Mommy, why do speech apps suck?

World Usability Day

To all of us toiling in the industry that usability forgot, let us note, a day late of course, that 11/3 was World Usability Day. So, get a fresh cup of coffee, and spend an hour getting your own angle on how to make the world a better place.

World Usability Day

Good Experience

Effective and Efficient, Not Easy

It Really Matters

love and peace or else...

Credit Where It's Due

I'm really impressed by the space saving technology used by the speech industry lately. Ya remember the car at the circus that goes around the ring and then 50 clowns climb out?
That's real compression for ya! It must be how all the clowns are spending time in the places where some of us work on VUIs cause I'll be DAMNED if I haven't heard a whole lot of folks taking credit for VUIs and personas that I thought had been created by the 5 or 10 really great creative designers out there.
Seems like ya can't take a piss anymore without getting some on the shoes of someone or other who claims to have designed the Cal North persona for Bay Area 511 and don't even TALK about that Li'l darlin' "Emily" I don't even think Toronto has enough hotel rooms to hold the legions of "Emily" Creators.
What really cracks me up is how it's so often the same people who nay sayed the work of people who fought for customer experience against all odds until results proved that persona, metaphor and conversational prompting make a huge difference in how well an application performs. Now they're all on the bandwagon (or in the clown car). I don't blame 'em. At least they finally came over from the "dark side". I think they must have seen the benefits and the results and it made 'em green with envy.
I'd like to propose that we put Easter Eggs (how appropriate in this Bunnilicious Season) in the VUIs we design so that a caller could say a phrase like " Who's your Daddy" or "Who's your Momma" (something not easily confused with "Account Balance") and get an audio list of credits of ALL the VUI designers / developers and anyone who had substantial input. It would also mean that we could take personal pride in the work.
Hey the Giangolas, Strands, Urbans, Kaisers et al do a hell of a job and NEVER get recognized. That REALLY sucks! Thoughts?

Nuance employee no better than its recognizer

A friend just sent me this email:

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I love this anecdote in today's Merc... http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/11191006.htm

No more of those multiple-choice menus. Just say what you want to do, and -- like magic -- you'll be routed to the right person.  Or so they say. The technology flunked the test when this reporter called 1-888-NUANCE-8.

The speech-activated operator instructed: ``You can say, `I'd like to speak to a Nuance sales representative.' Or, `I need driving directions.' ''

I replied: ``I want to speak to someone in media relations.''

Operator: ``Sounds like you're asking about demos. Is that right?''

Reporter: ``No.''

After another try, the operator transferred the call to a real person -- who couldn't help, either. ``I'm sorry,'' she said. ``My database works by name-recognition only. I don't have an org chart that says who does what. OK?'' And then she hung up.

I'm sorry, I didn't understand.

Notice how there are really hardly any "reference speech applications"? That's because so many of them suck! It's time VUI designers and anyone involved in the design of voice user interfaces loosen up and talk honestly about the good, the bad, and the ugly of speech projects. Have we moved beyond United and American yet? Why do Claire and Julie piss so many people off. (I know why I hate them and I totally believe in persona design).
What about those fading little voices STILL arguing against persona. Can we put them out of their misery yet.
What ARE the cool apps (if there are any) and what apps really suck and what can we learn from them.
GM voices talks about the 100 top "Voice Brands" in America... now there's optimism for ya.
Speech apps can be cool and effective and excellent tools for the caller. Why, in general aren't they?