• Designing Sound and Silence
  • Conor O’Sullivan
  • The Nuggets translation Project
  • Permanent link to this article: github.com/xitu/gold-m…
  • Translator: CLOXnu
  • Proofread by: Baddyo, Charlo-o

This is Google’s first ever guide to product sound design

Even when we are sleeping, the experience of sound is everywhere. Our brains are highly sensitive to background sounds and good at deciding when to pay attention (or ignore them). However, much of what we communicate in product design today is visual and screen-based. It’s a great opportunity to invest in sound and tactile design — not only do they make communication more efficient, but they also open up new ways of making up for some of what we want in the visual realm with other senses.

I’ve spent 20 years designing sounds for products (including MOTOROLA’s HELLOMOTO ringtone, Xbox console sound, and Google’s “G” sound) and gained valuable insights into how sound can be used to optimize the design of emerging technologies. I’ve also found that when designing sound for consumer products, silent design is just as important as sound design. Of course, I emphasize the concept of silent design, but I’m not saying we’re not going to design sound anymore; Voice is important. However, product designers need to rethink how sound is used — not just for individual sounds — but also how to orchestrate those sounds to make them feel good to the end audience. Sound designers should strive to create a sound background that the product itself really wants to express, and judicious use of sound can also enhance the flow of interaction.

Silent design is like the visual experience of negative space.

At Google, we’ve put our knowledge of sound design together and made it available to anyone, the first ever sound design guide. These guidelines give us best practices on how to use — and not use — to create experiences that are consistent with the product, enhance user interaction, and give listeners an immersive auditory experience. In my experience, the best way to understand and experience the power of sound design is to audition the sound visually, to hear how it feels to the design, and to record the sound creation process using the guidelines we provide. With this in mind, we also provided designers with a set of downloadable sounds to easily start using in the product.

Sound design and silent design not only allow the team to build a great product, but also foster a more sensory user experience — starting with hearing.

Sound good? Check out Google’s Material Sound Guidelines.

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