Sound use cases
Sound can provide feedback or add decoration to a user experience when applied to strategic moments.
Hero sounds
Hero sounds are representations of a product and brand that highlight an important moment, evoke an emotional state, or express celebration.
They occur in pivotal interactions, such as those that:
- Celebrate a significant positive action the user has taken
- Welcome users to a new app or experience
- Confirm a key moment of a product’s purpose
Hero sounds occur infrequently, and because of their prominence, they should be applied in consistent ways.
Notifications
Notifications are prominent requests for user attention. Their primary role is to help direct user attention, and they provide an opportunity to give a custom sound identity to emphasized interactions. Because they occur more frequently in a UI than other sounds, they should generally be shorter than hero sounds and crafted in a way that is suitable for being played multiple times.
Environmental factors
Notifications should be designed to be audible from a variable range of user distances from a product, and in scenarios like loud environments. The sound itself can vary to attract the focus of the ear, using rhythmic, tonal, and frequency variation.
It’s recommended to provide options that allow users to personalize notifications, with options that range from basic, non-decorative sound to rich, decorative sound.
System sounds
Ambient sounds
Ambient sound is a decorative layer of sound that expresses emotion while communicating a product’s personality or brand.
It can be placed anywhere in an experience that warrants a strong sound element, such as:
- A start-up flow, to welcome the listener to the experience
- An accompaniment to a home screen, to express an emotional tone and user’s location in a UI
Ambient sound should provide atmosphere and not detract the user from performing a task. It can also provide cues, by changing the tone of music to indicate a change in state.
Ambient sounds can be based on music, environmental sounds, or other sounds that create atmosphere.