As my eyesight deteriorates, I’ve become more reliant on sound. This has made me realise how many harsh and unuseful sounds we have in our environment. For instance, appliances with a single beep for everything can make them less accessible, as having distinguishing sounds between on and off can greatly improve their usability. Similarly, the incessant beeping of barcode scanners at tills can be frustrating.
Sounds above 2000 hertz can activate our sympathetic nervous system, triggering our fight or flight response. Barcode scanners typically beep between 3250 and 4200 hertz. An article in Design Observer explores how one sound designer draws inspiration from nature to create more natural and engaging environments. The article includes examples of different sounds for comparison.
While sound design often lacks a specific intent, when companies incorporate sound into their design process, it can enhance the customer experience and even make products more accessible.
That’s not taking into account the real life-or-death consequences of poor sound design: In hospitals, medical staff can hear up to 1,000 alarms in a single shift. The resulting “alarm fatigue” — a phenomenon in which professionals begin to tune out this deluge of beeps — contributed to more than 500 deaths over a five-year period.
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