How to not hate the alarm clock in the morning?
Recently, I’ve been thinking: Why do we like the SMS sound and why do we hate the alarm clock sound so much?
Can we make the alarm clock sound less annoying? If yes, how?
Can we make the message sound even better? How?
Could Apple pick/create an even more rewarding (=better sounding) sound for the iMessage as opposed to a sound for the ordinary SMS?
What would happen if we exchange the SMS and alarm clock sounds in the morning?
Would the attitude towards the SMS change towards a more negative overall reception? And the alarm sound towards a more positive reception?
Would the attitude change only in the morning?
Would there be a development of a different cognitive map towards the same (!) sound when first heard in the morning or thereafter during the day? So nothing would, eventually, change.
What would happen if the sounds would be chosen randomly for the alarm clock or the message!?
Can you make an alarm clock that doesn't “kill” you in the morning? Tons of attempts have alreday been made. From apps that analyze your sleeping patterns that try to wake you up at an optimal point during the REM phase of sleep,like Sleep Cycle, to hardware products, like Philips Wake up lamp, that try to naturally wake you with simulating daylight first and then waking you with the tweeting of birds later.Many things have been tried to improve the experience.
Many attempts focused only on guaranteeing functionality. That an alarm clock actually wakes you up; as opposed to give you the option of snoozing “forever”; e.g. Clocky, that runs away after the alarm starts, so you eventually need to get up in order to turn it off, hoping that you won’t go back to bed again ...
Some alarm clocks also tried punishing the snoozers by donating the charity, e.g. Snooze app and SnuzNLuz alarm clock.
So, my question is how can we improve the alarm clock? Can we improve it? Can we improve the experience of waking up? Can we improve it by reshaping/reframing the context around it/you? Because the solution to the problem might also be that you need a cause in Life that will eventually catapult you out of bed when hearing the first beep of the alarm clock in the morning …
So what is it? How can beh econ help you or trick you into waking up easier and without snoozing?
Let’s UX the problem out of the world. Ideas and opinions welcome. :)
PS: Did you notice that all the clocks in Pulp Fiction point to 4:20? A homage to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy where the meaning of Life is supposed to be 42!? :)
