Tutorial: 13. Designing Speech User Interfaces

Sunday 09:00 - 17:30.

Nicole Yankelovich, Sun Microsystems Laboratories, USA
Jennifer Lai, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, USA

Benefits
Learn how to design an effective speech interface by understanding the challenges and benefits of using speech technology. Also, learn strategies for designing effective prompts, methods for handling user and system errors, as well as techniques for providing user feedback.

Origins
An updated version of a highly regarded CHI 98 tutorial.

Features

• basic concepts of speech input (recognition) and output (synthesis)
• examples of speech products and application areas
• design issues that affect both multi-modal and speech-only systems including techniques for providing user feedback, strategies for designing effective prompts, methods for handling user and system errors
• user studies that are appropriate at different stages of a speech application's life cycle

Audience
Intended for user interface designers and application developers who are interested in understanding the issues involved in designing effective speech interfaces. No prior knowledge of speech input or output is assumed.

Presentation
This tutorial uses a combination of lecture and small group exercises. Examples of existing products and research prototypes, both live demonstrations and recorded audio and video, are used to illustrate system features and design techniques.

Instructors
Nicole Yankelovich, formerly Principal Investigator of the Speech Applications project at Sun Microsystems Laboratories, has published numerous papers on user interface design, speech applications, and hypertext. Jennifer Lai is a Speech Interface designer at IBM Research. She has published papers on the use of speech in multi-modal systems and the development of statistical language models, and holds three patents in natural language translation.

Related Tutorials

• 16. Design Issues for Next Generation Interfaces (Sunday afternoon)
• 29. Designing Hands-Free, Eyes-Free, Silent (or Noisy) Environment, and Accessible Interfaces (Monday)
• 31. Speech User Interfaces for Mobile Devices (Monday afternoon)