The unheard dimension: orchestrating soundscapes in experience design education

In hospitality and tourism education, one recurring challenge I encounter is helping students appreciate the role of sound and music in shaping experiences. Visual elements—architecture, décor, lighting—are easy for them to grasp because they are tangible and immediately observable. Sound, however, is more elusive. It operates in the background, often unnoticed, yet profoundly influences perception, emotion, and memory.

When teaching experience design, I emphasise that experiences are multisensory. Pine and Gilmore’s Experience Economy (1999) remind us that businesses today compete not merely on goods or services but on orchestrating memorable experiences. These experiences are not passive; they engage multiple senses simultaneously. Sound, in particular, activates an affective pathway that is immediate and powerful, influencing mood, shaping expectations, and even altering temporal perception (Droit-Volet et al. 2013). Yet for many students, this remains an abstract concept until they begin to reflect on their own encounters.

Why sound is often overlooked

Students frequently assume that sound is secondary—a decorative layer rather than a structural element of design. This assumption overlooks decades of research in acoustic ecology and auditory psychology. Schafer’s seminal work The Tuning of the World (1977) was the first that introduced the concept of the soundscape, defining it as ‘the acoustic environment as perceived or experienced by humans’. His framework—keynotes, signals, and soundmarks—offers a vocabulary for understanding how sound shapes place identity and it is the first thing I use in teaching, when we discuss sound and musicscape as a part of entire experience. Truax (2001) expanded this by distinguishing attentive listening from incidental listening, while Spence (2012) demonstrated how multisensory congruence enhances immersion and coherence.

What I find particularly relevant in teaching is North and Hargreaves’ (2008) discussion of music’s social and applied psychology. They argue that music is not just an aesthetic choice but a social signal—shaping identity, guiding behavior, and influencing interpersonal dynamics. In hospitality contexts, this means that background music does more than ‘fill silence’: it communicates cultural values, sets expectations, and even affects how guests interact with each other.

Yet because these effects are subtle and often subconscious, students tend to overlook them. Helping them recognise this social dimension of sound becomes a turning point in their understanding of experience design. I reflected on this in my own thesis on Use and Management of Music in High-End Restaurants in Helsinki and often use the framework in classroom.

Designing experiences like conducting an orchestra

My own background as a music conductor shapes how I frame this discussion. I often tell students that designing an experience is like conducting a symphony. A conductor must know the role of each instrument—the violins, the percussion, the brass—while never losing sight of the overall composition. Similarly, an experience designer must balance micro-level details (the timbre of background music, the clarity of announcements) with macro-level vision (the emotional arc of the guest journey).

This analogy helps students grasp the complexity of sensory orchestration. If one instrument dominates, the harmony collapses; if the percussion enters too early, the piece feels chaotic. Likewise, if the music in a spa is too upbeat, the intended calmness evaporates. The designer, like the conductor, anticipates transitions, manages dynamics, and ensures that every element contributes to a coherent whole.

Interestingly, Kuiper and Smith (2018) employ a similar metaphor of orchestration to describe the process of creating immersive experiences. They argue that experience design requires ‘orchestrating’ multiple elements—physical, emotional, and narrative—into a seamless whole, much like a conductor aligns diverse instruments to produce harmony.

Both perspectives emphasise that successful experiences are not accidental: they are carefully composed, with attention to timing, tone, and interaction, highlighting the designer’s role as a creative director who ensures coherence across all sensory and thematic dimensions.

Reflections on practice

Over time, I have observed that students engage more deeply when they see sound not as an isolated phenomenon but as part of a multisensory narrative. Spence’s (2012) work on sensory congruence reinforces this point: when auditory, visual, and tactile cues align, the experience becomes more immersive and memorable. In hospitality and tourism, this alignment is strategic.

Consider the Sister City Hotel in New York, where Björk’s AI-driven installation Kórsafn generates a dynamic soundscape responsive to weather patterns—a living composition that evolves with the environment. Or the Civilian Hotel’s rooftop, where a custom sound system creates intimacy without overwhelming guests (Christie, 2022). These examples illustrate how sound operates as both atmosphere and identity.

When I share these cases with students, I encourage them to think critically: What story does this soundscape tell? How does it reinforce brand values? Their responses often reveal a shift from passive hearing to active listening—a transformation that is central to experience design education.

Sound and music remain underappreciated yet indispensable dimensions of experience design. Rooted in soundscape theory and consumer psychology, auditory elements shape cognition and affect behaviour in ways that visual design alone cannot achieve.

For me, teaching this topic is not merely about transmitting knowledge: it is about cultivating awareness and helping future professionals recognise that experiences are not only felt, seen or touched but profoundly heard. And like a conductor guiding an orchestra, the designer’s task is to harmonise these elements into a coherent, resonant whole.

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