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.
Although speech is the most natural form of communication between humans, using speech to communicate with machines is anything but natural. Drawing from psychology, human-computer interaction, linguistics, and communication theory, this book provides a comprehensive yet concise survey of practical speech user interface design. The text presents research and practice-based guidance for the development of usable speech user interfaces, such as the interactive voice response applications designed to provide phone-based call routing and self-service. The author, a leading human factors engineer, covers both high- and low-level decisions and also includes VoiceXML code examples.
"Whether you are a scholar looking to study various aspects related to the use of speech recognition technology in interactive systems or a practitioner working on designing and implementing interactive speech recognition technology, Lewis's book is definitely your starting point. It can also be used as a companion while implementing speech technologies."-Avi Parush, ergonomics in design, July 2013
