Sound-driven design has roots in the history of Critical Alarms Lab (TU Delft) and emerged as a response to designers' need to tackle complex societal problems that cannot be solved by designing sounds only. In previous research, we discovered four different design approaches (designing THE, WITH, AGAINST sound FOR) and their corresponding problem (sonic, experiential, technical, and cultural) and solution (creative, integrative, mitigative, and purposeful) spaces. As such, we developed the ecologically-relevant TWAF framework to further understand the underlying mechanisms of sound-driven design. In this paper, we use the framework to demonstrate how different approaches are needed to holistically address complex issues when sound poses a societal threat or an opportunity for design especially in the healthcare context to improve the quality of the acoustic environment and listener experiences. With the case study in sound-driven design for healthcare, we demonstrated that sound-driven design shifts sound from being a by-product of the environment to an intentional, meaningful, and integrated experience enhancing well-being, sonic culture and quality of life.

Sound-driven design is a design practice informed by technology and listening in the multisensory dimension of interaction. An automated content analysis of 20 semi-structured interviews with sound designers, design researchers, engineers and expert users stressed the inherently embodied and situated conceptualisation of sound, and how it relates to their professional activity. The four categories of professionals bring in different designerly orientations towards sound. Listening, as a way of knowing by using sound in interaction, proves to be the red thread between the participants’ semantic models. Overall, the findings contribute to characterise the concept of sound in current design practices, and position the role of nonverbal, yet auditory representations in the design process.

The Audible Universe project aims to create dialogue between two scientific domains investigating two distinct research objects: stars and sound. It has been instantiated within a collaborative workshop that began to mutually acculturate the two communities, by sharing and transmitting respective knowledge, skills and practices. One main outcome of this exchange was a global view on the astronomical data sonification paradigm for observing the diversity of tools, uses and users (including visually impaired people), but also the current limitations and potential methods of improvement. From this viewpoint, here we present basic elements gathered and contextualized by sound experts in their respective fields (sound perception/cognition, sound design, psychoacoustics, experimental psychology), to anchor sonification for astronomy in a more well informed, methodological and creative process.

Sound-driven design is an emerging, human-centered design practice informed by technology and listening in the multisensory dimension of interaction. In this paper we present a discourse analysis approach aimed at qualitatively understanding the constituent concepts of such a practice, by means of semi-structured interviews with sound designers, design researchers, engineers and expert users in the context of critical care. Preliminary results show that sound-driven design is inherently embodied, situated, and participatory, that the four categories of interviewees equally contribute to the definition of the design problem, and yet that a clear, shared arena is still missing.