Thank you! That’s a good point about the buttons and accidental presses. I had been thinking that placing the wheel inside this curve was the only place it would be protected when the speaker is knocked over or tossed into a back pack. I was trying to shoot for the moon with the volume wheel but I can see where it would add challenge and cost to get right.
Over the last few days, I have been working on exploring different button layouts using all snap dome/micro switch style buttons.
The first concept puts the buttons flush with the outer housing edge and recesses the speaker grill to make space for them. Putting the buttons here might help the user grip the back of the speaker while pressing the buttons with their thumb. Since the grills are rectangular, there is some extra dead space around the speaker where the buttons wouldn’t be in the way.
The second concept allows the grill to be flush with the outer housing edge. I’m trying out a button style I’ve seen on some bluetooth speakers where the speaker grill/cloth is used as keypad membrane and thin plastic buttons are bonded on top to show the user where to press.
The third concept makes use of the existing speaker housing edge and breaks it up into buttons. This edge would be closest to the user in both listening modes and should be easy to press since the buttons are close to the base.
