I took an unconventional approach to create this app: I studied an object from before the digital age, then tried to create a phone app from it. 

I worked with a piano - I analyzed the gestures and the user's experience of playing a piano. Then I tried to utilize the gestures to use on the app. Eventually I created a communication app for long distance couples - they can play music together, send messages, and even make ugly noises on each other's phones.

watch my short video prototype for my app :)

Below is the process leading up to this app:

I first created a gesture and experience analysis of playing a piano.

Then I explored ways to use the piano "gestures" in my sketches (they are very different from the finished app!). Although a lot of my original ideas only dealt with one of the gestures, I decided to come up with something new that can implement multiple of them.

The last step before creating the app, I planned out a wire frame/flow chart below.