Hierarchy
When choreographing the sounds that play in your product, each sound should reflect its level of importance in the UI’s hierarchy. A sound’s prominence and personality should be appropriate to its level, and sounds of the same type (such as hero sounds) share the same level of hierarchy.
High in the hierarchy
Sounds that are higher in the hierarchy are important representations of a brand or product.
Peer sounds
In a user flow, sounds that follow or precede one another should have related attributes (like timbre, melody, or envelope).
Priority | Sounds | Type of sounds |
---|---|---|
1 | Brand sounds | Mnemonic |
2 | Hero sounds | Celebration moments |
3 | Alerts and notifications | Ringtones and alarms Notifications |
4 | Primary UX sounds | Main UX sounds |
5 | Secondary UX sounds | Functional sounds |
Sound relationships
Sounds that share attributes are unified as a group.
Mixing sound
Mixing is the art of combining different sound sources into one audio stream. It involves adjusting each sound’s volume, frequency, spatial positioning, and more to create a rich, cohesive sound.
Sound sources
Different sound sources can be mixed to vary the emotion, intent, or character of the final sound. You can also adjust a sound’s focal point.
Sound priority
UX sounds should be balanced to accommodate other sounds in the UI and the physical environment. Treatments that isolate, duck, mix, and balance some sounds at specific moments can help focus user attention properly, so that the intent behind a sound comes across.
Mixing factors
Sound mixing is nuanced and depends on the overall experience being designed. Consider these factors in determining how sounds should interact:
Other device sounds
Multiple sounds can occur at the same time, both from user-generated activities and system sounds. For example, sounds from incoming notifications may occur while a user listens to music.