"How you design the beep is important." Behind the movement for calmer gadgets

I took my toaster apart and removed the noisemaker. I’m much happier with it now.

There’s no reason under the sun my microwave needs to beep five times when done. I set it for a minute. I know what happens a minute later.

My oven beeps when it reaches temperature. Why? It’s never urgent. If it preheats for an extra five minutes nobody is going to get mad.

Here’s how you design a beep. Don’t. Don’t beep. That’s the secret.