Practical Speech User Interface Design

Although speech is the most natural form of communication between humans, most people find using speech to communicate with machines anything but natural. Drawing from psychology, human-computer interaction, linguistics, and communication theory, Practical Speech User Interface Design provides a comprehensive yet concise survey of practical speech user interface (SUI) design. It offers practice-based and research-based guidance on how to design effective, efficient, and pleasant speech applications that people can really use. Focusing on the design of speech user interfaces for IVR applications, the book covers speech technologies including speech recognition and production, ten key concepts in human language and communication, and a survey of self-service technologies. The author, a leading human factors engineer with extensive experience in research, innovation and design of products with speech interfaces that are used worldwide, covers both high- and low-level decisions and includes Voice XML code examples. To help articulate the rationale behind various SUI design guidelines, he includes a number of detailed discussions of the applicable research. The techniques for designing usable SUIs are not obvious, and to be effective, must be informed by a combination of critically interpreted scientific research and leading design practices. The blend of scholarship and practical experience found in this book establishes research-based leading practices for the design of usable speech user interfaces for interactive voice response applications.

IntroductionFoundations of Speech User Interface DesignA Focus on Research-Based Design GuidanceOrganization of this BookSummaryReferencesSpeech TechnologiesSpeech RecognitionSpeech ProductionSpeech BiometricsSummaryReferencesKey Concepts in Human Language and CommunicationImplicit Linguistic KnowledgePhonologyCoarticulationProsodyConversational DiscourseConversational MaximsGrammaticalityDiscourse MarkersTiming and TurntakingSocial Considerations in ConversationSummaryReferencesSelf-Service TechnologiesService ScienceCall CentersTechnology Acceptance and ReadinessSatisfaction with and Adoption of SSTsRelationship of IVR to Other SSTsWaiting for ServiceService RecoveryConsequences of Forced Use of SSTsSummaryReferencesThe Importance of Speech User Interface DesignUser Acceptance of Speech IVR ApplicationsLocation on the "Hype Cycle"The Disciplines of SUI Design and the SUI Design TeamThe Consumers of SUI DesignMajor SUI ObjectivesThe Components of SUI UsabilityThe Power of the SUISummaryReferences Speech User Interface Development MethodologyConcept PhaseRequirements PhaseDesign PhaseDevelopment PhaseTest PhaseDeployment PhaseTuning PhaseSample Design DocumentsSummaryReferencesGetting Started: High-Level Design DecisionsChoosing the Barge-In StyleSelecting Recorded Prompts or Synthesized SpeechSUI Personality and PersonaDeciding Whether to Use Audio FormattingUsing Simple or Complex Speech RecognitionAdopting a Concise or Verbose Prompt StyleAllowing Only Speech Input or Speech plus TouchtoneChoosing a Set of Global Navigation CommandsDeciding Whether to Use Human Agents in the Deployed SystemChoosing a Help Mode or Self-Revealing Contextual HelpSummaryReferencesGetting Specific: Low-Level Design DecisionsCreating IntroductionsAvoiding Poor Practices in IntroductionsGetting the Right TimingDesigning DialogsConstructing Appropriate Menus and PromptsTips for Voice SpellingConfirming User InputSummaryReferencesFrom "Hello World" to "The Planets": Prototyping SUI Designs with VoiceXMLSample 1: Hello World!Some VoiceXML ConceptsSample 2: Hello WorldsSample 3. Adding More Complex Features to Hello WorldsSample 4. Even More FeaturesUsing Breaks to Fine-Tune Timing Using an Application Root DocumentSummaryReferencesFinal WordsI Appreciate Your PatiencePlease Hold for the Next Available ResearchThanks for Reading, Goodbye!Index

James R. Lewis is a Senior Human Factors Engineer with IBM Software Group in Delray Beach, Florida.