This presentation was provided by Kelly Dagan of Amherst College, during the NISO event "Discovery and Online Search, Part One: Drivers of Change in Online Search," held on June 12, 2019.

1. “Alexa, get me the articles”:
user experience and voice
interfaces in academia
Kelly Dagan
Research, Instruction, & User Experience Librarian
Amherst College
Twitter: @K4Dag

2. What
we’ll
cover
▫ types of voice interfaces
▫ themes affecting voice
search & academic
discovery
▫ user hopes &
expectations
▫ some UX requirements
2

3. Quick definitions
3

4. Voice user
interfaces
(VUIs)
Input/output
Voice is a primary
way that users
interact with the
system
Single vs.
multi-modal
Whether includes
another interface
mode (screen,
touchscreen,
physical interface)
Voice assistants
(Alexa, Siri,
Cortana, Google
Assistant, Bixby)
Form of intelligent
personal assistant
(IPA) with voice
input/output
4

5. “(Voice) is eating
the world.”
5

6. Some
statistics
2014 — 55% of teenagers used voice
search more than once/day; 31%
used it for “help with homework”
2017 — 46% of Americans use digital
voice assistants
▫ 18-49 yr olds: 55%
▫ 50/+ yr olds: 37%
2018 — 25% of smart speaker owners
with children say smart speakers are
used to get help with homework
6

7. How fast really?
7

8. Advantages
of voice
8

9. “You can type 38-40 words
per minute on a mobile
device, but you can speak
at least 150 words per
minute”
9

10. 10

11. 11

12. 12

13. 13

14. “Information:
always on, on
the go.”
14

15. Smartphones
as important
to academic
success
15

16. Desperately
seeking
efficiency
▫ Factual information, quick
answers
16

17. 17
gathering vs. processing

18. “The University
for You.”
18

19. Personal
support,
increased
productivity
19

20. User
hopes
(maybe
expectations?)
20

21. easy
answers,
simple
tasks
▫ library hours, services, events
▫ requesting & renewing
materials
▫ booking rooms
▫ making appointments

22. research
helper
▫ getting overviews
▫ gathering sources
▫ keeping up to date
▫ “Like having a research
assistant in my phone”
▫ “dream information machine”

23. Requirements
for UX
23

24. privacy
▫ 41% of digital assistant users are
concerned about privacy, passive
listening, & trust
▫ security risks posed by
voice-activated tech

25. accessibility

26. transparency
/user control

27. trust
(&
results)
27
▫ tendency to be too trusting?
▫ contextualizing information
▫ relevancy ranking x1000

28. meeting
expectations
28
▫ voice tends to evoke conversational
expectations
▫ limitations not well understood

29. the future
is...
29

30. Thanks!
Questions?
You can find me at @K4Dag
and kdagan@amherst.edu
30

31. Credits
Special thanks to all the
people who made and
released these awesome
resources for free:
▫ Presentation template by SlidesCarnival
Image credits:
▫ Ice cream photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash
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▫ Driving photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash
▫ Robot photo by DJ Johnson on Unsplash
▫ Magic photo by Artem Maltsev on Unsplash
▫ Squirrel photo by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash
▫ “Drink coffee: do stupid things faster with more
energy,” Ben Sutherland, Flickr, Attribution-ShareAlike
2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) https://www.flickr.com/
photos/bensutherland/6996342959
▫ Box photo by Christian Fregnan on Unsplash
▫ 31

32. References
▫ Buvat, J., Jacobs, K., Sengupta, A., Taylor, M., Khadikar, A. (2018). Conversational
commerce: Why consumers are embracing voice assistants in their lives.
Capgemini Digital Transformation Institute. Retrieved from
https://www.capgemini.com/consulting/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2018/01/conve
rsational_commerce_research_report.pdf
▫ Druga, S., Williams, R., Breazeal, C., & Resnick, M. (2017). Hey Google is it OK if I
eat you? Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children.
595-600
▫ Enis, M. (2018). Voice activated: Smart speakers are becoming part of U.S.
households, and there’s a lot that the public needs to know, with libraries well
positioned to help. Library Journal, (6), 28.
▫ Engleson, S. (2017). The future of voice: from smartphones to smart speakers to
smart homes. ComScore.
▫ Galanek, J. D., Gierdowski, D.C., & Brooks, D.C. (2018). ECAR Study of
Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2018. Research report.
Louisville, CO: ECAR, October 2018.
▫ Falciani-White, N. (2017). Information behaviors of elite scholars in the context of
academic practice. Journal of Documentation, 73(5), 953–973.
https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-02-2017-0028
▫ Google Data, U.S., Google App, Android, May 2016. Retrieved from
https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/data/google-app-voice-search/
▫ Hinchliffe, L. J., Griffey, J., King, E., Schofield, M. (2017). Is the Researcher
Human? Is the Librarian? Bots, Conversational User Interfaces, and Virtual
Research Assistants. CNI Spring 2017 Membership Meeting. Retrieved from
https://www.cni.org/topics/information-access-retrieval/is-the-researcher-human-is-
the-librarian-bots-conversational-user-interfaces-and-virtual-research-assistants 32

33. (more)
References
▫ Huffman, S. (2014, October 14). OMG! Mobile voice survey reveals teens love
to talk. Google Official Blog. Retrieved from:
https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/10/omg-mobile-voice-survey-reveals-tee
ns.html
▫ Kleinberg, S. (2018). 5 ways voice assistance is shaping consumer behavior.
Think with Google. Retrieved from https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com
▫ /consumer-insights/voice-assistance-consumer-experience/
▫ Lei X, Tu G-H, Liu AX, et al. (2017). The insecurity of home digital voice
assistants - Amazon Alexa as a case study. Available at
https://arxiv.org/abs/1712.03327
▫ Mander, J., and Buckle, C. (2018). Voice Search: A deep-dive into the
consumer uptake of the voice assistant technology. GlobalWebIndex. Retrieved
from https://www.globalwebindex.com/hubfs/Downloads/
Voice-Search-report.pdf
▫ Mortensen, D. (2019, May 27). Natural user interfaces -- what are they and how
do you design user interfaces that feel natural? Interaction Design Foundation.
Retrieved from https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/
article/natural-user-interfaces-what-are-they-and-how-do-you-design-user-interf
aces-that-feel-natural
▫ Nass, C. I., & Brave, S. (2005). Wired for speech : how voice activates and
advances the human-computer relationship. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
▫ Nicas, J. (2017, Nov 16). Google has picked an answer for you--too bad it's
often wrong. Wall Street Journal (Online)
▫ NPR & Edison Research. (2018). The smart audio report. Retrieved from
https://www.nationalpublicmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Smart-Audio
-Report-from-NPR-and-Edison-Research-Spring-2018_Downloadable-PDF.pdf 33

34. (even
more!)
References
▫ Olson, C., & Kemery, K. (2019). Voice report: From answers to action:
customer adoption of voice technology and digital assistants. Microsoft &
Bing. Retrieved from
https://advertiseonbing-blob.azureedge.net/blob/bingads/media/insight/whitep
apers/2019/04%20apr/voice-report/bingads_2019_voicereport.pdf
▫ Pew Research Center. (2017). Nearly half of Americans use digital voice
assistants, mostly on their smartphones.Retrieved from:
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/12/12/nearly-half-of-americans-u
se-digital-voice-assistants-mostly-on-their-smartphones/
▫ Seilhamer, R., Chen, B., Bauer, S., Salter, A., Bennett, L. (2018). Changing
Mobile Learning Practices: A Multiyear Study 2012-2016. Research report.
CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 Retrieved from https://www.educause.edu
/ecar/research-publications/ecar-study-of-undergraduate-students-and-inform
ation-technology/2018/introduction-and-key-findings
▫ Tate, E. (2018, July 2). Northeastern U. to equip all students with
Alexa-powered devices. edscoop. Retrieved from
https://edscoop.com/northeastern-amazon-echo-dots-alexa-students/
▫ Thomson, C. (2018, March 22). The future is voice search? Spare a thought
for those of us with speech impediments. Gizmodo. Retrieved from
https://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2018/03/the-future-is-voice-search-spare-a-though
t-for-those-of-us-with-speech-impediments/
▫ Vlahos, J. (2019, February 18). “Amazon Alexa and the search for the one
perfect answer.” Wired. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/story/
amazon-alexa-search-for-the-one-perfect-answer/
▫ Young, N.J. & Seggern, M.V.. (2001). General Information Seeking in
Changing Times: A Focus Group Study. Reference & User Services Quarterly,
41(2), 159. 34