Medical Device & Healthcare Sound Design - Safety, Clarity, and Trust

Make It

Motif Sound Design specializes in UX audio and alarm design for medical devices - from wearable diagnostics to in-clinic systems. We design alert tones, auditory feedback, and sonic systems grounded in human-factors research, helping teams reduce alarm fatigue, improve usability, and build patient and clinician trust.

In healthcare technology, sound communicates risk, status, and success. Yet many devices rely on generic beeps that blur together, causing confusion or missed responses.
We build sound systems that fit your product’s workflow, hardware constraints, and regulatory pathway - ensuring your alerts are recognizable, compliant, and safe.

"Unnecessary noise, or noise that creates an expectation in the mind, is that which hurts a patient".
- Florence Nightingale.

Medical Device UX Audio

  • Touch, confirm, and completion cues for clinical and wearable interfaces

  • Startup, standby, and error state tones with defined auditory icons

  • Optimized transient shaping for micro-speakers and piezo transducers

IEC 60601-1-8: Audible alarms for medical electrical equipment

What We Deliver

Medical Device UX Audio

  • Multi-priority alarm families (advisory → caution → warning)

  • Distinct spectral and rhythmic profiles for fast identification

  • Escalation logic for IEC 60601-1-8 compliance and usability validation

ISO 7731 / 11429: Auditory danger and user-guidance signals

Medical Device UX Audio

  • Soundsets adapted for ICU, OR, or ward acoustics

  • “Quiet mode” and patient-friendly alarm variants

  • Recommendations for environmental masking mitigation

AAMI/ANSI HE75: Human-factors design in medical devices

How We Work

1. Discovery & Risk Analysis
We map clinical use cases, error modes, and acoustic constraints.

2. Auditory System Design
Development of tone families, UX feedback, and alarm hierarchies based on priority and cognitive load studies.

3. Prototype & Testing
High-resolution masters plus hardware-specific mirrors (24-bit / 96 kHz + 48 kHz).
Measured for recognition time, annoyance, and perceived urgency.

4. Compliance & Documentation
We deliver rationale reports with supporting psychoacoustic and standards references.

5. Integration & Iteration
Hardware tuning, volume calibration, and user validation refinements.

Professional & Confident

Human-Centered Audio

  • Sonic identity for med-tech

  • Distinct alarm hierarchies

  • IEC-compliant alerts

Demo Package – Ready when you are.

Proceed!