Abstract
LinkedIn’s new UX-Sounds clarify key features, sprinkle delight to interactions and gently remind users of the LinkedIn brand. With 1 billion LinkedIn users, the new sounds are arguably one of the most heard on a global scale today.
Description
Being A DESIGN AGENCY FOR SOUND, design to us means using sound to enable solutions for our client. This involves understanding the purpose, context, timing and personality a sound must convey in order to be effective, attractive and meaningful. In order to achieve a result that both works and feels great, we let the answers to WHY, HOW, WHERE and WHEN inform our sound design process.
WHY
The roles for sound on LinkedIn are to a) Provide feedback on a user’s action or system status and b) Create personality and recognition.
WHERE
Primary touchpoint for sound is the LinkedIn platform on desktop and mobile.
WHEN
List of UX-Sound interactions:
1. Live On
2. Live Off
3. Lights Out
4. Join
5. Exit
6. Msg Sent
7. Msg Received
8. Deleted
9. Connect-Follow
10. Connection Accepted
11. Post Success
12. Notification (push)
13. Toast red (alert/fail)
HOW
Tonality:
– Human rather than Corporate
– Intentional rather than Unexpected
– Simplistic rather than Ornamented
Effect:
We wanted the UX-Sound to feel effortless, delightful and crystal clear.
Categories:
The UX-Sounds were categorized into Hero sounds, Primary UX-Sounds, Secondary UX-Sounds, Notifications and Alerts.
Prominence and Occurrence:
We mapped the UX-Sounds given their prominence (importance) and their occurrence (how often/seldom they are heard).
Timbre:
Based on the above input we explored various sonic timbres (character without regard to its pitch or volume) considering the following:
- Speaker capabilities: Is the timbre noticeable, appealing and without artifacts on both mobile and desktop devices?
- Functionality: Does the timbre create meaning effectively?
- Brand ID: Does the timbre provide a good representation of the LinkedIn brand and our desired tonality and effect?
Project Video
