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 placement

Ambient sounds can be based on music, environmental sounds, or other sounds that create atmosphere.


Ambient sound bases

Ambient sound may subtly express a product's themes:
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Example

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 sound usage

Ambient sound is a decorative layer of sound that expresses emotion while communicating a product’s personality or brand.

- Placement
- Usage
- Bases
- Example

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

"Sound can give expression to interactions and reinforce specific functionality."

- Sound use cases
- Hero sounds
- Notifications
- System sounds
- Ambient sounds


Applying sound to UI

Material Design Documentation

"Sound can provide feedback or add decoration to a user experience when applied to strategic moments."

- Sound as feedback
- Sound as decoration
- When not to use sound

Sound use cases

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.

Hero sounds

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 and alerts
- Ringtones, alarms, and timers

Notifications

- Primary UX sounds
- Usage
- Secondary UX sounds

Learn Before

Related

Learn After