Session end needs a perceptible close

What it is

“Ten-minute timer set.” Some devices kill the light and go silent; the user does not know whether “make it fifteen” will still land. Others say “ok” plus a falling earcon. A perceptible session close requires every exit from listening to leave a hearable or visible period: task done, user cancel, no-response cap — the same family of end cues. It is about making the dropped floor public knowledge, not about which unanswered count should trigger ending.

Why it happens

Telephone closings are negotiated: a pre-closing “alright,” then “bye” from both sides. Device sessions often dissolve on timeout or on task complete, with no closing sequence. The user then faces an unlabeled floor: is the mic still open? Does the next line need a new wake? Missing close costs both ways. Thinking it is still open, a follow-up is spoken into a mic already shut — it feels like being ignored. Thinking it is shut while it still listens brings privacy risk and extra triggers. Close releases listening state and the floor together, so “you cannot follow up for free” becomes shared knowledge.

A light, an earcon, a spoken “done” can all be the period. They must be distinct from the opening answer: the rising edge is “I caught it,” the falling edge is “I put it down.” If a one- or two-second follow-up window stays after task complete, that window needs its own second close; otherwise those seconds become another unlabeled floor.

Studying it

After task complete, compare: no signal, light-off only, earcon only, a short spoken exit. Dependent measures: follow-up success without a re-wake, in-the-moment judgments of “is it still listening,” and how many next commands spoken under the false belief it is open get eaten by a new session. Conversation analysis looks for a recognizable closing pair, not only whether a timeout fired.

Give “a short listen tail after complete” its own arm. If the tail ends without a second signal, follow-up success and “still listening” judgments should worsen together.

Where it stops holding

Closing before the task is done dumps in-progress slots. A visual-only close is no close in an eyes-free scene. In public, an extra spoken “goodbye” has social cost; an earcon may be better. Screenless and noisy, an earcon can be masked; the falling sound may need to be stronger or repeated. A user “cancel / forget it” is an explicit end and still wants the same family of period; silently killing the mic is not enough.

Applying it

• Every exit path (complete, cancel, no-response cap) plays the same family of close cue, and light / mic state must match it.
• Design the opening answer and the closing earcon as a pair that can be told apart, so close is not heard as another wake.
• If you keep a second or two of listen after complete, fire a second close when that tail ends. Do not leave a silent “maybe still open.”
• At the close instant, ask a bystander or the user: “can it hear you now?” The target answer is no. If a follow-up without wake still executes, the period was fake.

Related

• Same group: M1.12.1 Wake is an explicit handoff of attention · M1.12.2 The opening should hint what this session can do · M1.12.4 False-wake exit cost decides whether people dare to use it
• Nearby: M1.07 Silence and Timeouts · C7.01 Wake Words · M1.08 Turns and Floor Management
• Search terms: perceptible session close · closing sequence · listening state