Meaningful Voice Interactions

Abstract

What is the impact of smart speakers on our well-being? As the popularity of these devices continues to grow, so does the discussions around their potential dangers. From reports of children developing aggressive behaviours to studies on the perpetuation of sexist stereotypes, our interactions with smart speakers are accompanied by a series of risks. This project aims to propose a repertoire of meaningful voice interactions that mitigate those impacts and foster well-being instead. To achieve this, a categorisation of seven dangers of voice interactions was created based on literature review: impoliteness, aggressiveness, gender stereotyping, exposure, shallow mindedness, emotional dependency and social detachment. Each danger was analysed to define which of the fundamental human needs of the Self-Determination Theory they harm: autonomy, competence and relatedness. This theory proposes that people experience well-being when these three needs are satisfied. Also, a phase of exploratory research was conducted, combining established research methods such as user interviews with emerging More-Than-Human design approaches in the form of Thing Ethnography. The findings inspired the ideation phase, where more than 70 ideas were created to prevent the dangers of smart speakers. These ideas were clustered, filtered and remotely tested with participants who expressed their perceptions and examined the potential impact on the fundamental human needs. The resulting data revealed the interaction concepts perceived as most meaningful, which served as the basis for the final repertoire of voice interactions. The repertoire includes design guidelines, traps to avoid, in-depth analysis and reflective questions to guide ideation. Its goal is to serve as a tool for designers and researchers involved in voice-related projects to foster well-being by designing more humane voice interactions. It was designed to be shared as an online platform and a booklet, but its content could take various forms beyond those.