my Thunderbird android App too just won't notify me for one specific e-Mail and it is driving me nuts.

I always have had different ringtones and vibration patterns. But for me the biggest problem is People flooding important chat groups with nonsense. Drowning out the actual information to the point that this information is only read by 1/2 of the members.

The designers of the B-1B bomber decided that we weren't making full use of pilot's ears. So the system included a dozen different alert sounds. It turns out, that was breaking their concentration because they had to decode those different sounds.

The B-2, OTOH, uses voice warnings. So instead of "bing-bing-bong", you get "missile launch."

the three-tone-fire alarm is around in germany too (but city-wide sirens aren't using standardized anything)

not following along for customized notification sounds so much… I much prefer silent notifications and only having important stuff show up on my watch. My attention span is bad enough, I don't need further distractions if possible.

In my experience working in the field, Tech Bros have nothing but utter contempt for anything that is not "one size fits all".

It explains every Bad UX trend from the past 20 years. Touchscreen UIs everywhere. Web design applied to desktop apps. Chatbots replacing every form of communication. "Smart" watches more concerned with fancy screens than having a battery that lasts more than 48 hours.

IDK how to fix this. Good UX just doesn't attract capital or executive attention.

Well that was a delightful and rambling rant.

FWIW...literally the ONLY thing better about the trains around Toronto than the trains here in the Netherlands is the closing door chime. The Dutch NS single beep is so boring.

I was so glad (legitimately, and not sarcastically like most of my neighbours) when Waterloo region adopted it for their trains and I got to listen to it all day long at my previous house.

All I want is the ding-dong noises that old Garmin GPS units used to make. I can’t stand hearing my phone babble needlessly verbose word salad at me while I’m driving, so I keep it muted. But I’m always missing turns and exits as a result.

Just a brief, pleasant sound to let me know I need to do *something* would make a world of difference. I don’t understand why I can’t have this.

if anyone has written something already, I'd love to see what categories of notifications people have configured for their phones. I think it would be easier to switch to a system like this if I could modify someone else's template instead of trying to come up with something from scratch.

I'd also be happy to see a library of unobtrusive notification sounds, but that might be harder to share due to copyrights.

Really fun video. It's very interesting hearing all the ways we could use audio to make things better. I have been wanting to make my own ringtones for my phone, so it's good to keep in mind not being obtrusive. I may have to make a whole suite of notification sounds for my phone, so I can tell what app is trying to notify me.

The pebble watch seems interesting too when it comes to smart watches.