Safe and Sound
Service Design
London
June - November 2025
Current State - Testing in Industry
In partnership with
Andy Ho (Sound Designer)
The Brief
— Make London City Comfortable for the Hidden Vulnerable: HSPs
The term ‘Highly Sensitive Person’ (HSP) has only been popularised within the past 10 years by Professor Lionetti. HSPs, by definition, are a subset of the population who are high in a personality trait known as sensory-processing sensitivity (SPS) (Lionetti et al., 2018). According to the same study, around 20-30% of the global population is classified as highly sensitive people.
Micro Problem
HSP Facing Stress in Daily Life
HSP struggles to live in an overstimulating city. The biggest coping mechanism is wearing noise cancellation devices.
“In London, the sirens are like jump scares! It always feel like the sounds are so intense that i need to cover my ears because sometimes they hurt and i can somehow feel it inside my head!”
Macro Problem
The Environmental and Health Systems Are Not Aware of HSP, Thus No Support.
I mapped possible support system that is existed in London for HSP, and surprisingly apart from private HSP clubs that requires high entry fee. The term HSP is also not clearly defined within the healthcare industry, hence the experts do not know how to help them as well.
“Wonder if I can get some relief from a positive relationship with sounds in public?”
Research Insights #1
What's the most immediate problem for HSP? Human Voice as Most Irritating.
I've invited 10 HSPs in London to do journaling of a week about their daily experience in London regarding noise to understand what are the most pressing pain points of this issue. On the side, I've also did 10+ soundscape recordings in 3 different locations around Central London to sample noises for further analysis.
While to many Londoners, traffic noises such as motorbike engines, sirens from police cars and ambulances, as well as buses, are the most irritating sounds on the ground, to HSPs, it could be something much closer to their daily lives. Human chatter is the most commonly mentioned irritating sound, whether in high-class restaurants, on the streets, in malls, or even in parks. These sounds are mostly from loud volume speaking, high-pitched voices, children’s screaming and sudden bursts of screams or laughs.
HSP Journaling to understand HSP perception with places inLondon
Soundscape Recording to understand sound identity in London
Dr Tin Oberman
Senior Research Fellow
UCL Bartlett School Env, Energy & Resources
Expert Interview Insights #2
We cannot Get Rid of People. Re-organise Soundscape over Add-on Interventions is the way.
"Any sound intervention will face the test of time.
It is more important to introduce good sound sources to the city."
Sound testing with Andy (sound designer partner) in London to understand what are perceived as good sound source
Co-designing with Architects to understand approaches of re-organising soundscape
Noise Mapping with HSP and the public to understand where in London can be the pilot opportunity for re-organising sound
Research Insights #3
Toolkit Prototyping Testing:
Re-organising Sound in City Reveals Power Dynamics and Gaps in Regulations
Urban sound exposes how architectural standards privilege “aural-typical” norms. ISO soundscape metrics reduce diverse listening experiences to numbers, overlooking aural diversity. Recognising varied ways of hearing challenges these exclusions, revealing that sound design reflects deeper socio-political biases embedded in how cities define social space.
"The access of spaces reveals authority.
Who are we actually designing for?"
Spatial and Sonic Intervention Prompts derived from previous sound test and workshops
Cross-disciplinary industry practitioners joined a toolkit co-design workshop to test out the tools
Legislation & Regulation limitations are being discussed
The Idea —
Speculate Future of A Sensitivity Design in London Through Backcasting A Series of Practical Services
A Complimentary Set of Services hence are designed to...
1. HSP Sound Walk — Raise Awareness of the Public towards HSP by Creating Activism Spaces
2. Makers Toolkit —Empower Creatives with Design Agency to Create These Spaces.
Co-Design with HSP on the Sound Walk
HSP co-designing the soundwalk
Co-Design with Creatives on the Makers Toolkit
Feedback sessions from industry practitioners
Both Services are Supported with an Online Library and Consolidated Resources
Implementation — Taking the Makers Toolkit to Real-life Testing
I have contacted the London Festival of Architecture to host a workshop programme in 2026 to introduce the toolkit to raise awareness of practitioners towards urban designs for HSP.
