Voice user interfaces (VUIs) are becoming all the rage today. But how do you build one that people can actually converse with? Whether you're designing a mobile app, a toy, or a device such as a home assistant, this practical book guides you through basic VUI design principles, helps you choose the right speech recognition engine, and shows you how to measure your VUI's performance and improve upon it. Author Cathy Pearl also takes product managers, UX designers, and VUI designers into advanced design topics that will help make your VUI not just functional, but great. Understand key VUI design concepts, including command-and-control and conversational systems Decide if you should use an avatar or other visual representation with your VUI Explore speech recognition technology and its impact on your design Take your VUI above and beyond the basic exchange of information Learn practical ways to test your VUI application with users Monitor your app and learn how to quickly improve performance Get real-world examples of VUIs for home assistants, smartwatches, and car systems

About the Author
Cathy Pearl is Director of User Experience for Sensely, where she helps to bring the virtual nurse avatar to life, making her conversational and empathetic when talking to patients with chronic health conditions. Cathy has been interested in talking to computers since she was a child and wrote her first conversational program on the Commodore 64. She studied Cognitive Science and Computer Science and learned about psychology, linguistics, human-computer interaction, and artificial intelligence. She has been designing voice user interfaces since 1999, when she started at Nuance Communications. She has worked on everything from helicopter pilot simulators at NASA to a conversational iPad app that has Esquire Magazine's style columnist tells the user what they should wear on a first date. During her time at Nuance and Microsoft, she designed voice user interfaces for banks, airlines, healthcare companies, and Ford SYNC.


Book Information
ISBN 9781491955413
Author Cathy Pearl
Format Paperback
Page Count 278
Imprint O'Reilly Media
Publisher O'Reilly Media
Weight(grams) 420g
Dimensions(mm) 234mm * 155mm * 15mm