The Sound of Prototyping - Investigating the effect of speed of music on prototyping

Abstract

Studies on the effect from music on people have been ongoing for thousands of years, and with the technology and knowledge available today it is easier to investigate the underlying reasons for why music affecting us the way it does. Music is said to be a multidimensional art form utilizing the medium of sound, and because of this multidimensional nature studies of music are easily confounded. In this thesis, an experiment has been constructed to investigate the effect from speed of music on prototyping. Our hypothesis is that music with a higher BPM will result in a higher activity and/or better results during a prototyping session. The experiment was constructed by analysing available literature and other information to find suitable ways to measure the effect from music, as well as how to develop the music and test setup in order to avoid unnecessary confounding. The chosen means of measurement was quantitative measurements and movement of the test subjects. During two weeks in June/ July 2015 the experiment performed with summer school children at the science museum Heureka in Finland. With the data gathered, it was not possible to confirm our hypothesis, but because of some elements, such as the age of the children and location of the experiment it cannot be discarded it either. The experiment should therefore be retried at a later and more suitable time, with people in an older age group and at a more controlled location