Acceptance by design: Voice Assistants

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Voice Assistants (VAs), Speech-based Technology (SBT), and Voice User Interfaces (VUI) have gained popularity in recent years; however, privacy concerns stop people from using them. Although the terms are used for slightly different purposes, we mainly use "VAs" for simplicity. To increase the adoption rate and address users’ needs, we propose reducing barriers with Acceptance by Design. By that, we mean using, e.g., VA designs that implicitly show if they collect data or how much data is collected. We can do that by first exploring the user requirements and concerns with methods from the Human-Centered Design Process [4] to provide guidelines for the future. This is a complex challenge that requires a deep understanding from different disciplines to design VAs for users skeptical about them. The HCD offers a holistic approach for capturing user requirements or discovering new dimensions of the UX that influence the user’s perception or awareness of the interactive system. We must keep in mind that users have different needs (e.g., children vs. parents vs. people with disabilities) that could result in different design solutions. Research has already started to explore with questionnaires [9, 10] and interviews the risks and opportunities of VAs (e.g., cultures [6, 22], use cases [1, 3], existing users, or potential users [1, 3, 22]). Furthermore, these guidelines might help others to design future interactive systems for different use cases, such as augmented reality glasses for university students in labs.