Conference Agenda

Sound-driven design is a collaborative and multidisciplinary design activity which uses sound as catalyst of the design approach. We present a semantic-oriented methodology and coding system to capture the diversity of sound-driven concepts that support the design process. We evaluate the methodology in a protocol study of a design team, composed of one sound designer, one acoustic engineer, one designer, and one expert user, engaged in exploring the listening dimension in the caregiving experience. We use linkographic analysis to integrate and evaluate our coding scheme. The methodology proves to be effective in revealing the semantic models of the participants and representing their semantic contribution to the design process. Two protocol studies in the same context are in progress to iterate the methodology and the coding scheme. The results are expected to provide a solid ground to devise methods and boundary tools to facilitate participation and co-creation in sound-driven design.

In this study we investigated characteristics for designing soundscape augmentations within Intensive Care Units (ICUs). We introduced soundscape perception and fundamental needs as the basis of design strategies for augmenting sound-scapes experienced by critically ill patients. We used results of a previous study, where in interviews regarding current ICU soundscapes, patients revealed four concerns and underlying needs. They found that ICU soundscapes were alienating, unvaried, unfamiliar, and disruptive. These insights were used as contextual inputs in a collaborative workshop with ICU nurses, resident doctors, and researchers. In separate groups, they developed three system concepts named Smart Environmental Assistant, Patient Soundscape Dashboard, and Familiar Wake-ups. Based on qualities of these concepts, we found five characteristics for designing effective soundscape augmentation systems for ICUs: personalized, user-friendly, integrated, humanized, and familiar. These characteristics, rooted in perspectives of various ICU experts, are essential for reshaping the ICU soundscape into a more positive listening experience.

The lack of knowledge in the field of sound-driven design lags our educational efforts to teach BSc students about the role of sound in current design process methodologies. Teaching programs rarely include subjects dedicated to creating a coherent experience using data-to-sound strategies, sound informativeness, or the interactions that users have with product sounds. Understanding sound at the same level as other sensory cues prepares students to enrich the usability, attractiveness, and communicative qualities of products, services, and systems. This contribution aims to provide an integrative and multidisciplinary perspective of sound-driven design through the adaptation and application of the ‘Design Framework for Audible Alarms’ as a conceptual design tool in semiotics. The framework is exemplified through several design cases carried out in the sessions of the subject ‘Semiotics in design’ during two academic years, as part of the BSc in Industrial Design and Product Development Engineering.

Design for sustainability has received significant attention in the past years. Start-ing from green design, the focus gradually shifted towards eco-design, the circu-lar economy, and sustainable development. Meanwhile, design for pro-environmental behavior highlighted the importance of designing for a sustaina-ble use phase of products. Sound design encompasses several practices such as in sound for film, radio and podcasting, sound for interaction and games, and prod-uct sound design. Sound is an important element of any experience and can con-vey several emotional and aesthetic product qualities. The relationship between designing sound and designing for sustainability, however, has not received much attention. Motivated by this, we review here situations in which sound design has been used when designing for sustainability or sustainable behavior. Subse-quently, we relate this to the broader perspectives offered by design for sustain-ability and identify opportunities for cross-fertilization between the two fields.

In recent years, sonification as a method to analyze, represent and communicate data through sound has grown significantly showing a diversity of purposes, users, and topics. In data journalism, education, art, or data monitoring, sound is used to both support and engage experts, researchers, and the general public with a broad range of scientific and social phenomena. As the field is moving towards shared design and evaluation processes, new practices seem to emerge that put the listener at the center. By analyzing recent cases from the Data Sonification Archive, the paper proposes a definition of autographic sonification as a self-encoding process in which the act of listening becomes central to making sense of complex phenomena.