Intentional | Audio Identity Blog

Photo by Libertinus

One of the areas most ripe for sonic branding/audio identity — or in this particular case I’ll call it holistic sound design — is healthcare. There’s not enough of it being done today.

Why? You and I are probably quite familiar with the idea that every little interaction, especially when well choreographed, can make or break the “customer experience” in a hospital. Eventually happy people become healthy people, who need less time in the hospital, and you know that’s music to everyone’s ears: patients, doctors, healthcare companies, insurance firms, governments.

What’s this have to do with intentionally applied sound? Let me state the obvious: just as visuals can impact perceptions and behaviors, so can sound…in sometimes more profound ways.

I should back up for a moment to make sure you know I’m not talking about traditional music therapy. This isn’t about one violin in a corner of the room a couple times a week (though that’s a start). It’s about thinking of the collective relationship we have with sound in the healthcare experience.

Quoting George Van Antwerp at the Patient Advocate site: One of the more interesting experiments I saw in architecture school was where some students set up a display where different areas of the building had color and sound that where activated by motion. The smiles and reactions from people were interesting. But, how often are we sitting down and mapping out the process and experience of the patient from open enrollment through different scenarios?

Sitting down and mapping out the process and experience…that’s the difference between making noise and making things better. When you orchestrate customer experiences that are both empathic and systemic — as IDEO, for example, has done time and again — you’re adding measurable value. And design is no longer a matter of output, but one of process.

Sound seldom plays an intentional role in the customer experience, mostly for three reasons: 1) “sonic branding” is usually mistaken for a cheap marketing gimmick (just add music!); 2) “sound design” is often seen as an artist’s toy rather than a business tool; and 3) people don’t usually change what they can’t see.

It’s time to approach the problem a little differently, with greater emphasis on all our sensory stimuli. We know that sound plays a huge role in how we perceive and experience spaces. We know that sound, as with other stimuli, can impact us physically and physiologically for the better. And a good many of us (ahem) have the customer-experience chops to pull it together in the form of an experiential playbook for healthcare scenarios.

To take Van Antwerp’s example further, this could mean a more pleasant door-opening; generative sounds for specific zones, times of day, or seasons; intentionally directed silence (especially in those blasted recovery rooms); and other acoustic considerations.

That’s a start. There’s much more to consider if you have the time to pour some energy into it. But it involves a much broader view of sonic branding than the Intel or Yahoo sonic logo. After all, brands sound like their bottom-line products and real-world experiences. Not just their ads.

And on that note…my partners and I at Sonic ID are working on a fascinating batch of closely related experiential projects for commercial applications. I can’t wait to tell you more. Stay tuned…

– Noel Franus