i hear voices: explorations of multidevice experiences with conversational assistants
TRANSCRIPT
I HEAR VOICES
karen kaushansky @kjkausha
EXPLORATIONS OF MULTI-DEVICE EXPERIENCES WITH CONVERSATIONAL ASSISTANTS
JUST LIKE ATMS AND BANK TELLERS, PEOPLE WILL REALIZE IT’S A MUCH MORE EFFICIENT WAY TO GET THE INFORMATION YOU WANT AND WE WILL SPEND MUCH OF OUR TIME TALKING TO MACHINES.
John Markoff
ON SPEECH RECOGNITION IN GENERAL
ACCORDING TO APPLE, SIRI ALREADY HANDLES MORE THAN A BILLION SPOKEN REQUESTS PER WEEK
Source:NY TImes
IT’S A FUNNY THING, TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF A TECHNOLOGY THAT HAS NO BUILT-IN VISUAL INTERFACE…THIS GETS AT A DEEPER TRUTH ABOUT CONVERSATIONAL TECH: YOU ONLY DISCOVER ITS CAPABILITIES IN THE COURSE OF A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH IT.
Wired
NO VISUAL INTERFACE
PERSONA▸ “A standardized mental image of a personality or character
that users infer from the application’s voice and language choices.” It is a vehicle by which companies can brand a service or project.
▸ Whether implicitly designed or not, users will perceive a personality. “It is not advisable to leave the perceptions to chance, especially because branding and image are at stake.”
Source: Voice User Interface Design by Cohen, Giangola, Balogh
WHAT CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH A PERSONA?Increase in engagement time
Increase in number of interactions
Higher overall rating of the product
Higher likelihood of recommending device to a friend
Increase in monetization
Leads to a purchase of another device/brand loyalty
Source: NY Times
Google Now and Siri currently represent two dramatically different types of Human-Computer Interaction styles. While Siri intentionally and successfully mimics a human, complete with a wry sense of humor, Google Now opts instead to function as a pure informational oracle, devoid of personality or humanity.
OUR ONLINE CONVERSATIONS WILL INCREASINGLY BE MEDIATED BY CONVERSATION ASSISTANTS WHO WILL HELP US LAUGH AND BE MORE PRODUCTIVE.
Lili Cheng
THIS IS JUST THE START
1 PERSONA
? PERSONAS
1 DEVICE
MULTIPLE DEVICES
Source: CNN
CORTANA▸ Cortana is confident, caring, competent, loyal; helpful, but not bossy.
▸ “Not only is she AI, she's self-aware, and that principle of transparency informs a lot of how we handle error messages, our capabilities, tasks and chitchat. You'll have more faith and trust in us if we do that for you.”
▸ “As soon as the team gave Cortana a boost in confidence, people immediately began responding to her more positively.”
Source: Engadget
CORTANA
▸ Cortana places importance on audio feedback to help complete tasks
▸ Uses audio when processing speech
▸ Speaks like a real person “Sound good?”
▸ Not as formal as some other personas, uses contractions, is chitchatty
SIRI▸ Siri has “Occasionally a light attitude”.
▸ It has been noted “What can Siri do better? Have an emotional relationship with a user.”
▸ More formal “Shall I create it?”
▸ Siri uses visual feedback for specific details unless plugged into a headset
GOOGLE NOW
▸ Google Now does a great job anticipating needs, and gathering contextual information.
▸ Its persona is a reflection of its capabilities and strengths: “Google Now does not attempt personality, merely efficiency”
▸ All business, no chitchat
ALEXA▸ “ ‘Sorry, I didn’t understand the
question I heard’ is her favorite response, though honestly she really doesn’t sound very sorry.”
▸ She is just smart enough to be useful. And she keeps getting smarter.
▸ “She’s like a genie in a sci-fi-looking bottle – one not quite at the peak of her powers, and with a tiny bit of an attitude.”
ERRORS
▸ Cortana: “I’m sorry, the internet and I aren’t talking right now”
▸ “Siri not available. Connect to the internet.”
▸ Google: No audio – visual says “Can’t reach Google at the moment”
As a toy, Hello Barbie needs to be both fun, leading girls through imaginative games, and funny, telling jokes and being goofy. But Mattel also wanted Barbie to have an empathetic, affirming sensibility aimed at young girls. - NYTimes
IF WE HAD MORE OF A FRAMING “SHE’S THE PERFECT PERSON TO ASK ABOUT RESTAURANTS OR SEARCHING FOR DIRECTIONS” THEN SHE WOULD WORK 95% OF THE TIME RATHER THAN FAILING YOU 40% OF THE TIME.
David Rose
SHORTCOMINGS
▸ In many cases it is still a layer on top of the OS; only goes one layer deep
Source: Techcrunch
A great conversational agent is only fully useful when it’s everywhere, when it can get to know you in multiple contexts—learning your habits, your likes and dislikes, your routine and schedule. The way to get there is to have your AI colonize as many apps and devices as possible.
- Wired
THE NEW SIRI IS PAVING THE WAY TO WHAT YOU MIGHT CALL “AMBIENT COMPUTING” — A FUTURE IN WHICH ROBOTIC ASSISTANTS ARE ALWAYS ON HAND TO ANSWER QUESTIONS, TAKE NOTES, TAKE ORDERS OR OTHERWISE FUNCTION AS AUXILIARY BRAINS TO WHOM YOU MIGHT OFFLOAD MANY OF YOUR CHORES.
NY Times
IPHONE 6S’S HANDS-FREE SIRI IS AN OMEN OF THE FUTURE
Yes?
Yes?
Yes?
Yes?
Yes?
Yes?
Yes?
ALL DEVICES ALL THE TIME
Which one should listen?
The one that can provide the best result based on context
Actually I don’t care who listens…just do the right thing.
So what that means is they should all listen, and negotiate between them who answers.
All pervasiveHey Watch, do this.
Hey TV, do that.
Hey car, navigate.
Get me X.
Source: UX Mag
DEVICE SHIFTINGStart on one device and shift based on capabilities of the device.
Hey Siri, what was the score of the Habs game?
LINKED ACTIONSJust do what you need it to do no matter how many “apps” and devices it takes.Liane Schinasi
Send this to my Mom and add to favorites.
USER DIRECTED DEVICE SHIFTINGDirect the output when it’s not the obvious choice. And then ability to surface it
Do you still need scissors?
Yep
Tweezerman Baby Nail Scissors
Save this to my watch.
TRUE REMOTE CONTROLRemote as in “on my way home”
Hey Siri, get the next House of Cards tee’d up
for tonight
Amazon is throwing $100M in the form of Alexa Fund to lure developers, manufacturers, and startups to create voice-driven applications and devices based on Echo. Companies such as Orange Chef, Scout Alarm, Toymail and, Mojio got the seed investment from Alexa Fund.
▸ “Your customers can simply speak to Alexa through the microphone on your device and Alexa will respond through your device's speakers
- Forbes
