Frank can shake his ears, but Max can’t wink. There are all sorts of quirky traits and actions that most people can do when others cannot. Could whistling be just one of them ?

Mixed responses from people :To some, whistling came effortlessly but to some it doesn’t come right even after practice

Carefree, casual &fun-loving attitude

Just sitting around humming

Signaling to your friend

Calling a cab!

Hitting high notes and tones

Rude to whistleindoors

Superstitous with whistling at

night

Associated with eve

teasing and rowdiness

USA

Seeking Attention

PlayfulLanguage

Musical Mastery

Science behind it

SECONDARY RESEARCH

PRIMARY RESEARCH

On your own Friends and Family Youtube + Internet

WHY CAN’T I

part frustration , part curiosity

“A complex but natural task”

Previously ignored as one of those things I just couldn’t do, I took it upon myself to learn how to whistle. However, after 2 months of trying, annoying my friends and creeping out strangers in public and still failing ,I decided to do some quick research and find out more about this silly problem, the design way.

a day long discovery

by Rajasi Rastogi

The shape of the tongue, teeth and roof of the mouth determine the sound produced when air flows through the mouth. Since every person’s jaw structure is different, so is there ability to whistle.

so all the illustrations, videos, maybe even lessons, just don’t work !

Whistling has different connotations in different countries.

In an effort to understand how people learn to whistle, I asked 30 people whether or not they could whistle.

WHISTLE ?

Whistling

It is aCultural Thing

I am not the only one

11 out of 30 people I asked couldn’t whistle

...but where’s the fun in knowing that ?

A personal thing

A rehearsed habit or a natural trait ?

Conclusion

IMPACT OF PHONESNow we call an Uber with an app instead of hailing a cab, a mom texts her son, who has earphones in,to come down for dinner.Whistling, what once used to be a rite of passage has now become a lost art.

Not anymore...

In Kuskoy, a remote mountain village in Turkey, villagers still communicate across valleys by whistling.

Did you know ? I didnt...

Curious about the interesting relationship between the two, I asked those who could whistle whether they ever owned a pet in their childhood, specifically a dog.

Still not sure whether I have the answer, but maybe this will help

To be continued...Drop me a line if you are a master whistler, trainer, or just like me, want to know why on earth is this still a mystery

Pets andwhistling

Three types of whistling

Ways to learn

With mouth With fingers With tongue

Growing up in India, I was always told it was un-ladylike for girls to whistle.

Could this be why I didn’t try hard enough before?

“”

Just managed to do it one day

Never came naturally to me

Tried for months but still couldn’t

Could do it when I was a kid, notanymore

My whole family can whistle, only I cant

Could do at some point, but ‘then I had braces and now I cant whistle even if my life depended on it.

Taught myself how to whistle, took a

lot of practice

Practiced till got it

Naturally learnt it Gave up after first try

Tried alot but failed

Have had a dog / petCan whistle

Can’t whistle

I can even whistle songs

* starts whistling*

It became a habit, my body developed it

as a muscle Don’t remember how and

when though

Whislted to my dog all the time

These were some of their responses

SocialRelevance

Russia Japan India

KillingBoredom

Can’t whistle Can Whistle

“ ”

No technology can replace it. Ever

Get more practice without knowing it

Accepted across all cultures

Not awkard in public and noone minds

Perhaps this is why...

Practice More Get a dog ? Just wait...

12 of 20 people who could whistle , also had a dog or another pet in their childhood !

When asked, “Can you whistle ? ”most people curled up their mouth, regardless of whether they could whistle or not. It was a very automatic, intuitive reaction to the question!

Interesting Behaviour