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Nollution.
Hear the unheard.

A buoy and an app that make ocean noise visible — so anyone
can help protect Gulf whales.

A buoy and an app that make ocean noise visible — so anyone
can help protect Gulf whales.

B2C Product

B2C Product

Systemic Thinking

Systemic Thinking

Hardware + App

Hardware + App

SPECULATIVE CONCEPT · PROTOTYPE — NOT DEPLOYED

SPECULATIVE CONCEPT · PROTOTYPE — NOT DEPLOYED

Overview

Overview

Overview

What it is

What it is

What it is

A solar buoy + companion app that lets everyday people hear underwater ship noise and contribute data to whale scientists.

The problem

The problem

The problem

Noise pollution is invisible, so the public can't see — or act on — a crisis harming Gulf whales.

Noise pollution is invisible, so the public can't see — or act on — a crisis harming Gulf whales.

My role

My role

My role

Product & interaction design · research · 3D modeling · prototyping

Product & interaction design · research · 3D modeling · prototyping

Timeline & tools

Timeline & tools

Timeline & tools

2025/03 – 2025/04 · Figma, Blender, Adobe CC

2025/03 – 2025/04 · Figma, Blender, Adobe CC

Outcome

Outcome

Outcome

Built the buoy through 6+ physical prototype iterations and tested a clickable app with 6 users.

Built the buoy through 6+ physical prototype iterations and tested a clickable app with 6 users.

THE PROBLEM

<50

<50

Fewer than 100 Rice’s whales remain in the Gulf of Mexico, with the most recent abundance estimate at about 50 individuals. NOAA also identifies vessel strikes and noise from vessels and energy exploration as major threats that may disrupt the whales’ behavior and survival

Fewer than 100 Rice’s whales remain in the Gulf of Mexico, with the most recent abundance estimate at about 50 individuals. NOAA also identifies vessel strikes and noise from vessels and energy exploration as major threats that may disrupt the whales’ behavior and survival

Source: NOAA Fisheries — Rice's Whale Passive Acoustic Detections Report (2025)

The Design Opportunity

Underwater noise is measurable — but not legible. The gap isn't sensing. It's translation.

PROBLEM

Acoustic data about local waters exists, but it's locked in scientific formats that coastal communities can't read or act on.

USER

Coastal residents, community-science volunteers, and recreational boaters — people near the water, without a science background.

OPPORTUNITY

Translate acoustic sensing into understandable community evidence — and pair it with a concrete action.

OUTCOME

Informed local behavior, visible trends, and advocacy — not passive data collection.

Context — a coastal community where underwater sound data is inaccessible or hard to interpret, and where the people closest to the water have the least ability to read it.

Research

2X

2X

Ocean noise has roughly doubled each decade in key shipping regions.

Ocean noise has roughly doubled each decade in key shipping regions.

(Source: Ocean Conservancy, 2023)

Masking

Masking

Ship noise overlaps whale call frequencies, drowning out communication and feeding.

Ship noise overlaps whale call frequencies, drowning out communication and feeding.

Ship noise overlaps whale call frequencies, drowning out communication and feeding.

(Source: NOAA Fisheries, 2024)

Rice Whale

Rice Whale

Rice’s whales are the only year-round baleen whales in the Gulf and remain highly endangered

Rice’s whales are the only year-round baleen whales in the Gulf and remain highly endangered

Rice’s whales are the only year-round baleen whales in the Gulf and remain highly endangered

(Source: NOAA Fisheries, 2025)

(Source: NOAA Fisheries, 2025)

PROBLEM MAP — THE NOISE SYSTEM

Fig. 01 — I mapped how three industries (oil, shipping, military) each drive underwater noise, and how it cascades into whale behavior. This systems view is what pushed me to focus on making the invisible visible.

Fig. 01 — I mapped how three industries (oil, shipping, military) each drive underwater noise, and how it cascades into whale behavior. This systems view is what pushed me to focus on making the invisible visible.

Fig. 01 — I mapped how three industries (oil, shipping, military) each drive underwater noise, and how it cascades into whale behavior. This systems view is what pushed me to focus on making the invisible visible.

User research

User research

Who we're empathizing with: everyday people who love the ocean but feel powerless to help protect it.

Who we're empathizing with: everyday people who love the ocean but feel powerless to help protect it.

Who we're empathizing with: everyday people who love the ocean but feel powerless to help protect it.

Feel

emotions

Powerless · guilty · disconnected · "too small to matter."

Powerless · guilty · disconnected · "too small to matter."

Powerless · guilty · disconnected ·

"too small to matter."

Say

out loud

"I care about the ocean, but I don't know what I can actually

do to help."

"I care about the ocean, but I don't know what I can actually

do to help."

"I care about the ocean, but I don't know what I can actually do to help."

Think

unspoken

Is donating the only option?Reposting feels pointless. Maybe this problem is too big for me.

Is donating the only option? Reposting feels pointless. Maybe this problem is too big for me.

"Is donating the only option Reposting feels pointless. Maybe this problem is too big for me."

See

environment

"Instagram feeds full of beautiful whale photos — never the noise that's harming them. "

"Instagram feeds full of beautiful whale photos — never the noise that's harming them. "

Do

actions

"Shares ocean posts, watches nature docs, checks weather/tide apps — but real action stops at the screen."

"Shares ocean posts, watches nature docs, checks weather/tide apps — but real action stops at the screen."

Hear

from other

"Vague 'the ocean is dying' headlines and friends saying 'that's so sad' — but no concrete action to take."

"Vague 'the ocean is dying' headlines and friends saying 'that's so sad' — but no concrete action to take."

NEED — THE GAP NOLLUTION FILLS

NEED — THE GAP NOLLUTION FILLS

A way to help that's visible, easy (no boat, no science degree), and fits daily life — so caring turns into doing.

A way to help that's visible, easy (no boat, no science degree), and fits daily life — so caring turns into doing.

A way to help that's visible, easy (no boat, no science degree), and fits daily life —

so caring turns into doing.

WHO THIS IS FOR

ASSUMPTION — NOT VALIDATED

Coastal residents, community-science volunteers, and recreational boaters — people who live beside the water and have no way to read it.

I did not interview them. This audience is inferred from the desk research and my own framing, and it is the first thing the next experiment has to check. I'd rather name that than present an empathy map I can't back.

THE GAP NOLLUTION AIMS AT

A way to help that's visible, easy (no boat, no science degree), and fits daily life — so caring turns into doing.

Research

What I Know, and How I Know It

Three beliefs drove this system. They are not equally proven — so each one is labeled by the strength of its evidence.

DOCUMENTED

Sourced published research

OBSERVED

Recorded in my own reviews

ASSUMPTION

Untested — next to validate

01

DOCUMENTED

The threat is documented — and completely invisible to the people near it.

EVIDENCE

Ship noise overlaps whale call frequencies, masking communication and feeding (NOAA Fisheries, 2024). Ocean noise has roughly doubled each decade in key shipping regions (Ocean Conservancy, 2023). Fewer than ~50 Rice's whales remain (NOAA Fisheries, 2025).

IMPLICATION

The design problem isn't sensing — the data already exists. It's that nothing translates it into something a non-scientist can read.

DECISION

A readable trend graph with plain-language labels instead of a raw decibel readout. The exact scale and thresholds are still undefined — that's engineering work I haven't done.

02

OBSERVED

Reviewers never questioned the screens. Every hard question was about the ocean.

EVIDENCE

"How are people going to drop these Nollution detectors into the ocean?" · "How can people go out to sea if they don't have a boat or ship?" · "What if the detector drifts out to the Atlantic?"

IMPLICATION

The system's credibility rests on operations, not interface. If the physical model is unbelievable, no amount of UI fixes it.

DECISION

Reframed the buoy as adopted, not deployed — tethered and community-anchored, with partner orgs as device stewards. Added geofence + drift alert.

03

PARTICIPATION RESEARCH

Citizen science loses half its volunteers after one session. Access to data is not what brings them back.

EVIDENCE

In online citizen-science projects, 10% of volunteers do about 79% of the work — everyone else signs up and vanishes (Sauermann & Franzoni, 2015). People stay when the task feels real and someone tells them what happened to their work (West & Pateman, 2016).

Status: untested. This is the assumption the next experiment attacks first.

IMPLICATION

If it's false, the whole participation model collapses into another dashboard nobody opens.

DECISION

Adopt a Buoy. One unit is yours, and it reports back to you — you don't go looking for the data.

Prototyping

Iteration in foam, paper, & pixels.

The buoy went through 6+ physical revisions before a final Blender model — each tested for buoyancy and for whether a non-engineer could tell which way was "up". The app moved in parallel through paper, Figma, and a clickable prototype tested with 6 participants.

The buoy went through 6+ physical revisions before a final Blender model — each tested for buoyancy and for whether a non-engineer could tell which way was "up". The app moved in parallel through paper, Figma, and a clickable prototype tested with 6 participants.

Device Diagram

The Product

Seven screens, one citizen-science loop

Seven screens, one citizen-science loop

Each screen does one job: get in, sign in, connect a buoy, locate it, browse the community, then read the noise. Captions turn a screen lineup into a decision trail.

Each screen does one job: get in, sign in, connect a buoy, locate it, browse the community, then read the noise. Captions turn a screen lineup into a decision trail.

01 · Enter

Onboarding

Onboarding

Opens on the story, not a form — hooks the "I want to help" feeling before asking anything.

Opens on the story, not a form — hooks the "I want to help" feeling before asking anything.

02 · Sign in

Sign in — or skip

"Continue without logging in" lowers the barrier so casual visitors can browse before committing.

03 · Connect

Adopt a buoy

Pairs to an existing partner-placed buoy via Bluetooth — no boat or deployment needed.

02 · Sign in

Sign in — or skip

"Continue without logging in" lowers the barrier so casual visitors can browse before committing.

"Continue without logging in" lowers the barrier so casual visitors can browse before committing.

03 · Connect

Adopt a buoy

Pairs to an existing partner-placed buoy via Bluetooth — no boat or deployment needed.

Pairs to an existing partner-placed buoy via Bluetooth — no boat or deployment needed.

04· Community

Browse others' data

Turns solo monitoring into a community — anyone can check readings from buoys across the Gulf.

Turns solo monitoring into a community — anyone can check readings from buoys across the Gulf.

05· Read

Noise graph

Turns raw underwater noise into a readable daily story — making the invisible crisis visible.

Turns raw underwater noise into a readable daily story — making the invisible crisis visible.

06· Compare

Compare over time

Lets users compare days/buoys to spot noise spikes — data they can flag for researchers.

01 · Enter

Onboarding

Opens on the story, not a form — hooks the "I want to help" feeling before asking anything.

02 · Sign in

Sign in — or skip

"Continue without logging in" lowers the barrier so casual visitors can browse before committing.

03 · Connect

Adopt a buoy

Pairs to an existing partner-placed buoy via Bluetooth — no boat or deployment needed.

Competitor Analysis

What people use today to "help the ocean" — and the gap each leaves open.

Whale-tracking apps

STRENGTH

Wide adoption; shows real sightings data.

WEAKNESS

Tracks where whales ARE, not the noise harming them — misses the invisible threat.

Research hydrophones

Research

hydrophones

STRENGTH

Accurate, scientific-grade underwater audio.

WEAKNESS

Closed to scientists; the public can't see, hear, or contribute.

Ocean-pledge apps

STRENGTH

Low barrier — easy to feel involved.

WEAKNESS

Ask for money or awareness, not real action or data.

Reflections

Reflections

During reviews, people kept poking at the same blind spot: this is a physical buoy in the real ocean, not just a screen. Here's what they asked — and what I changed because of it.

Critique

Critique

"How are people going to drop these Nollution detectors into the ocean?"

"How are people going to drop these Nollution detectors into the ocean?"

"How are people going to drop these Nollution detectors into the ocean?"

What I changed

I stopped treating deployment as a user's problem. The buoy is placed and maintained by partner orgs (the Marine Mammal Center network); the app's job is to let everyday people adopt and monitor an existing buoy, not launch their own. I added an "adopt a Nollution" entry point to reflect that.

I stopped treating deployment as a user's problem. The buoy is placed and maintained by partner orgs (the Marine Mammal Center network); the app's job is to let everyday people adopt and monitor an existing buoy, not launch their own. I added an "adopt a Nollution" entry point to reflect that.

Critique

Critique

"How can people go out to sea if they don't have a boat or ship?"

"How can people go out to sea if they don't have a boat or ship?"

"How can people go out to sea if they don't have a boat or ship?"

What I changed

This pushed me to separate who collects data from who reads it. You don't need a boat — the buoy streams remotely, so anyone can follow a Nollution from shore. I reframed the core loop around remote citizen monitoring, which is what the Map and Graph screens now serve.

This pushed me to separate who collects data from who reads it. You don't need a boat — the buoy streams remotely, so anyone can follow a Nollution from shore. I reframed the core loop around remote citizen monitoring, which is what the Map and Graph screens now serve.

Critique

Critique

"What if the Nollution detector drifts out to the Atlantic or somewhere unintended?"

"What if the Nollution detector drifts out to the Atlantic or somewhere unintended?"

"What if the Nollution detector drifts out to the Atlantic or somewhere unintended?"

What I changed

I added a geofence + drift alert to the map view and reframed the buoy as community-anchored, not free-floating. If a unit leaves its zone, both the owner and the partner org get notified — turning a failure case into a trust feature.

I added a geofence + drift alert to the map view and reframed the buoy as community-anchored, not free-floating. If a unit leaves its zone, both the owner and the partner org get notified — turning a failure case into a trust feature.

Next Step

→

Validate the proto-persona with 5–8 interviews with coastal residents and casual ocean-goers.

Validate the proto-persona with 5–8 interviews with coastal residents and casual ocean-goers.

→

Prototype the hydrophone-to-app data pipeline with a real noise reading.

Prototype the hydrophone-to-app data pipeline with a real noise reading.

→

Define the buoy placement + maintenance model (partner-run vs. community).

Define the buoy placement + maintenance model (partner-run vs. community).

→

Partner pilot with a marine conservation org for a single live buoy.

Partner pilot with a marine conservation org for a single live buoy.

Tools — Figma · Blender · Adobe CC

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NOLLUTION

Overview

Research

Oppertunity

Product

Features

Reflections

SPECULATIVE CONCEPT

2025 · Case 01/04