VUI – Voice User Interface
Whether we’re talking about VUIs (Voice User Interfaces) for mobile apps or for smart home speakers, voice interactions are becoming more common in today’s technology, especially since screen fatigue is a concern.
Is the VUI all ears? Amazon and Google both have added light-enabled cues to the app. When a user asks something from echo by saying ‘Alexa’ it illuminates the blue circle on the top. This is a way of telling the user that ‘Yes, I am listening to you.’
In the scenario that a customer journey map has yet to be created, the designer should highlight where voice interactions would factor into the user flow (this could be highlighted as an opportunity, a channel, or a touchpoint). If a customer journey map already exists for the business, then designers should see if the user flow can be improved with voice interactions.
VUIs are here to stay and will be integrated into more and more products in the coming years. Some predict we will not use keyboards in 10 years to interact with computers.
Still, when we think “user experience,” we tend to think about what we can see and touch. As a consequence, voice as a method of interaction is rarely considered. However, voice and visuals are not mutually exclusive when designing user experiences—they both add value.
User research needs to answer the question on whether or not voice will improve the UX and, considering how quickly the market share for voice-enabled devices is rising, doing this research could be well worth the time and significantly increase the value and quality of an app.
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