Methods and Tools for Prototyping Voice Interfaces

Abstract

Voice technology has experienced tremendous growth in both sophistication and popularity in recent years. This paper considers how researchers and designers might build novel and intuitive voice interfaces. We begin by briefly describing two of the key design techniques for voice design---elicitation methods and Wizard of Oz. We then describe the available tools for prototyping and implementing voice interfaces, and attempt to categorize these according to their function, ease of use, and the fidelity of prototypes they can produce. Finally, we conclude by describing three major aspects of voice communication that are not yet supported by existing prototyping tools, and motivate the need for new design tools in future work.