Sound quality studies as a tool for improving the sound of blenders

Abstract

This paper summarizes various methodologies that were employed to determine design guidelines for improving the perceived sound quality of food blender appliances. These included designing, preparing sounds for, carrying out, and analyzing results from a consumer jury study, where the goal was to evaluate sound quality as determined by actual users, and to measure the impact and value of various possible modification scenarios. This jury study was configured to identify and quantify how various components and mechanisms operating within two types of blenders - a full size "pitcher-type" model, and a smaller "single-serve" model - affect user perceptions of sound quality, as expressed in terms of numerical ratings for two subjective attributes ("Acceptability" and "Overall Impres­sion"), obtained by the jury listening to the sounds of various "virtual" blenders. Using regression models developed from the jury study results, it was then possible to identify several candidate modified designs for improving the attribute ratings, all by a similar degree.