Using Voice Interfaces to Make Products More Inclusive

“Inclusive” concepts also apply to the consumer product industry. Voice user interfaces (VUIs) are moving into a new generation of technological adaptivity as part of inclusive design, with voice assistant leaders such as Google Assistant, Amazon Echo, Cortana, and Siri, to name a few. The ultimate goal? To reach beyond entertainment purposes and basic functionality to empower millions of users who have motor, mobility or vision impairment. VUIs are an example of technology being used to empower users through simplifying and streamlining essential tasks.

  • Communications (like emails and texts) and controlling home devices are simplified through VUI capabilities, enabling those with motor or mobility limitations to quickly deploy instructions and messages.
  • VUIs improve engagement with daily tasks and quality of life activities, like listening to music or channel surfing, particularly improving the process for visually impaired users.
  • VUIs is a helpful resource for enabling users to communicate through their phone or connected communication systems, whether that is simplifying smartphone tasks or sending messages to family members.
  • New options are being explored, such as text-to-speech, for those who are losing the ability to speak or may have less intelligible language patterns.
  • From the large tasks to the day-to-day minutiae, VUIs provide support for a diverse range of users.

I read the article mentioned above (https://hbr.org/2019/05/using-voice-interfaces-to-make-products-more-inclusive) and thought it was interesting. While I am not offering an endorsement of a strategy, tactics, thoughts, service nor a company or author, the information was intellectually stimulating and thoughtful and worth a review.