Soundscaping offices with nature sounds is getting more and more support from high-quality research studies published in respected journals. It may sound a little hokey to add a background soundtrack to workplaces that features softly rustling leaves or gently moving water, for instance, but studies whose findings indicate that doing just that is a good idea are plentiful.
Why go to the effort of adding nature sounds? Hearing nature soundtracks has been found to enhance the sort of cognitive performance that’s key to employees working to their full potential. Nature sounds have been found to boost perceptions of wellbeing and cut stress. They also seem to support cognitive restoration after mentally draining work.
The sorts of sounds to add to a workplace are basically the sorts you might encounter beside a babbling brook moving through a meadow in a temperate zone on a pleasant spring afternoon. That means, for example, that soundtracks used should feature leaves moving slightly in a light breeze and not tree branches creaking as they are being buffeted around by hurricane force winds. Howler monkey hoots and similar jungle-linked noises are also not desirable additions to a workplace. The volumes of the nature soundtracks should be low but audible; the nature soundscapes should not be so acoustically present that they seem like attempts to manipulate people in a space to do something or other. Nothing builds ill will, and stress, among users as quickly as apparent attempts to bias thoughts and behaviors subliminally.
When people are asked to describe a space they shouldn’t lead off by mentioning nature sounds added, for example, but when queried directly about the soundscape should indicate that they’ve heard the leaves rustling, etc. Testing soundtrack volumes in place by speaking with users is more likely to result in the desired outcome than context-less pronouncement of decibel levels because data gathered from users will reflect the full range of acoustic influences in a space (for example, surfaces in use) – and fine tuning volumes in this way is a straightforward process.
Nature soundtracks are readily available. Google them to find one that works in your projects.
Adding nature sounds to a workplace has the same sort of desirable effects as nature views (via windows, art, etc.); the research indicates that acoustic nature should become as commonplace in workplaces as visual nature has.
Sally Augustin, PhD, is the editor of Research Design Connections(www.researchdesignconnections.com).Research Design Connectionsreports on research conducted by social and physical scientists that designers can apply in practice. Insights derived from recent studies are integrated with classic, still relevant findings in concise, powerful articles. Topics covered range from the cognitive, emotional, and physiological implications of sensory and other physical experiences to the alignment of culture, personality, and design, among others. Information, in everyday language, is shared in a monthly subscription newsletter, an archive of thousands of published articles, and a free daily blog. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture(Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design(Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.