This is a talk I gave at Euro IA 2017 in Stockholm. Conversational interfaces have created a new paradigm that will alter how we interact with our environment and how we design information spaces. This is about how designers can transition from designing for screens to designing for conversational interfaces – both chatbots and voice. The talk offers an exploration of the possibilities and how we can take advantage of them now, and in the future. Here's the links to the videos in the presentation: Setting a timer with Alexa: https://youtu.be/fMKJBFtnjLs Adding items to a shopping list with Alexa: https://youtu.be/i2m7XHbzac4 Playing music with Google Home: https://youtu.be/aD_UIeRNCRE Checking my calendar with Google Home: https://youtu.be/8R4GTd5RPZE Playing The Higher Lower Game with Alexa: https://youtu.be/HzxdGFL0TCM

1. by Jen Williams
Head of User Experience at POKE
EuroIA 2017
Exploring a transition from
graphical to linguistic interfaces

2. 2
What is a conversational
interface?

3. 3
A language-based user
interface that involves
mimicking real speech

4. 4
They offer a way of controlling a
computer by telling it what to do

5. 5
A paradigm shift

6. 6
TouchscreensWIMP-based
(Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointers)
Conversational

7. 7
There are bots that help you to save money

8. Statement
8
Organise business trips

9. 9
Split bills with friends

10. 10
Voice assistants are in our homes

11. 11
In our cars

12. 12
And in our hands

13. 13
By 2018, 30% of our interactions with
technology will happen through
conversations with
voice-based systems
- Gartner market trends report, Sept 2016

14. 14
Over half of American teens use voice
search on a daily basis
- Google survey, June 2014

15. 15
They have the ability to change people’s
lives in meaningful ways

16. 16

17. Why now?
17
• Developments in AI and natural language
processing
• Improved computer powers
• Cloud-based computing
• Semantic web

18. 18
The opportunity

19. 19
Conversational interfaces
have the potential to be a
completely natural interface

20. 20
They could allow people to
control computers without
having to adapt or learn
new behaviours

21. 21
Enhance and offer new services
Access information in new ways
Build and deepen engagement
with customers

22. 22
But there’s a gap between the
dream and the reality

23. 23

24. 24

25. 25

26. 26

27. 27
69% of Alexa skills have 0 or 1
customer reviews

28. 28
After enabling a voice app,
there’s only a 3% chance, on
average, that the person will be
an active user after 2 weeks.
- Voicelab

29. 29
What’s going on?

30. 30
High frequency,
functional tasks
Games

31. 31Setting a timer

32. 32Shopping list

33. 33Calendar

34. 34Music

35. 35
Repeated use reduces self-consciousness
Quick, reliable and predictable
High expectations are met
High frequency,
functional tasks

36. 36
Games

37. 37The Higher Lower Game

38. 38
Make use of turn-taking - suited to conversation
Give people permission to try something new
They’re for fun
Games

39. 39
High frequency,
functional tasks
Games
The ‘Wild West’ of
voice interfaces
No social norms
No conventions
Fear of looking stupid
Not sure if the pay-off is
worth it
Unreliable
Unpredictable

40. 40
How do we take advantage of this
opportunity?

41. 41
We need to think differently

42. 42
We need to think differently about…
Our experts and skills
Our information spaces
Design conventions
What is possible
Systems and spaces

43. 43
Linguistics

44. 44
Sociology
Thomas Szynkiewicz - Flickr

45. 45
Cybernetics and Conversation Theory
Rob Shenk - Flickr

46. 46
Dialectics
lentina_x - Flickr

47. 47
Art
Ryan McGuire

48. 48
Oral tradition

49. 49
Soundscape designers
Voice designers
Interactive dialogue writers
Voice experience testers
Lucius Kwok

50. 50
Draw inspiration from
new places

51. 51
We need to think differently about…
Our experts and skills
Our information spaces
Design conventions
What is possible
Systems and spaces

52. Graphical interfaces are visible and constrained
52

53. Conversations start with nothing
53

54. Information spaces for GUIs are neatly structured
54

55. 55
Conversations are more like rhizomes
Briony Morrow-Cribbs

56. 56
Conversations exist in time but
not space

57. 57
Our job is to bring order to
this sprawl

58. 58
Choose your own adventure books
animusicsf - Flickr

59. 59Boing Boing

60. 60
Everyone follows their own
path and gets a different story

61. 61

62. 62

63. 63

64. 64
There’s an opportunity to
personalise each person’s
experience in ways that aren’t
possible with traditional GUIs

65. 65
We need to think differently about…
Our experts and skills
Our information spaces
Design conventions
What is possible
Systems and spaces

66. Design conventions
66
Graphical User Interfaces
Homepage
Navigation
Menus
Form fields
Error messages
Buttons
Conversational interfaces
Trigger word (voice)
Conversation opener / closer
Universals

67. Design patterns
67
Graphical User Interfaces
Carousel
Drag and drop
Calendar picker
Pagination / continuous scroll
Breadcrumb
Conversational interfaces
Recurring terminology
Metaphors
Directed dialog
Progressive prompting
Rapid re-prompts

68. 68
Consider patterns in
real world conversations

69. 69
Ordering a coffee

70. 70
Buying jewellery

71. 71
Visiting the doctor

72. 72
ELIZA

73. 73
We still need to identify and
reuse patterns. But they’re
patterns in language.

74. 74
Listen and borrow the
conventions and patterns from
real conversations

75. 75
We need to think differently about…
Our experts and skills
Our information spaces
Design conventions
What is possible
Systems and spaces

76. 76
Don’t just turn your website
into a chatbot

77. Strengths of each type
77
GUIs are good for:
Comparing
Complex information
Long form content
Visual entertainment
Conversational interfaces are
good for:
Short-cutting processes
Hands-free operation (voice)
Frequent requests

78. 78
‘Make it easier, faster or
more fun’
- Amazon voice design guidelines

79. 79
Can we achieve something new
with a voice interface that isn’t
possible with a screen?

80. 80
Social bonding
Convey an idea
Persuade someone
Illicit an action from someone
Chris Blakeley - Flickr

81. 81Joachim Phoenix in ‘Her’

82. 82
Personality is important.
Even synthetic voices activate
parts of the brain associated
with emotion

83. 83

84. 84
Voice can affect behaviour

85. 85
Voice can affect the meaning of content

86. 86
Voice can affect mood

87. 87
Use the strengths of
conversational interfaces to do
something new

88. 88
We need to think differently about…
Our experts and skills
Our information spaces
Design conventions
What is possible
Systems and spaces

89. 89
Conversational interfaces
work best when part of a
system - connected to other
devices and data

90. 90
Camera + image search + Google assistant

91. 91
Smart appliances + voice interfaces

92. 92
Echo Look

93. 93
Staples easy button

94. 94
Echo Show

95. 95
Ubiquitous computing

96. 96
We can create environments
where technology blends
into the background

97. 97
What needs to change?

98. 98
Cultural norms

99. 99
Improvements to
machine learning

100. 100
Beyond scripted
conversations
iCub

101. 101
Challenge yourself to
think differently

102. 102
Thank you
jen.williams@pokelondon.com
@anavrin_uk