Name: Jono Yap
Born: Melbourne
Based: Melbourne
Can’t leave the house without? Headphones, phone, house keys

Tell us a bit about your start at Nura, how you joined the company and the first product you worked on?

I first joined Nura as an Industrial Design contractor in Oct 2016. Sonia, the operations manager at the time, is a friend of mine and reached out as she knew how invested I am in the audio/audio tech space and thought I'd be a great fit given my professional background. I joined the company full time 1st Jan 2017 and headed straight to China to help bring the Nuraphone from prototype to commercial product.

The first product I ever worked on was a single-use medical device. This was at the ID firm I worked at prior - can't go into more detail than that unfortunately.   

What drew you to product design and particularly headphones? 

I’ve always been enamoured by physical products and even to this day am still taken aback by the power of good design and its ability to foster emotional connections with objects that go beyond the superficial. This is a concept that was taught to me during my industry experience placement during high school which not only laid the groundwork but cemented my career trajectory in product design. 

Headphones, and more generally audio gear, has been a passion of mine since 2003 when dad came home with a pair of Sennheiser HD 203's for me. Since then, it's been an endless loop of investing in more and more headphones than I could possibly ever use, but hey, everyone has their thing. Beyond that, music has always played such a significant role in my life, from learning to play piano and drums growing up then progressing to making my own music and DJing as a hobby.

What are you inspired by? 

Like everyone at Nura, I’m continually driven by the transformative power of music and our technology’s ability to enrich lives through immersive listening experiences. But beyond that, most of my inspiration comes from the incredible team we have assembled that I have the honour of working alongside every day. A healthy dose of Techno helps too! 

What is your favourite product you have worked on?

The product we are working on now — which I can’t reveal just yet — is one of the most exciting projects for me. I can’t wait for everyone to experience it as well.