DS2 Desktop Studio Arm
RØDE
The DS2 has been developed to provide a professional quality studio arm to content creators. Whether you’re wanting to mount your microphone, camera or smartphone, DS2 gives users a seamless experience.
Services
Industrial Design
Engineering
Prototyping
Production Documentation
Production Implementation
It’s got to be Pro!
Like all Rode products, the DS2 needed to deliver a professional level of integration and performance. Katapult worked alongside Rode’s in-house team to understand how creators use these products and what their expectations would be. The result is a carefully considered adjustable arm that feels smooth and solid, yet hits a competitive price point.
It’s also important that it looks the part. After we perfected the features and mechanism, the team refined the aesthetic to ensure the DS2 looks well and truly at home in the studio environment.
Rapid Iterations
One thing we like to do at Katapult is quickly model sketch concepts into 3D CAD to explore the design issues at the correct scale. This process helps us bring fidelity to the ideas and often surfaces new challenges or better solutions. For DS2 we explored the articulation and assembly early with Rode’s engineers to create a balanced, ergonomic arm structure that could be easily tested with prototypes. At this stage of the project we’re also thinking about manufacturing processes, COG’s targets and likely assembly issues to help inform the choice of a preferred design direction.
Yeah, but does it work?
We love making products look beautiful so that’s a given with everything we do, but creating a beautiful UX is the key driver in any project. When designing a product like DS2 that needed to be smoothly adjustable, reliable and highly stable, yet remain simple in structure, real world prototype testing was crucial.
Over a number of iterations the cross-functional teams refined the elbow joints to be adjustable in tension so the feel was smooth and consistent. The arm needs to shift easily without falling or slipping and then stop tightly in the desired position. This complex interaction must happen almost subconsciously from the users perspective. Making something seem easy when it’s actually quite challenging is all part of the magic!
