Foundations

Sound

Five recorded tokens cover the interaction vocabulary. Like the color system, sounds are semantic: products reference the event, not the file — so the recordings can evolve without touching call sites.

Tokens

16-bit stereo PCM WAV. Press play to audition each token.

tap

Light touch: selection, focus move, keystroke-level feedback

154 ms

27 KB

click

Committed action: button press, toggle, confirm

125 ms

24 KB

open

Surface appears: dialog, sheet, panel in

336 ms

63 KB

Surface dismissed: dialog, sheet, panel out

336 ms

63 KB

error

Something failed: validation error, rejected action

450 ms

78 KB

Reserved events

success Positive completion (publish, sync done). Reserved — not yet recorded.

warning Caution before a destructive step. Reserved — not yet recorded.

notification Something arrived while you were away. Reserved — not yet recorded.

Rules

— Sound is user-initiated only. Never autoplay, never ambient.
— Respect the platform: system silent switch on iOS, notification settings on Android, and an in-app sound toggle everywhere (off by default on web).
— One sound family — the audio equivalent of one accent. Don't mix these tokens with foreign UI sounds.
— Sound accompanies visual feedback, never replaces it.
— Pair with the matching haptic on devices that support both; fire them together.

Using the files

Assets live at /sounds/<token>.wav (tap, click, open, close, error). On the web, preload and reuse one Audio element per token; on native platforms bundle the WAVs and route them through the system sound APIs so they respect hardware volume and silent modes.

Markdown for agents: /design/sound.md · spec: /design.md