It seems a product’s ’sound’ may be of equal importance to its visual and tactile qualities. Industrial designer Elif Özcan Vieira believes consumers form value and trust opinions of a design based largely on the product’s sound quality. Recently completing her PhD in the auditory benefits of design, Özcan Vieira found that sound plays an integral role in our quality discernment. The Science Daily reports:
Product sounds influence our reasoning, emotional state, purchase decisions, preference, and expectations regarding the product and the product’s performance. Thus, auditory experience elicited by product sounds may not be just about the act of hearing or a sensory response to an acoustical stimulus (e.g., this is a loud and sharp sound). A complimentary and meaningful relationship exists between a product and its sounds.
According to Özcan Vieira the key to effective ’sound design’ is creating an auditory experience that typifies and authenticates our pre-existing design expectations. I.e., a quality champagne glass produces a quintessential ‘clink’ sound we’ve come to expect. Elif Özcan Vieira states:
The sound a product makes when you use it or place it somewhere must fit the product. It must generate a positive experience. Users find this important at a time when the sound must match well with the product’s functionality. A coffee machine for instance must have a pleasant sound, because people associate drinking a cup of coffee with relaxing.
There are some key steps to ‘tuning’ effective sound design. Özcan Vieira suggests creating a sound library alongside initial product sketches to ensure effective product communication.
[via Science Daily & Sound Isn't Noise]
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
Reddit
StumbleUpon
