Pump Up the VolumeSound, Brands and Social ChangeWorld Usability Day São Paulo 2011

Noel FranusVP/Experience DirectorCrispin, Porter + Bogusky

Our time today will be focused on music, sound, voice and silence and its role in shaping the way we understand and interact with the world around us.

First, a video: what is sound?

Let’s talk about what we do.

We are usability professionals. Information architects. Interaction designers.

We don’t design. We Design.

Looking back, design has for a long time been left to graphic designers and architects. The people who crafted the world we saw and touched every day.

Then came the internet.

Then came the internet.

And the developers went nuts.

Then came the internet.

And the developers went nuts.

(Who wouldn’t?)

Many internet professionals designed complex websites and applications as though all users were expert users.

And then the folks in the suits started measuring performance. They saw opportunities for improvement.

A handful of us stood up and said “I can do this better.”

“User Experience” wasn’t born then, but it certainly grew quickly.

Which brings us to today. Here we are celebrating a discipline that barely existed 15 years ago.

Now it’s thriving wherever technology lives. (And many places where it doesn’t.)

We experience designers look at the whole of an experience.

As Martyn Ware said in the video, we’re focused not exclusively on the end result, but on all the small parts of which it is comprised. That’s our thing.

Today, our world is rich, and our design opportunity is even richer.

Everything that can be networked will be networked. And we’re no longer dealing with just websites or apps.

We’re creating products, places, spaces and new behaviors.

And our ability to influence all of those moments is greater than it’s ever been.

Are we thinking outside of the box often enough?

Does our past work become a comforting crutch which limits our future?

What about sound?

It colors how we understand the world: what we think, how we feel and what we do.

Why do most of us love music but know little about how it works?

And even fewer of us think of it as an opportunity in our work?

Before we dive deep:

Enough about us. Let’s talk about me.

Me: Director of Experience Design at Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Boulder, Colorado.

Prior to this I’ve had roles running UX agencies and also directing sonic branding efforts for the largest brands in banking, gaming and technology.

Let’s get back to you.

You’re exposed to thousands of sounds each day.

Any favorites? Least favorites?

Another video.

Sound is a key trigger to emotion and memories.

Daniel Levitin

“Our neuroimgaing studies show amygdala activation to music...repetition, when done skillfully, is emotionally satisfying to our brains, and makes the listeningexperience as pleasurable as it is.”

Let’s consider how music and sound impact us in a physiological sense.

(Nerd alert.)

The field of cymatics explores the effect that sound has on physical matter.

body

We’re physically and emotionally wired to respond to music and sound in ways that are not of our own choosing.

In other words: you’re human. YOU CAN’T WIN.

Naturally, this impacts how we think and what we do.

Larry Light, McDonald’s

“We’re not advertising any more...what we have increased substantially is the effectiveness...when you increase relevance, it sticks in people’s minds.”

The numbers add up.

North, Mackenzie, Law. Journal of Applied Psychology, 2004.

• People are 42% more likely to remember a commercial when the music matches someone’s expectations for a brand.

• 25% more likely to like an advertisement.

• 39% less likely to remember a specific brand’s ad when the music didn’t fit (versus no music at all)

• 20% less likely to purchase from a brand with music that didn’t fit (versus no music at all).

What do we mean by “fit?”

A few years back my an agency of mine created this soundscape for a retail client’s first 60 locations around the world.

Listening quiz: what do they do or sell?

That’s great for brands.

How can we use music and sound to make a better world?

Let’s take a look at who’s done what.

with...A brief history of the use of sound for the purposes of good and evil.

Starting with evil.

The Ghost Army

“In June 1944, a secret U.S. Army unit went into action in Normandy. The weapons they deployed were decidedly unusual: hundreds of inflatable tanks and a one-of-a-kind collection of sound effects records. Their mission was to use bluff, deception, and trickery to save lives.”

Fast forward: 1989. The United States attempts to remove Manuel Noriega from his post in Panama.

It was a serious effort. They deployed troops with significant weaponry, negotiators, and...

...astonishingly loud heavy metal and top-40 pop hits.

This music was blared from tanks and pointed at the Vatican consulate, where Noriega was in retreat.

Noriega* surrendered in January 1990.

* Loved opera. Couldn’t stand contemporary pop music.

Another popular favorite: Long Range Acoustic Devices. Within 300 meters or less: big headache. 100 meters or less: permanent auditory damage.Generally used against insurgents and protestors.

And now, for the good.

Music regularly plays a role in creating cultural identity and inclusion.

Mama Eu Quero!God Bless America!Fight for Your Right to Party!

Public transit.

Seven years ago my friends at Elias Arts built a suite of brand-based sounds for France’s TGV. It served as a beacon for the brand but also as a suite of instructional cues.

(More) public transit:

Julian Treasure and his firm The Sound Agency recently created a generative soundscape for the Glasgow Airport. The goal: lower stress among travelers. Goal met; sales in airport shops also went up 10%.

Martyn Ware, Vince Clarke and their firm Sonic ID/Illustrious Company designed the Sensory Theatre at the Bath, UK Threeways School for autistic and disabled children. 3D soundscapes, immersive visuals and adaptive environments.

GPS walking tours for the blind

Some bad, some good.

The truth? Sound is a tool for either.

The grey areas are where this gets interesting.

In Tokyo, the main subway stations each have a unique musical signature that precedes the platform announcements. One station in particular is infamous because it consistently has the highest number of suicides annually (e.g. people jumping in front of incoming trains). A friend’s theory is that the music at this station is largely to blame for the volume of suicides because it ends on an "unresolved” minor note. It’s the only station in the system that has this kind of structure in its tone.

“The road train to hell is paved with the best intentions.”

Is a healthy soundscape available only to the wealthy?

Best Buy Movie Mode is an app we created for best Buy’s tie-in with Despicable Me. The app translates the Minion-ese into English via your cell phone.

The secret sauce: working with the directors of the film, we embedded sonic codes into the soundtrack...which allows the phone to sync with the silver screen.

We worked with Old Navy to provide Shazam-enabled links to coupons and shopping tools in real-time.

Mosquito quiz: raise your hand if you can hear these tones...

What about Siri?

So why is this our opportunity?

Meet Mary Meeker. She does a lot of forecasting in her job as an analyst KPCB. In late October she made a bold announcement: the next big thing would be...

We’re at the beginning of something big.

And it’s all making noise.

This feels a lot like 1997 in San Francisco again.

Whose job is it to understand the nuances that are involved in designing complex interactive systems?

Whose job is it to know how to make sense out of a big hairy mess and create something magical?

It’s not the visual designer’s job. It’s not the coder’s job. Or the strategist’s, the account manager—or even the sound designer.

They have jobs to do.

We’re user experience experts.It’s our obligation.

If we don’t take up this role—that of connecting the dots for the people who use the things we make—then someone else will.

And it will probably be the wrong someone else.

Then the suits will get involved...

What can you do today?

1. Start listening.

2. Start questioning.

“I am a chord. You are a chord.” Let’s make some music.

Thank you.

@nfranus

nfranus@cpbgroup.com