This graduation thesis is on the topic of Critical audible alarm-sound design for handheld monitoring devices in Neonatal ICUs. Hand-held mobile devices are being tested in the field for effective alarm perception and response in the NICU at Erasmus MC Sophia's Hospital, Rotterdam. Based on the context analysis, the major stakeholder, and the focus of the design is the nurses and possibly neonatologist at the NICU, with the former being the main scope of this project.

The goal of this project is to The new critical audible alarms on the device must be able to distinguish the individual alarms, identify them for each patient per nurse, and respond to them by reaching the ideal destination of the patient room in a NICU. These responses should be achieved without the assistance of a visual cue.

A grammar for the new design is established via semantic network association methods (analogy) and in this case, it is the use of ‘Baby Toys’ as the building block for the sound design, The newly designed audible alarm library consists of 6 sounds namely Chimes, Lullaby, Shakers, Dial Tone, Piano A, and Piano S, which are then equalized under masked conditions for effective use in the NICU environment. Their functionality (response time & identification), urgency, and perceived pleasantness are tested for the context.