Designing your first voice interface (workshop)

Learn about the voice design process, get busy crafting dialogue, learn some fundamental principles, design and test and voice interface in a team. You'll see just how different the design methods are, and what the 'Wizard of Oz' testing method is. Come find your inner bot!

Transcript

1. Design your first voice interface Product Camp Poland 2017 • Ben Sauer
2. Organise
 into teams of 4 *each team needs a MacBook *your packet has more instructions
3. Welcome
4. Today
5. Warmup
6. A spectrum 
 of responses
7. The medium you design in is not the medium you experience
8. Find out what doesn’t work, as well as what does
9. “When is the next train to London Victoria?” Too concise: 
 20 minutes.
10. “When is the next train to London Victoria?” Too detailed: 
 The next train from Brighton station to London Victoria station leaves in twenty minutes, at twenty past ten. It has no first class service and divides at Haywards Heath. It arrives at London Victoria at ten past eleven.
11. “When is the next train to London Victoria?” Just right: 
 The next train from Brighton to London Victoria leaves in 20 minutes.
12. VOICE INTERFACES: NOW AND BEYOND
13. ARISTOTLE There is only one condition in which we can imagine managers not needing subordinates, and masters not needing slaves. This condition would be that each instrument could do its own work, at the word of command or by intelligent anticipation. @bensauer
14. VUI = Voice User Interface ASR = Automatic Speech Recognition NLU = Natural Language Understanding @bensauer humans  and   machines  talking turning  speech   into  words turning  words   into  meaning
16. Curious Rituals produced by The Near Future Laboratory
18. Curious Rituals produced by The Near Future Laboratory
20. • Limited shared vocabulary • Poor skills / co-ordination • No capacity to learn • Never sure job will get done • Turns you into the a$$h0le Using VUI is a bit like dealing with Manuel…
21. https://www.flickr.com/photos/cryptik/23815673664 @bensauer ?
22. Our true calling is to make 
 the system fail gracefully.
23. REALITIES OF VUI
24. VUI is deceptively limited. @bensauer
25. @bensauer VUI USE MAY BE U-SHAPED @bensauer AWESOME SUCKS 10 100 ∞ USE CASES
27. Platforms limit possibilities. @bensauer
28. Transactions over conversations. @bensauer
29. The context of use 
 is everything.
30. WHERE IS 
 VUI GOING?
31. The price of a multifunctional touchscreen 
 is the volume of required input. VUI is an efficient shortcut. @bensauer
32. The short-term promise of VUI is to simplify complex interactions into directly expressed goals, without the distraction of a screen. @bensauer
33. @bensauer BEYOND USE CASES “If the doorbell rings while I’m in the garden, call me.” @bensauer
37. @bensauer @bensauer VOICE ASSISTANT CONCEPTS SIRI: ’FAMILIAR’ ALEXA: ’THING’ http://www.dfki.de/LAMDa/2013/accepted/13_ApplinFischer.pdf
38. @bensauer AMAZON’S PLAY FOR UBICOMP • TVs (Westinghouse, Element, Seiki) • Fridges (LG) • Home robots (LG) • Wifi speakers (Lenovo) • Kid’s speaker (Mattel) • Lamps (GE) @bensauer • Alarm clocks • Cars (Ford, VW) • Charging docks • Watches • Cameras • Smartphones (Huawei)
39. @bensauer CONVERSATIONAL UI IS PRETTY HYPED @bensauer WTF!  menus!
40. AI is getting too much hype.
41. WHAT IS CONVERSATION?
42. Context Language Exchange Agreement Transaction / Action
43. from Paul Pangaro's ‘Conversation is more than interface’ https://vimeo.com/207866146
44. WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT VUI DESIGN?
45. Recall over recognition.
46. The first interaction 
 expresses the goal.
47. GUI VUI THE USER JOURNEY
48. The medium you design in
 is not the medium you experience. @bensauer
49. Shorter ‘Time to Test’.
50. A.I. is getting better at understanding so that 
 we don’t have to.
51. The heart of VUI is great writing. @bensauer
52. VUI OPPORTUNITIES
53. @bensauer VUI APPS @bensauer
54. @bensauer SEARCH RESULTS (IN APP) @bensauer
55. @bensauer SIMPLE GOPHER TASKS @bensauer
56. @bensauer PLAYING WITH AMAZON ECHO @bensauer Raspberry Pi + Image + Lambda + Node Sayspring
57. Our focus Design, prototype, and test a voice interface
58. Our focus Ignore the technology!
59. Our focus Use a 
 wake word
60. Use cases s
61. A great VUI starts with a great use case
62. Speed, simplicity, convenience
63. #1 Answer off the top of your head
64. What time is it? What’s the weather? Is there a conference dinner tonight?
65. #2 A way to avoid pulling out a phone or jotting notes on paper
66. Set a timer for for 20 minutes Call Anna
67. Order a pizza from Tramonti’s Remind me to make a dentist appointment tomorrow
68. #3 Help for someone with their eyes or hands occupied
69. How long will I be in traffic? How many cups of sugar do I add?
70. Alert people to helpful information Bonus
71. Hey Google, what’s up? There’s a 40 minute delay on Highway 17
72. Activity: 
 find a use case
73. Step #1
 Pick a decider for today
74. Step #2
 Write down activities you do most weeks One activity per post it Swimming Cooking Drive  to  work Take  kids  to   school
75. Step #3
 Map your week as a group Commute Work Lunch Gym MONDAY Commute W TUESDAY
76. Step 4: Write down questions or tasks that a voice interface could help with Drive  to  work Check   traffic Shopping Find  shelf   location Getting   dressed Check   weather Dinner Ordering   takeout
77. Dinner Ordering   takeout Step 5: Vote for your favourites Drive  to  work Check   traffic Shopping Find  shelf   location Getting   dressed Check   weather ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
78. Step #6 Choose your idea
79. Step #7 Empathise Feeling  tired Hands  dirty Kids   screaming Make   healthy,  easy,   tasty  food Cooking   dinner
80. Personality
81. Same voice, different roles
82. Users hear personality, regardless
83. Example: Cortana Confident, caring, competent, loyal Helpful, but not bossy Functionally and emotionally transparent
84. Define personality
85. Step #1
 Discuss and capture Page 4 of the handout
86. Breaktime! Come back at 11
87. What do people say first? Define personality
88. What they say,
 and the way they say it
93. Activity: 
 capture the first question
94. Step #1
 Open a google doc Give it the following section headings: •Test Brief •Opening questions •Sample dialogue (1,2,3,4)
95. Step #2
 Write a test brief
96. Step #3
 Write a first sentence “Alexa,  find  me  a  steak   restaurant  in  Gdansk.”
97. Step #4
 Choose roles •A moderator •A participant from another team
98. Step #5
 Capture the first question
99. Step #6
 Swap roles and repeat
100. Step #7
 Swap roles and repeat
101. Sample dialogue Define personality
102. Dialogue format
103. Expressing personality
104. Find the best paths
105. Exercise Creating dialogue
106. Step #1
 Choose roles • A user • The voice interface • One or two transcribers
107. Step #2
 Improvise! No more than six to ten 
 lines of dialogue
108. Step #3
 Write your own
109. Step #4
 Share and discuss
110. WOZ demo time
111. Lunch! See you at 13:30pm
112. Exercise 6 Editing dialogue
113. Principles
114. Sound natural
115. Be true to your personality
116. Give people credit
117. Be cooperative
118. Keep it short What’s the temperature?
119. Keep it short How old is Prince Harry?
120. Prince Harry is 32 years old He’s 32 years old 32
121. Take turns
122. Bonus tips
123. #1 Use pronouns
124. #2 Important information 
 at the end
125. #3 Say everything 
 out loud
126. Exercise: 
 editing dialogue
127. Goal: 
 make it good, 
 make it testable
128. Step #1
 Edit in pairs
129. Step #2
 Identify patterns The  user  starts   the  recording   defining  the   duration The  user  starts   the  recording   *without*  defining  a   duration The  user  stops  the   recording The  user  plays   back  the  meeting Example: Recording meetings
130. Step #3
 Setup ‘Say Wizard’ see handout page 8 tip: make text bigger with 
 Shift cmd +
131. Step #4
 Copy dialogue into script.txt
132. Step #5
 Remove the user’s lines from script.txt
133. Step #6
 Reorder the dialogue
134. First answer Second Third Fourth Second 
 scenario
135. Step #6
 Reorder the dialogue tip: leave gaps
136. Wizard of Oz Testing
137. The goal: Having all the answers
138. Fail fast, Fail cheap
139. Amazon Echo Early design process
140. The WOZ process
141. Exercise Wizard of Oz testing
142. Step #1
 Choose roles •A wizard •A participant from another team •Two observers
143. Step #2
 Run the test
144. What did you learn?
145. Step #3
 Reflect & Refine
146. Step #4
 Swap roles and test
147. Step #5
 Reflect & Refine
148. Final test
 Record a video
149. How was it?
 Record a video
150. Post-test survey Annoying Useful Classic Futuristic
151. Dialogue Flow booking 
 a cab
152. Exercise: Map the flow tip: don’t re-use the 
 dialogue as titles
153. Build and test
154. UTTERANCE “Order me some glow-in-the-dark toilet paper.”
155. 
 
 “Order me a Nintendo Switch.” INTENT Buy Product
156. 
 
 “Set a timer for 30 seconds.” VARIABLE Timer Duration
157. VUI PRINCIPLES
158. Always be capturing.
159. Postel’s Law Be conservative in what you send, be liberal in what you accept. @bensauer
160. I’d really like to visit Llanfairpwllgwyngyll- gogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. @bensauer USER: In North Wales? ALEXA:
161. Design for mundane realities.
162. Pair Bluetooth!!!! @bensauer HEAVILY ACCENTED USER FOR THE 3RD TIME: I’m really sorry, I still don’t understand. Can I suggest using the Alexa app instead? ALEXA:
163. Considerate confirmation.
164. Did you mean Odeon, Brighton? @bensauer SYSTEM HAS 50% CONFIDENCE: When would you like to go to 
 the Odeon Brighton? IMPLICIT: <Lights switch on> NONE:
165. Human, but not *too* human.
167. RESOURCES • Cathy Pearl’s VUI book • Wizard of Oz Testing:
 https://chatbotsmagazine.com/stfu-test-your- voice-app-idea-in-less-than-an- hour-2638cdff2503 • Say Wizard:
 https://github.com/bensauer/saywizard
168. MARC WEISER “The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.” @bensauer
169. Questions? Get in touch! ben@clearleft.com @bensauer
170. Give me feedback As a team, write two words on post- its that describe your workshop experience today and leave them behind on your table.