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The Challenge
Our team aimed to bridge the gap between digital and pysical worlds when it comes to sustainable design. We were tasked with translating a chosen physical artefact into the digital realm, which introduced us to the Ohmie Lamp; both evironmentally friendly and completely sustainable, this elegant, sleek lamp 3D printed entirely from orange peel is a modern-day example of how resourceful and sustainable we can be, and how we can still craft beauty whilst being sustainable. Our team clicked on the idea of using this lamp to show the beauty of sustainable design, and remind users how we must not forget the resourceful and sustainable mindset of our ancestors.
My Role
As a UX Sound Designer, my objective was to engineer a sonic identity into the project, something that enhanced user delight and immersion. Moving beyond applying basic background music, I aimed to implement auditory cues on various elements of the site, audio designed soley through nature using the pholy recording technique, to reduce cognitive load and trigger emotional engagement, ensuring the experience matched that of stroking the 3D printed orange peel lamp.
Research & Synthesis
My Approach was grounded in the principles learned from a guest lecture presented to our class by UX Designer at Google. In this lecture, he discussed how sounds are instictual and habitual, meaning we can use sound to trigger user emotions, which can serve a whole array of purposes for getting user attention, engagement and retention.
I developed a “sonic strategy map” in figjam, that clearly visualed where the sounds would be, how they would sound, and what emotions they would bring to the user. My team greatly appreciated this, as it allowed for them to truly understand my idea and thus provide meaningful and constructive feedback.
To ensure authenticity and show my capabilities, I utilised foley techniques over using stock sound libraries. I recorded a multitude of organic interactions - stroking paper to mimic swipiping, filling a glass bottle with water for the loading screen, dragging a wooden chopboard to create a tactile scroll sound and so on. These raw assets were then modulated, compiled and exported in Logic Pro X. Once compiled, I applied the sounds to user gestures like scroll and click, and also curated the sounds to play in sync with the visual animations done by the web developer.
Reflections
The final prototype features a bespoke soundscape, where every interaction - from the paper scrunch menu toggle to the water filling loading animation - taps into the users natural emotions to provide a feeling of delight. The project was received positively, and scored all our team a mark of 78%.
Reflecting on my role and journey through this task, I learned that audio, especially natural, can be a powerful tool for affordance - telling the user how something works with minimal cognitive load- and playfulness - giving the user a delightful, engaging expereince. However, if I were to iterate this into a live site, I’d first need to perform A/B testing on the volume modulation of all sounds, as blending instictual sounds can be intrusive if not subtly mixed. I gained a reinforced love for multi-sensory design through this project and it highlighted how great of a tool it can be in accessibilty, immersive storytelling and design overall.
©Websiote made by Alex Longworth using Webflow.