Virtual agents are back, and they're everywhere! Their user interfaces tend to be simply those of instant messaging... or none at all. Thus the user experience resides more in the sequencing of bits of natural language than in that of menus or screens. Although everyone knows how to engage in human conversation, creating an app that behaves like one requires a technical knowledge of the mechanics of human conversation. While Conversational UX Design is still a nascent discipline, formal models from Conversation Analysis offer a scientific foundation for design. This session from SXSW 2017 provided design principles and models for creating conversational UX.
27. Speaker-change recurs, or at least occurs.1
Overwhelmingly, one party talks at a time.2
Occurrences of more than one speaker at a time are common, but brief.3
Transitions (from one turn to a next) with no gap and no overlap are common. Together with transitions characterized by slight gap
or slight overlap, they make up the vast majority of transitions
4
Turn order is not fixed, but varies.5
Turn size is not fixed, but varies.6
Length of conversation is not specified in advance.7
Relative distribution of turns is not specified in advance.9
Number of parties can vary.10
Talk can be continuous or discontinuous.11
Turn-allocation techniques are obviously used. A current speaker may select a next speaker (as when he addresses a question to
another party); or parties may self-select in starting to talk
12
Various 'turn-constructional units' are employed; e.g., turns can be projectedly 'one word long', or they can be sentential in length13
Repair mechanisms exist for dealing with turn-taking errors and violations; e.g., if two parties find themselves talking
at the same time, one of them will stop prematurely, thus repairing the trouble
14
What parties say is not specified in advance8
— Harvey Sacks, Emanuel A. Schegloff, Gail Jefferson
37. J: T's- tsuh beautiful day out
isn't it?
L: Yeh it's jus' gorgeous...
CA
A: God izn it dreary.
(0.6)
B: [Y'know I don't think-
A: [.hh- It's warm though,
38. UX
“A "signifier" is some sort
of indicator, some signal
in the physical or social
world that can be
interpreted meaningfully.
Don Norman
Cognitive Scientist
40. CA
“By 'recipient design' we refer to a
multitude of respects in which the
talk by a party in a conversation is
constructed or designed in ways
which display an orientation and
sensitivity to the particular other(s)
who are the co-participants.
Harvey Sacks, Emanuel A. Schegloff, Gail Jefferson
Sociologists
41. B: Who's doing your remodel?
A: Dave
CA
C: Who's doing your remodel?
A: My neighbor across the street.
He's a contractor.
42. UX
“[Human-centered design is] an
approach that puts human needs,
capabilities, and behavior first, then
designs to accommodate those
needs, capabilities, and ways of
behaving.
Don Norman
Cognitive Scientist
44. D: Who's doing your remodel?
CA
A: Dave
D: Who?
A: You know, my neighbor across the street.
D: Oh!
A: You had a beer with him?
D: Right.
45. CA
B: uh, yeah, I guess I'd like Mexican food
A: Mañana's is on Fourth and Winchester.
It's a great Mexican restaurant within
walking distance. It gets five out of
five stars. Would you like me to make
a reservation for you at Mañana's?
A: What kind of food would you like?
Mexican
Voice inputs are cheap, but voice
outputs are expensive