If you ever want to learn about design psychology, go no further than an interior designer. He or she will tell you that their designs integrate psychological principles—specifically environmental psychology—to maximise the wellbeing of those how use the space. Designing a sound masking system is no different. Indeed human psychology plays a significant role in the success of any Soundmask installation.

What is design psychology?

While interior designers may concentrate on colour palettes, textures, and lighting, the acoustics of a space have just a great an impact upon the occupants of a space. But it is often overlooked until it becomes a problem. Indoor environment quality is another way that designers talk about the factors that influence the wellbeing of occupants. Internal noise is one factor in this assessment. Similarly, biophilic design taps into the subjective feelings of the occupants.

What about sound masking?

Psychology plays an important part in design, installation, and commissioning of each Soundmask system. For example, if there is a problem of sound transference between a CEO’s office and the open plan area, the science tells us that transducers placed outside the CEO’s office in the open plan area will solve the problem. However, this does not solve the psychological elements of the problem. If the CEO is sitting in his or her office having a conversation and can hear people talking in the open plan office, they will feel that they can be heard. Even though they cannot. This is why we always mask both the space that needs masking as well as the impacted space. It’s a small thing, but it makes or breaks the success of an installation.

There are plenty of other examples where psychology impacts sound masking design. If you want to learn more, or have some speech privacy or other internal noise problems in your space, please contact us for help.