Does Alexa Live Up to the Hype? Contrasting Expectations from Mass Media Narratives and Older Adults' Hands-on Experiences of Voice Interfaces

Abstract

Voice user interfaces (VUIs) are advertised as easy to use and beneficial to older adults (OAs). Disparities between expectations and OAs’ hands-on experiences with VUIs may discourage OAs’ further use of VUIs and widen digital divides. To understand such disparities, we conducted two-week in-home field deployments of the Amazon Echo Dot with OAs. We interviewed participants before and after deployment on their perceptions of VUIs in relation to prevailing media-derived expectations about VUIs. Our analysis revealed mismatches between expectation and hands-on experiences with VUIs; namely, VUIs were found to be more primitive than expected, there were more limitations to VUIs than expected, more prerequisites were required to fully make use of VUIs, and the sources that VUIs drew from fell short in earning trust. Our findings contribute aspects to be considered to close the gap between expectations and experiences related to VUIs for older adults.