Is sound part of good product design? Today in the morning I heard some sound into the hotel room I am staying in. The sound was similar to clash of two non-metallic solid objects. It happened twice within few seconds and I ignored both the times. After a minute the same sound buzzed again and this time I got up from the sofa and tried to find where the sound is coming from. Checked each corner but could not get any clue. I sat back and after a minute again the same sound reached to my ears. So I started investigating again. Checked corners, the kitchen, outside the window, behind the curtains and eventually opened the door as well. And there the case was. The room service was standing with an unpleasant expression on his face as of he was standing for quite some time now. So I realized that the sound was of the doorbell. I bet hardly few can recognize that sound as of doorbell.

A product failed to serve the purpose of alerting someone about an incoming guest. It increased the waiting time, wasted a lot of time for both and created unnecessary speculations for me. The cause? The sound used into the product. So yes, the sound is an important element of product design.

Image curtesy: designspiration.net