Blank (Media) Slate

Sound effects came up while discussing key elements to a product we’re developing.  It’s relatively understood that sound is an important aspect to usage of various tools providing feedback to the user.  While desktop applications employ them to a degree (often relying heavily on the standard “Something Bad Happened Alert”), they’re more often treated like “ear candy”.

When used effectively, though, their effectiveness can be striking.  Take for example the soundscape generated by the TiVo.  Each sound effect carries weight and meaning reinforcing the actions users perform with the interface.  Another good example is the simple audio click of the iPod wheel giving the user the feeling of a substantial movement between selections.

It’s obvious to most users of the web, though, that it’s an oddly silent medium.  Other than the occasional (and extremely annoying) audio riffs added to some overly media heavy sites, surfing relies on the browser audio cues (eg. the link clicks in Internet Explorer).  Beyond that, however, few web sites have spent the time to develop a rich audio style guide to clue the users into action.

There are, of course, technical reasons for the silence (eg. bandwidth limitations, compatibility), but also some human factors issues, too.  It wouldn’t take long for a few well-intentioned audio metaphors to crescendo into a meaningless cacophony.  Besides, not all audioscapes would happily coexist with others.

I’m a total fan of effective audio cueing, the hurdle is defining their appropriate usage.  It is also possible, though often difficult, to further allow effective controls for the user to easily configure them without adversely impacting the overall experience for which they were intended.  Tricky stuff, but I’m convinced it’s well worth (at least) the exploratory effort.

In a related note, I’ve been a fan of auditory system health tracking for the past decade or so.  The project that sticks in mind was Peep, called a “Network Auaralizer” for monitoring networks with sound, designed by some folks at Tufts.  Unfortunately, it looks like the alpha they’d built as a proof of concept is now offline.  If you’re interested and end up noodling around for more info, drop me a line with any updated intel.