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Tips to Design Apps that Deliver Exceptional Voice Interaction

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Arun Goyal
Tips to Design Apps that Deliver Exceptional Voice Interaction

2017 saw the launch of Google’s voice-powered speaker – Home that features an uber cool Google voice assistant. Also, according to MindMeld, 60% of the people using voice search started in the last year.

Voice interaction is quickly gaining ground with a lot of developers investing in building apps that deliver exceptional voice interaction. The reasons for the humongous upsurge in demand for voice-enabled devices are many. Such devices are faster, better and make the interaction much smarter and interesting. Consequently, voice-controlled apps are the future of app development.

Moving ahead, app developers nowadays are trying to get the hang of the technology behind voice interaction in order to come up with innovative and smart apps. However, they need to understand a very significant fact that voice interaction is not something that can be integrated into your existing app as an additional feature. If you need to design an app with voice interaction feature, you need to keep in mind some imperative factors that will prominently control the effectiveness of your voice interaction app.

Today, we have compiled this post to help all developers understand the necessary steps that can be taken while designing an app for voice. Let’s have a look.

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1. Design for the spoken word, not keywords

Well, it may sound odd, but we are quite used to interacting with a machine, such as our computer, through keywords. However, it is crucial to understand that there is a significant difference between talking and typing. We speak differently and use full sentences instead of a string of keywords.

Let’s take an example. If a user is looking for a good restaurant in his vicinity, he will type “good restaurants nearby” on Google, only to find a long list of options appearing in front of him. But if he is interacting with a voice assistant, he is going to be a little more explicit and not simply give obscure commands like, “Alexa, can you suggest some good places for dinner nearby?”

So, it is essential that you design your app that can capably respond to such conversational commands in a natural and interactive way. It should be able to understand and respond to thousands of different commands successfully.

2. Outline your app’s personality

It is important to outline the personality of your app. Confused? Well, this implies that you need to decide the purpose of your app and wisely select the kind of language, voice, tone, and diction it is going to use so that it matches well with the business offering.

For instance, if you are building a formal business app such as a tax calculator or any other banking app, you need a disciplined personal assistant that talks in a crisp and businesslike manner, more like “Please input your bank details” and “Wait a moment.” However, on the other hand, if you are designing a gaming app or a quiz app, the conversation can be less formal and more interactive, with phrases like “Well done,” “Right answer! Good job”, “Oh no, that’s wrong, try again.”

Therefore, it is very crucial to define your app’s personality and carefully decide the tone and language your app uses to interact with its users.

3. Do a lot of research work

Only because Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have launched their voice assistants doesn’t give you enough reason to plunge into this race of developing a voice-enabled device. Carefully analyze your user’s requirements and decide whether adding a voice interface can add to the user experience or not.

For example, if you are designing a weather forecast app, the users can use voice interaction by saying “what is the weather forecast for today?” However, if you have a social media app, voice is not going to be beneficial to the users in any manner.  So, it is important to do adequate research and find out what the users exactly expect from voice and then design your app accordingly.

4. Keep in mind the user surroundings

Speaking into your smartphone in an extremely noisy place is an example of why should you keep in mind the different user surroundings while designing a voice interface.

Even if the users are actively using the voice control, it is imperative to offer visual feedback along with it. If the user is in an extremely loud place, a visual interface will help him understand and interact with the app as the surrounding noise will make hearing and voice recognition very difficult.

Also, conveying things such as the status of app loading, is it still searching for the answers or has it stopped, etc. become difficult only through voice.

Related blog: Reasons why your business need a mobile ap

5. Active feedback to help the users know they are being heard

When you indulge in a conversation with the people around you, how do you know that they are listening? Simple responses such as nodding of the head, smiling, etc. helps you learn that the other person is listening to you.

The consideration is also important for your design. The user should know that the device is switched on and is listening to whatever he is saying. This can be done through various ways such as flashing light, a sound effect, a visual display to show that the device is paying attention, etc.

Final Thoughts

Voice seems to be the primary medium of interaction with a device in the impending times. The fantastic technology has the potential to bring augmented ease in the life of people. Therefore, if you are planning to get started with a voice-based app, now is the time. The above-mentioned points will certainly help you in designing a competent app with exceptional voice interaction.

 

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