Design de experiência do usuário e design de som: guia de aplicação do áudio dinâmico

Resumo

RESUMO

Objetivando expor diretrizes e procedimentos que visem uma eficiente aplicação dos elementos sonoros nas interfaces, o presente estudo apresenta o Guia de Aplicação do Áudio Dinâmico (GAAD). A partir da metodologia proposta por Jesse James Garret (2011), elaborou-se o GAAD, que pretende sistematizar e simplificar o processo de criação, produção e implementação de sons em sistemas interativos.

Design de Hipermídia, Design de Som, Áudio Dinâmico

TITLE: User experience design and sound design: dynamic audio application guide

ABSTRACT

1 Context

 In a survey of 7,705 college students in the United States, the Project Bar-BQ (2008) pointed  out  the  key  statistics  of  Generation  Y  (born  between  1980  and  1990):  97% have  a  computer;  97%  have  downloaded  music  and  other  media  using  file-sharing networks; 94% have a mobile phone; 76% use instant messaging and social networking sites programs; 60% have some sort of music device and / or portable video. The study  was  able  to  show  the  relevance  of  IHC  devices,  pointed  to  an  upward  curve towards the future generations. Stuart (1996) pointed out that the use of technological resources in hypermedia is only restricted the visual modality. According to the author, little is invested in audio1, an element that brings quality to content,  facilitates the accessibility of information and makes them more attractive. In addition to its low cost of production, distribution and use,  the  audio  constitutes  a  powerful  and  persuasive  tool,  especially  when  acts  integrated with other communication tools.Ten  years  after,  according  to  the  study  Susini  et  al  (2006),  there  was  no  significant progress in relation to the sound. The author points that in the design field there is an overvaluation  of  visual  communication,  and  because  of  its  limitations,  products  and services can often performs erratically when other sensory properties make it relevant, as  in  the  case  of  sound  and  tactile  information.  While  the  tactile  and  haptic2  process requirements are  beginning gradually to enter  in  the  design processes, the  sound and its cognitive functions remain a largely unexplored territory. Rocchesso et al (2008) indicate that this overemphasis on visual displays has limited the development of interactive systems that are able to make better use of the auditory modality. Therefore, non-musical sounds have been accepted as by-products of technology,  rather  than  being  exploited  by  their  intrinsic  value.  As a result,  people  have experienced an acoustically polluted world since the industrial revolution. Due to the scarcity of standardized and applied knowledge about the sound in hyper-media  design,  this  study  presents  the  Dynamic  Audio  Application  Guide  (DAAG), that  aims  to  systematize  the  process  of  creating,  producing  and  implementation  of sounds in interactive systems, thus underlining the important role played by sound in the processes of immersion and interaction.

 2 Method

Garret (2011) coloca que  o som desempenha  um importante papel na  experiência de muitos tipos de produtos, podendo ser utilizado não somente para informar o usuário, mas  também  para  atribuir  um  determinado  senso  de  personalidade  a  um  produto. Apesar de coerente, tal abordagem pode ser considerada incipiente para que um adequado  desenvolvimento  do  áudio  em  plataformas  interativas  possa  se  concretizar, tendo em vista a necessidade da formalização e sistematização de um grupo de informações mais objetivas e específicas sobre o tema. A proposta do guia vem de encontro com tal necessidade, visando suprir esta lacuna conceitual existente entre o design de  som  e  o  design  da  experiência  do  usuário  nos  processos  de  desenvolvimento  de interfaces. Garrett (2011) states that the sound plays an important role in the experience of many kinds of products, and that audio can be used not only for informing the user, but also to assign a particular sense of personality to the product itself. Though consistent, this approach can be considered incipient for a proper development of audio in interactive platforms, given the need to formalize and systematize a group of more objective and specific information about the subject.  The guide aims to meet this need, in order to fill this conceptual gap existing between the sound design and the interface design. The guide intends to initiate the development of a formal understanding of the principles that constitute the application of audio in interactive systems.  In  line  with  the plans  of  the  user  experience  proposed  by  Garret  (2011),  the  GAAD  prized  by  the didactization  of  its  components,  comprising  an  information  block  system,  each  be-longing to a layer of user experience levels:

Figure 1: left, User Experience Plans, Garret (2011), on the right, Dynamic Audio Application Guide.

(View figure 1 in the Portuguese PDF)

From its guidelines and procedures aimed to an efficient implementation of sound resources in interactive environments, the GAAD intends to systematize and simplify the process of creating, producing and implementing sound in hypermedia. Through the making and distribution of the guide, is intended to highlight the important role played by sound in immersion and interactions processes. As this is a study with a relative density, was not pertinent here demonstrate here the steps that contains the guide, in details. However, the steps are shown in the further article that comes with this extended paper.

3 Results and Conclusions

It  appears  that  it  is  possible  to  propose  new  hypotheses  and  new  solutions  for  the development  of  increasingly  rich  hypermedia,  closer  to  the  user's  cognitive model. However, it is essential to fill the gap in the sound design subject. As this is a relatively  new  area  in  the  academic  field,  this  is  not  yet  sufficiently  able  to  develop  solid theories without the basic and substantial empirical research, which will examine the practice of audio production in interactive environments. The  fact that the studies on dynamic  audio  is  a  recent  effort  means  that  many  empirical  evidence  have  not  been sufficiently met or researched, and available content is still very dispersed. In this sense, this study can contribute to the improvement of the methods used in the development of hypermedia, presenting relevant design solutions involving the application of sound.  By presenting new action  possibilities  to  the  hypermedia  designer, the Dynamic Audio Application Guide enables the development of a relevant starting point for a solid and progressive development of sound in interfaces. But more research is needed to develop and test methods of sound interaction in order to  improve  the  effectiveness  of  information  that  is  transmitted  by  the  sound  through interfaces. It is necessary to move forward with the discussion about the roles played by the dynamic audio objects, systems and interactive environments, such as highlight the need for a new hypermedia design pedagogy, that point the important role played by sound in interactive systems projects.  

Hypermedia Design, Sound Design, Dynamic Audio