Social Impact Statement

Our team is dedicated to ensuring we uphold our values while creating our product Whispr. While we are responsible for creating a device that allows amateur singers to become more confident in their abilities, we are just as responsible for ensuring the upholding of our ethical and professional values as well. Our social impact statement presents our dedication to social responsibility and what we aim to accomplish in developing this product.

Policy Elements

Our group is centered around one primary category within social responsibility: compliance. Compliance signifies our dedication to adhering to legal standards, while also demonstrating respect for communal values. When developing our product, we listened to our community and created a product they truly desired. At the same time, we also wanted to ensure Whispr was not imposing any adverse effects on our community as its development progressed.

Business Ethics

Our team will carry out our business operations with utmost integrity and unwavering respect for our employees. We are a committed equal opportunity employer and will abide by all fair labour practices. 

We will:

• respect our team members 

• uphold manufacturing standards

• follow required protocols to ensure the safety of our employees during development

• promote a collaborative environment 

The creation of a safe and positive environment will enact a sense of community among our team, allowing our creativity to flourish. This is essential in the development and design of our product, which is why it is always a focus in our group. Furthermore, we believe that by strictly observing laws and regulations, we can create an environment of trust among our stakeholders, proving that we are a responsible and reliable entity.

Listening to Our Community

We are responsible for not only ensuring the safety of our users but also truly listening to them. By doing so, we can enhance our contribution to society. By aligning Whispr with societal norms and regulations, we can eliminate the negative impacts it may have. As defined in our Market Research page, we dedicated a significant portion of our time to interviewing our community and listening to what they look for in a product. This stage in development has been crucial in defining our product, so to strengthen our bond with our community, we will support diverse ideas while trying to foster an environment open to feedback and be human-centric in our approach by making a conscious effort to think through every decision.

Protecting Our Community

Right from the beginning, Whispr as a product idea has been aimed at helping amateur singers enjoy recreational time without the anxiety of disturbing those around them or the fear of being judged if they do not sing the most melodically. The fear of being heard when the user does not want to be heard or when they do not want their privacy to be invaded has been a concern for our target audience, as proven by our user survey. The device aims to give users that sense of privacy and freedom from the get-go. 

During the production of Whispr, we prioritized the utilization of antimicrobial materials to effectively inhibit the formation of harmful bacteria. Furthermore, we aim to ensure the product's design promotes easy cleaning, underlining our commitment to the safety of our consumers. These measures allow for a harmony between safety and the user's ability to engage in singing activities without worry. We will never put our customer's safety at risk in any stage of development. To ensure that, we made a conscious decision to use non-toxic materials for the inner lining of the internal dampening unit (IDU).

Yet, even though the device offers an environment to practice music where they feel less anxious, not being careful with the way the product is used for a long period could mean that the user is not exposing themselves to any sort of criticism, constructive or destructive, which could in turn in lead to the user getting comfortable where they are and getting drawn into their shell, not putting themselves out there, and just being wary of how things might turn out negatively.

Environmental Protections

When developing this product, we emphasized reducing material waste and exploring the use of sustainable materials. With this, we encouraged our team to actively work towards protecting the environment and utilizing environmentally friendly techniques. Because of this, we purposely reduced the amount of 3D printed models we created and instead spent more time developing alternative prototypes that would be less impactful towards the environment and incorporated recycled materials when possible.

The modularity of this device is not only a benefit for breathability, but it also adds an added layer of protection towards the environment. The internal dampening unit (IDU) is fabricated out of PLA, a recyclable 3D printing filament. Due to the device being comprised of two parts, a user can recycle the IDU shell at the end of the product's lifetime. The outer shell is currently not recyclable; however, our team is looking into new ways to fabricate this shell to make the device completely recyclable.

Global and Economic Impacts

The creation of Whispr will open the gates across the world for companies to dive deeper into sound-dampening devices. The introduction of our product is only the start, and we encourage companies to use their resources to further innovate and launch a new wave of products within this field- overall benefiting the global economy. Our current device is designed to be operated by a person who is capable of using their right hand, so we encourage other companies exploring this design field to incorporate ambidexterity into their design, allowing a person to use either hand to operate the device.  Even further, we encourage the exploration of voice control for the functions for those who are unable to move their limbs or who are amputees. This field is ever-growing and full of substantial economic opportunities, so we encourage companies to further advance our ideas and explore different avenues for potential customers, not just people who enjoy singing.

Human Rights

Financial complications are inevitable, they can happen at any time and because of this being a constant threat for the majority of citizens, many people tend to find any sort of extra income by cutting their expenses put towards recreational activities or hobbies. It is a known fact that people in higher socioeconomic standings are able to chase after new hobbies and indulge in a wider variety of personal interests. They are able to afford to rent out rooms, have a personal space, have no roommates or the ability to distance themselves from them, or the ability to soundproof their living space. Whispr aims to bring a sense of privilege to people from all financial backgrounds who are unable to afford these things. This device allows the user to engage in their favorite pastime, without drilling a hole in their pockets.

Outside of financial limitations, we also created Whispr to be a gender-neutral device, making it free of any gendered limitations. Looks alone, the device doesn’t cater to any specific gender, while still maintaining cultural norms at the same time. This feature allows a user to not feel out of place when wearing it in public or on the go. For the device’s straps, we made sure to take into account a user’s hairstyle, allowing the straps to still fit comfortably on the user’s head even if they were to wear their hair in a ponytail or bun. Outside of the straps, a focus was placed on the fit of the device around a user’s mouth. While gender can affect a user’s general face shape, rather than creating a size for each gender, we instead created a small, medium, and large internal dampening unit (IDU). These ranges in sizes allow the user to select the perfect fit, without feeling as if they need to conform to gender norms.

While our product might not be solving pressing world problems, we look at Whispr as a means of personal freedom and associate it with a sense of liberation that we aim to deliver to our users each time they use it. Freedom of expression, freedom from financial burdens, and freedom from time limitations are what we intend to deliver. Whispr aims to empower people to pursue their passion of belting their hearts out.

Reducing Potential Conflicts

One of the main reasons why Whispr was created was to provide privacy to those living with roommates who still want to practice their singing. Whispr allows ultimate privacy for those using the device, dampening their voice up to 20 dB. This layer of privacy allows a user to talk, sing, or simply make noise - all without their surrounding environment hearing them. Outside of the user themself, Whispr helps alleviate conflicts between roommates regarding noise. At Whispr, we understand not wanting to hear your roommate practice their signing at 3 A.M., or when you're trying to study for a final. This is why sound attenuation was a primary focus in developing this device - a feature not only easing the anxiety of the user but also the stress or frustration their roommates may currently experience. Because of this, we created a device that not only benefits the user wearing it but also the people around them. The product allows the user to enjoy their off-time without impeding the productivity of those around them. 

However, the team accepts that prolonged use of the product can also negatively impact these relationships. A person often finds support and seeks out constructive feedback from family and friends, but the dependence on this product might end up taking a toll on those intricate social relationships in ways that would not necessarily be anticipated.

Building Social Networks

As mentioned above, roommates were one of the main stakeholders in Whispr’s development. We wanted to create a device that not only improves the lives of singers around the world but also their roommates. By using Whispr, the relationships between the user and their roommates can remain positive and free of noise complaints. 

Outside of this realm, a user of Whispr can form new connections with those sharing a passion for singing. By becoming more confident in their singing, a user can explore communities they never thought about before purchasing this device. This could be Choral or A Cappella groups, or even clubs for amateur singers. This newfound sense of confidence allows the user to join communities, create long-lasting relationships that can benefit them even outside of singing alone, and explore prospective formal education options if they find a strong passion for it.

Impacts on Cultural Identity

This device allows a user to feel more connected to their culture and participate in certain activities as the dampening property results in reduced anxiety of infringing upon others around them. Whispr allows a user to sing anywhere at any time, allowing them to sing and dance to celebrate their culture at any given moment. Rather than needing to travel across the world to sing with their families or friends, the user can now celebrate and protect their culture, from wherever they may choose.

With this, Whispr may cause a user to stray away from traditional practices. A user may become dependent on the product and feel embarrassed or anxious when expressing their culture in traditional ways. However, at Whispr, we never want the user to feel ashamed or embarrassed of their heritage, that is an essential part of what makes you, you! Instead, we want to provide an alternative practicing option for those lacking the resources to travel or convene with their family or friends to celebrate their culture.

The product allows the user to enjoy their off-time without impeding the productivity of those around them. It also avoids critical criticism that might come with good intentions but end up adding to the anxiety that the users might have about their ability to sing or more along the lines of how they might sound to those around them.

However, the team accepts that prolonged use of the product can also negatively impact these relationships. A person often finds support and seeks out constructive feedback from family and friends, but the dependence on this product might end up taking a toll on those intricate social relationships in ways that would not necessarily be anticipated.