Dialog design

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Dialog design refers to the design of dialogues between a user and a speech dialog system . Dialog Design's task is to make the use of such systems easy, quick and pleasant. The differences between graphic and acoustic user interfaces ( Voice User Interfaces , VUI) must be taken into account:

  • The recording of information via the acoustic channel generally takes longer than via the optical channel. For example, it is faster to read a book yourself than to read it to someone.
  • In the ear there is no analogy to “skimming” a text. Acoustic input must be recorded strictly linearly and at the intended speed. The input speed is usually based on the linguistically weakest users of the system. For example, options can not be output acoustically “at a glance”.
  • Communication errors (acoustically not understood) cannot be corrected as easily as in a graphic system.
  • All acoustic information is transitory and only remains in the user's limited short-term memory .

Good dialog design brings out the benefits of a VUI and cushions its limitations. Dialog design is therefore crucial for the usability and success of a speech dialog system.

In general, a distinction is made between three types of dialogues - user-led, system-led and mixed-initiative dialogues. With the user-guided dialogue, the user has the initiative.

Example:

User: "Set the month to February."
System: "Month is now February"

In the case of system-guided dialog, the system takes the initiative.

Example:

System: "Where do you want to fly from?"
User: "From Frankfurt"
System: "Where do you want to fly from Frankfurt?"
User: "To Berlin"
System: "And when do you want to fly from Frankfurt to Berlin?" (...)

With the Mixed Initiative Dialog, both the system and the user can promote the dialogue. This is particularly useful if the system is used by both experienced and sporadic users.

Examples:

User: "I want to fly from Frankfurt to Berlin"
System: "And when do you want to fly from Frankfurt to Berlin?" (...)

or

User: "I would like to fly from Frankfurt to Berlin on Friday evening"
System: "The following flights from Frankfurt to Berlin are available on Friday evening" (...)

Persona design is an increasingly important part of dialogue design .

See also