Meet Aura, the ultimate meeting facilitator. Designed to enhance on-site product team meetings, Aura works behind the scenes to ensure discussions stay structured, action-driven, and on time. Through a combination of agenda organization, real-time moderation, and insightful summaries, Aura helps teams reduce wasted time and improve collaboration without disrupting the meeting flow.
Problem Statement
Product teams face a significant challenge: too many meetings, too little productivity. While collaboration is essential, excessive and poorly structured meetings lead to:
Lost focus on core tasks
Lower team morale and engagement
Inefficient decision-making due to unclear discussions
This results in a lack of clarity, wasted time, and ultimately, decreased team performance.
Research Methods
To identify the key factors behind unproductive meetings, I interviewed industry professionals, including alumni and product team members, to understand their experiences with inefficient meetings.
Affinity Mapping revealed four recurring themes:
Structure, Mediation, Efficiency, and Clarity
Simulated Experimentation helped refine how Aura would function in real-world scenarios.
To identify the key factors behind unproductive meetings, I interviewed industry professionals, including alumni and product team members, to understand their experiences with inefficient meetings.
Affinity Mapping revealed four recurring themes:
Structure, Mediation, Efficiency, and Clarity
Simulated Experimentation helped refine how Aura would function in real-world scenarios.
Found out Aura needed to:
✔ Provide structured meeting agendas that multiple parties can edit
✔ Indicate speaking times to ensure balanced discussions
✔ Generate real-time summaries to track key takeaways
✔ Remain portable for easy integration into different meeting environments
Low Fidelity And Middle Fidelity
User Testing - Card Sorting
To understand how to structure our product's companion desktop application we performed a card-sorting exercise on 10 people. From there we were able to construct a sitemap and start working on the UI.
In the meantime, the packaging and the physical prototype were being built.
Physical Prototype and Packaging
Reflection
This project pushed me to explore new research methodologies and approach design problems differently. Unlike my usual process, I had to develop the idea first, then validate it through research—a challenge that ultimately taught me to adapt quickly, think flexibly, and iterate with intent.
Additionally, balancing physical product design, UI/UX, and packaging within a limited timeframe reinforced the importance of cohesive, multi-disciplinary design thinking. Aura isn’t just a tool—it’s a solution that transforms how teams collaborate, and I’m proud to have designed an experience that improves productivity without adding friction.
Reflection
This project pushed me to explore new research methodologies and approach design problems differently. Unlike my usual process, I had to develop the idea first, then validate it through research—a challenge that ultimately taught me to adapt quickly, think flexibly, and iterate with intent.
Additionally, balancing physical product design, UI/UX, and packaging within a limited timeframe reinforced the importance of cohesive, multi-disciplinary design thinking. Aura isn’t just a tool—it’s a solution that transforms how teams collaborate, and I’m proud to have designed an experience that improves productivity without adding friction.
