Overview
The goal of this exercise was to develop notification tones for the PhonePe Business app and the SmartSpeaker 1.0 device, covering use cases such as "new order received," "order pending," "order voice notification," "short notification alerts," and "reminder alerts."
In this project, I compiled and arranged the sounds into categories: Short pings, ringtones, chime alert notifications, and voice notifications.
My Role
Given my reputation as the musical expert due to my involvement with PhonePe's unofficial band, "Dessert Station," (Read more about it here) I was naturally approached for sound design inputs. After evaluating various sound options online, we found that none were customizable or capable of creating a unique sonic identity for PhonePe. Thus, I seized the opportunity to craft the sonic identity myself and develop the use-case tones. These sounds were built based on the PhonePe sonic identity developed by the CoDesign agency during our brand revamp exercise.
"New Order requests" Ringtone
A selection of sounds—chime alerts, short pings, and ringtones—were utilized in the PhonePe business app and SmartSpeaker 1.0 device. These sounds were designed to notify merchants of new order requests, pending orders, and received orders that need attention.
VSTs and Sound Samples
I delved deeper into crafting sounds based on PhonePe's sonic identity, utilizing real guitars and MIDI instruments for some, while creating custom VSTs (Virtual Instruments) for others, built around the core sonic identity samples. These explorations pushed the sonic identity to its fullest potential, expanding on its unique sound design for various use cases.
Voice Notifications
In addition to this, we continued developing sound notification tones for the SmartSpeaker 1.0 device, incorporating voice notifications to inform merchants about order details. This decision was based on UX research, and the voice notifications significantly improved user experience, proving to be very useful for merchants.
Later, the same philosophy was extended to include celebrity voices in the SmartSpeaker devices, with the most notable addition being the legendary Sir Amitabh Bachchan. This added a personalized and iconic touch to the user experience, making the notifications even more engaging for merchants.
Challenges
The sounds had to be created using a different software bundle than Adobe, specifically Ableton Live—a music software designed for VSTs and MIDI instruments, which I own a personal copy of. I also worked on these sounds over weekends, as my home studio is fully equipped for sound production, making it a more suitable environment for this work.
Approach
There were two approaches for creating these sounds: Guitar/Instruments and Sonic Identity Resampling. In the first approach, I picked the melody using my guitar and virtual instruments, crafting new melodies to shape the notification tones. The second approach involved resampling the existing sound sample, creating a VST MIDI instrument on my keyboard, and then using that to compose new melodies for the notification tones.
Impact
With the sound design crafted in-house by me, it became much easier to shape the design journey, test different sound versions with users, and enhance UX research. This approach also opened new opportunities for me to contribute not just as a designer but also as a sound designer.
