Getting serious about voice interaction means treating it as a first-class digital product. Find out what's crucial to making that happen.

1. Voice Application
Product Strategy
Phillip Hunter @designoutloud
Pulse Labs VP of Product

2. Problem statement
The majority of voice apps are
experiments and water-testers.
We’re not treating voice apps as
first class digital products like those
people are used to.

3. Good products
Clarity of purpose
Non-trivial, uncommon benefit
Comfortable interaction
Consequential content
Engaging emotion
Gratification

4. Good voice app products
Differentiated from mobile and web
Faster, easier, more enjoyable

5. Exchanging information
Transacting
Amusement and time-filling
Interactive and not
Use case opportunities

7. Closer look
Destination information
Comprehensive
Ask for nearly anything
Relevant and informative
Inspiring
Answers you care about

8. Closer look
Jeopardy
Similar to TV finally
Voice interaction is identical
Answers taken from today’s show
Competitive, quick feedback
Feel smarter

9. Strategy - UCD / UX / DT
Who, why, when, where, how?
What is wanted and needed?
What can and should you offer?

10. Strategy - Kano Model

11. Strategy - Martin, et. al.
What are our aspirations and goals?
Where will we choose to play?
How will we choose to win?
What capabilities are necessary?

12. Products that work so far
Updates and messages
Trivia, facts, quizzes, tasks
Reminders, requests, lists, games
Simple transactions
Environment (lights, music, sleep)

13. These haven’t yet
Detailed explanations
Complex meaning
Subtlety
Sophisticated humor
Conceptual conversation

14. “I really need to see you”

15. Goldilocks
Story
Rhythm
Life lessons
Feeling of language
Iterating toward resolution
Intersection and balance

16. Ginger Rogers
“(Astaire) was able to do dances on
screen that would have been
impossible to risk if he hadn't had a
partner like Ginger”
Being better than expected

17. Backwards and in high heels
Expectations and rules about
content and meta-information are
ingrained, subtle, and challenging
Beyond choreography to
anticipation, interpretation,
response, and grace

18. Challenges
Distraction and memory
Context and delivery
Naturalness, familiarity, predictability

19. Principles and guidelines
WIIFM
Useful, usable desirable
Fresh and spontaneous
Engaging
Gricean
Aesthetics, rhythm, melody, chunks

20. Customer POVs
Transactional: What’s my goal?
What’s required to make that
happen?
Informational: What do I want to
know? What order and structure?
Will I want more?

21. Customer POVs
Entertaining: What delights me?
What keeps me interested and
coming back?
Educational: What do I need to
learn? What helps me? How do I
know I’m learning the right things?

22. Good voice app products
Clarity of purpose
Non-trivial, uncommon benefit
Comfortable interaction
Consequential content
Engaging emotion
Gratification
Differentiated from mobile and web
Faster, easier, more enjoyable

23. Phillip Hunter @designoutloud
Pulse Labs VP of Product
Voice Application
Product Strategy

24. Resources
-The Media Equation: How People Treat Computers, Television,
and New Media Like Real People and Places (Nass…)
- Voice User Interface Design (Cohen…)
- Designing Voice User Interfaces: Principles of Conversational
Experiences (Pearl)
- www.avixd.org
- Gricean maxims: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/
dravling/grice.html
- Radio: http://training.npr.org/audio/writing-for-radio-a-
manifesto-from-nprs-chris-joyce/
- Dialogue: https://thewritepractice.com/dialogue-powerful/