Voice User Interface Design

by James Giangola, James P. Giangola, Jennifer Balogh

This book is a comprehensive and authoritative guide to voice user interface (VUI) design. The VUI is perhaps the most critical factor in the success of any automated speech recognition (ASR) system, determining whether the user experience will be satisfying or frustrating, or even whether the customer will remain one. This book describes a practical methodology for creating an effective VUI design. The methodology is scientifically based on principles in linguistics, psychology, and language technology, and is illustrated here by examples drawn from the authors' work at Nuance Communications, the market leader in ASR development and deployment. The book begins with an overview of VUI design issues and a description of the technology. The authors then introduce the major phases of their methodology. They first show how to specify requirements and make high-level design decisions during the definition phase. They next cover, in great detail, the design phase, with clear explanations and demonstrations of each design principle and its real-world applications. Finally, they examine problems unique to VUI design in system development, testing, and tuning. Key principles are illustrated with a running sample application. A companion Web site provides audio clips for each The cover photograph depicts the first ASR system, Radio a toy dog who sits in his house until the sound of his name calls him out. Produced in 1911, Rex was among the few commercial successes in earlier days of speech recognition. Voice User Interface Design reveals the design principles and practices that produce commercial success in an era when effective ASRs are not toys but competitive necessities.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published February 12, 2004

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really solid dive into the world of voice interface design. Only “caveat” is that the world around this has changed a LOT.So while the design principles and background information definitely hold true, some of the details and examples can feel really dated. Don’t let this stop you though, if you need a primer on voice interface design. It’s the de facto manual for a reason.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a holistic overview of the state-of-affairs in VUI design. It covers everything from modern voice recognition technologies, to the burden of cognitive load on users, to the nitty-gritty details of designing good prompts.

I wrote an extensive review of this book here:
https://medium.com/the-ux-book-club/v...