Sonic Information Design

Stephen Barrass

The International Community for Auditory Display (ICAD) is a multidisciplinary community that includes researchers with backgrounds in music, computer science, psychology, engineering, neuroscience, and the sonic arts. Although this multi-disciplinarity has been beneficial, it has also been the cause of clashes between scientific and artistic research cultures. This paper addresses this divide by proposing design research as a third and complementary approach that is particularly well aligned with the pragmatic and applied nature of the field. The proposal, called sonic information design, is explicitly founded on the design research paradigm. Like other fields of design, sonic information design aspires to make the world a better place, in this case through the use of sound. Design research takes a user-centered approach that includes participatory methods, rapid prototyping, iterative evaluation, situated context, aesthetic considerations, and cultural issues. The results are specific and situated rather than universal and general and may be speculative or provocative, but should provide insights and heuristics that can be reused by others. The strengthening and development of design research in auditory display should lay the path for future commercial applications.

Introduction	Sonic Information Design
Background	Conclusion
Evaluation in Visualization	Biography
Paradigms in HCI	References

Introduction	Sonic Information Design
Background	Conclusion
Evaluation in Visualization	Biography
Paradigms in HCI	References

Conclusion

Gregory Kramer observed that the development of design research was the way towards commercial applications in auditory display. Since his comments at ICAD ‘96 there have been some scattered examples of design research, but commercial applications have yet to appear. This paper proposes to bring design research to the fore as a way to move auditory display beyond the science laboratory and artistic exhibition. Rather than focusing on the development of an elusive general theory of sonification or a sublime aesthetic experience of digital data, it paves a pathway to the craved “killer app.” The proposal of Sonic Information Design consolidates and validates efforts to develop design research as an epistemological paradigm in auditory display. The focus on applied and pragmatic outcomes, and the aspiration to make the world a better place, sets Sonic Information Design apart from existing human factors, cognitive science and phenomenological approaches. Design research complements scientific and artistic approaches and defuses the clash between the correlation co-efficients and the learned ears by offering a third design-oriented alternative for future development.

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