CAFÉ Appliances UX Sound Design
By
Role: UX Sound Designer
Duration: 6 month
Team: Product Design team,
New sound for the new look
GE Appliances has refreshed the look of the CAFE Appliances. A new UX and branding sound is designed to match the fresh look of the user interface.
Outcome
A new UX sound is designed with broader communication to increase the user experience when interacting with physical and digital products while being able to relate the sound to the visual.
Role: UX Sound Designer
Duration: 6 months
Team: Product Design team,
Responsibility
Experimenting with different sound, evaluating with users, testing and engineering on the appliances speaker unit.
Product Overview
Branding sounds
The theme of CAFÉ Appliances, the sound of style and class.
Welcome
Power off
Wifi connect
Designed for those who value function and style.
Inspired by glass, warm and natural.
UX sounds
A balanced match between clear feedback and brand on every touch.
Start
Critical Error
Touch
Cancel
Unavailable
Elegant cues, effortless guidance.
Timer sounds
CAFE’s Timer Family Sounds provide clear, gentle cues, guiding you through each cooking stage with a touch of elegance.
Cook Timer
1 minute remaining
Reminder
Kitchen timer
Design Process
Requirement
Reimagine sound for the new CAFÉ Appliances UI, match with the newly updated Profile Appliances sound
Opportunity
New speaker units in the appliances open the door for better-engineered modern sound that can be consistent across the GE Appliances product lineup
CAFÉ visual to sound translation
CAFÉ brand
Pattern
Color
Bright, Glassy
Lux
Theme
Motif, Rhythm
Layers, Playful
Glassy, Sharp
Wood, Damp
Theme
The theme of CAFÉ Appliances is in C Major, playing every letter of the word CAFÉ, however, instead of playing the E, we’ll read the accent (_´_ ) as sharp (#). E# is the same as F and playing two F’s in two octaves will convey a better sense of conclusion.
Motif, Rhythm
To convey the sense of pattern, playfulness of the CAFÉ design, the simple 4/4 counts is changed to a rhythmic note.
Layers
To convey the sense of pattern, playfulness of the CAFÉ design, the simple 4/4 counts is changed to a rhythmic note.
Instrument
Lastly, each layer is assigned an instrument (before and after layering). Each instrument is customized to follow the brand and visual values of CAFÉ Appliances. The main instruments are as follow:
Reverse Piano for the initial build-up.
Parallel Earth Piano for a reverb background.
Glockenspiel as the main layer of the melody.
Grand Piano and music box as added layers.
Glockenspiel sculpture
There are different layers of Glockenspiel that builds the main melody of CAFÉ Appliances. This is because in each layer the sculpture of this instrument have different materials to better convey the brand and context of use like wood and glass.
Final result:
Reminder
Material consideration
Different materials in Glockenspiel sculpture have different pitch and wavelength that is important to be considered in the context of use. For example in the case of Reminder sound, the material is more adjusted towards steel and glass that creates shorter wavelength which is louder and can be easily heard.
CAFÉ Appliances UX Sound Design
By
Role: UX Sound Designer
Duration: 6 month
Team: Product Design team,
New sound for the new look
GE Appliances has refreshed the look of the CAFE Appliances. A new UX and branding sound is designed to match the fresh look of the user interface.
Outcome
A new UX sound is designed with broader communication to increase the user experience when interacting with physical and digital products while being able to relate the sound to the visual.
Role: UX Sound Designer
Duration: 6 months
Team: Product Design team,
Responsibility
Experimenting with different sound, evaluating with users, testing and engineering on the appliances speaker unit.
Product Overview
Branding sounds
The theme of CAFÉ Appliances, the sound of style and class.
Welcome
Power off
Wifi connect
Designed for those who value function and style.
Inspired by glass, warm and natural.
UX sounds
A balanced match between clear feedback and brand on every touch.
Start
Critical Error
Touch
Cancel
Unavailable
Elegant cues, effortless guidance.
Timer sounds
CAFE’s Timer Family Sounds provide clear, gentle cues, guiding you through each cooking stage with a touch of elegance.
Cook Timer
1 minute remaining
Reminder
Kitchen timer
Design Process
Requirement
Reimagine sound for the new CAFÉ Appliances UI, match with the newly updated Profile Appliances sound
Opportunity
New speaker units in the appliances open the door for better-engineered modern sound that can be consistent across the GE Appliances product lineup
CAFÉ visual to sound translation
CAFÉ brand
Pattern
Color
Bright, Glassy
Lux
Theme
Motif, Rhythm
Layers, Playful
Glassy, Sharp
Wood, Damp
Theme
The theme of CAFÉ Appliances is in C Major, playing every letter of the word CAFÉ, however, instead of playing the E, we’ll read the accent (_´_ ) as sharp (#). E# is the same as F and playing two F’s in two octaves will convey a better sense of conclusion.
Motif, Rhythm
To convey the sense of pattern, playfulness of the CAFÉ design, the simple 4/4 counts is changed to a rhythmic note.
Layers
To convey the sense of pattern, playfulness of the CAFÉ design, the simple 4/4 counts is changed to a rhythmic note.
Instrument
Lastly, each layer is assigned an instrument (before and after layering). Each instrument is customized to follow the brand and visual values of CAFÉ Appliances. The main instruments are as follow:
Reverse Piano for the initial build-up.
Parallel Earth Piano for a reverb background.
Glockenspiel as the main layer of the melody.
Grand Piano and music box as added layers.
Glockenspiel sculpture
There are different layers of Glockenspiel that builds the main melody of CAFÉ Appliances. This is because in each layer the sculpture of this instrument have different materials to better convey the brand and context of use like wood and glass.
Final result:
Reminder
Material consideration
Different materials in Glockenspiel sculpture have different pitch and wavelength that is important to be considered in the context of use. For example in the case of Reminder sound, the material is more adjusted towards steel and glass that creates shorter wavelength which is louder and can be easily heard.
CAFÉ Appliances UX Sound Design
By
Role: UX Sound Designer
Duration: 6 month
Team: Product Design team,
New sound for the new look
GE Appliances has refreshed the look of the CAFE Appliances. A new UX and branding sound is designed to match the fresh look of the user interface.
Outcome
A new UX sound is designed with broader communication to increase the user experience when interacting with physical and digital products while being able to relate the sound to the visual.
Role: UX Sound Designer
Duration: 6 months
Team: Product Design team,
Responsibility
Experimenting with different sound, evaluating with users, testing and engineering on the appliances speaker unit.
Product Overview
Branding sounds
The theme of CAFÉ Appliances, the sound of style and class.
Welcome
Power off
Wifi connect
Designed for those who value function and style.
Inspired by glass, warm and natural.
UX sounds
A balanced match between clear feedback and brand on every touch.
Start
Critical Error
Touch
Cancel
Unavailable
Elegant cues, effortless guidance.
Timer sounds
CAFE’s Timer Family Sounds provide clear, gentle cues, guiding you through each cooking stage with a touch of elegance.
Cook Timer
1 minute remaining
Reminder
Kitchen timer
Design Process
Requirement
Reimagine sound for the new CAFÉ Appliances UI, match with the newly updated Profile Appliances sound
Opportunity
New speaker units in the appliances open the door for better-engineered modern sound that can be consistent across the GE Appliances product lineup
CAFÉ visual to sound translation
CAFÉ brand
Pattern
Color
Bright, Glassy
Lux
Theme
Motif, Rhythm
Layers, Playful
Glassy, Sharp
Wood, Damp
Theme
The theme of CAFÉ Appliances is in C Major, playing every letter of the word CAFÉ, however, instead of playing the E, we’ll read the accent (_´_ ) as sharp (#). E# is the same as F and playing two F’s in two octaves will convey a better sense of conclusion.
Motif, Rhythm
To convey the sense of pattern, playfulness of the CAFÉ design, the simple 4/4 counts is changed to a rhythmic note.
Layers
To convey the sense of pattern, playfulness of the CAFÉ design, the simple 4/4 counts is changed to a rhythmic note.
Instrument
Lastly, each layer is assigned an instrument (before and after layering). Each instrument is customized to follow the brand and visual values of CAFÉ Appliances. The main instruments are as follow:
Reverse Piano for the initial build-up.
Parallel Earth Piano for a reverb background.
Glockenspiel as the main layer of the melody.
Grand Piano and music box as added layers.
Glockenspiel sculpture
There are different layers of Glockenspiel that builds the main melody of CAFÉ Appliances. This is because in each layer the sculpture of this instrument have different materials to better convey the brand and context of use like wood and glass.
Final result:
Reminder
Material consideration
Different materials in Glockenspiel sculpture have different pitch and wavelength that is important to be considered in the context of use. For example in the case of Reminder sound, the material is more adjusted towards steel and glass that creates shorter wavelength which is louder and can be easily heard.