Cooper has shared an interesting conversation about voice interactions. The conversation articulates some of the interaction challenges very well, especially with speech recognition. Some in the conversation posit voice interactions are by nature flawed, implying we shouldn’t design them. Others say the flaw lies in the implementation. I wholeheartedly agree with the latter. Voice can be the right interaction for certain contexts. For example, I see a brilliant future for integrating voice with mobile interfaces, where speech can enhance a small visual interface in a constrained context.
Voice interactions require good design using one of my favorite things—words. The words quite literally are the interface. Often the people developing voice interactions do not have the grasp of language, conversational norms, tone, and so on that word lovers do. Word lovers, here’s another opportunity to create a winning experience. Get on those voice interactions, stat.