Identifying an Aurally Distinct Phrase Set for Text Entry TechniquesIn the last decade, interest in accessible and eyes-free text entry has continued to grow. However, little research has been done to explore the feasibility of using audibly distinct phrases for text entry tasks. To better understand whether preexisting phrases used in text entry research are sufficiently distinct for eyes-free text entry tasks, we used Microsoft’s and Apple’s desktop text-to-speech systems to generate all 500 phrases from MacKenzie and Soukoreff’s set [32] using the default male and female voices. We then asked 392 participants recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk to transcribe the generated audio clips. We report participant transcription errors and present the 96 phrases that were observed with no comprehension errors. These phrases were further tested with 80 participants who identified as low-vision and/or blind recruited through Twitter. We contribute the 92 phrases that were observed to maintain no comprehension errors across both experiments.2022JAJacob Abbott et al.Indiana University BloomingtonVoice AccessibilityAugmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC)CHI
Prototyping Things: Reflecting on Unreported Objects of Design Research for IoTPrototypes and other ‘things’ have had many uses in HCI research—to help understand a problem, as a stepping stone towards a solution, or as a final outcome of a research process. However, within the messy context of a research through design project, many of these roles do not form part of the final research narratives, restricting the ability of other researchers to learn from this practice. In this paper we revisit prototypes used in three different design research projects, conducted over a period when the Internet of Things emerged into everyday life, exploring complex hidden relationships between the internet, people and physical objects. We aim to explore the unreported roles that prototypes played in these projects, including brokering relationships with participants and deconstructing opaque technologies. We reflect on how these roles align with existing understandings of prototypes in HCI, with particular attention to how these roles can contribute to design around IoT.2021NTNick Taylor et al.Context-Aware ComputingUbiquitous ComputingPrototyping & User TestingDIS
Firefox Voice: An Open and Extensible Voice Assistant Built Upon the WebVoice assistants are fundamentally changing the way we access information. However, voice assistants still leverage little about the web beyond simple search results. We introduce Firefox Voice, a novel voice assistant built on the open web ecosystem with an aim to expand access to information available via voice. Firefox Voice is a browser extension that enables users to use their voice to perform actions such as setting timers, navigating the web, and reading a webpage’s content aloud. Through an iterative development process and use by over 12,000 active users, we find that users see voice as a way to accomplish certain browsing tasks efficiently, but struggle with discovering functionality and frequently discontinue use. We conclude by describing how Firefox Voice enables the development of novel, open web-powered voice-driven experiences.2021JCJulia Cambre et al.Carnegie Mellon UniversityVoice User Interface (VUI) DesignIntelligent Voice Assistants (Alexa, Siri, etc.)CHI
Choice of Voices: A Large-Scale Evaluation of Text-to-Speech Voice Quality for Long-Form ContentThe advancement of text-to-speech (TTS) voices and a rise of commercial TTS platforms allow people to easily experience TTS voices across a variety of technologies, applications, and form factors. As such, we evaluated TTS voices for long-form content: not individual words or sentences, but voices that are pleasant to listen to for several minutes at a time. We introduce a method using a crowdsourcing platform and an online survey to evaluate voices based on listening experience, perception of clarity and quality, and comprehension. We evaluated 18 TTS voices, three human voices, and a text-only control condition. We found that TTS voices are close to rivaling human voices, yet no single voice outperforms the others across all evaluation dimensions. We conclude with considerations for selecting text-to-speech voices for long-form content.2020JCJulia Cambre et al.Carnegie Mellon UniversityIntelligent Voice Assistants (Alexa, Siri, etc.)Multilingual & Cross-Cultural Voice InteractionVisualization Perception & CognitionCHI
Our Friends Electric: Reflections on Advocacy and Design Research for the Voice Enabled InternetEmerging technologies---such as the voice enabled internet---present many opportunities and challenges for HCI research and society as a whole. Advocating for better, healthier implementations of these technologies will require us to communicate abstract values, such as trust, to an audience that ranges from the general public to technologists and even policymakers. In this paper, we show how a combination of film-making and product design can help to illustrate these abstract values. Working as part of a wider international advocacy campaign, Our Friends Electric focuses on the voice enabled internet, translating abstract notions of Internet Health into comprehensible digital futures for the relationship between our voice and the internet. We conclude with a call for designers of physical things to be more involved with the development of trust, privacy and security in this powerful emerging technological landscape.2019JRJon Rogers et al.University of DundeeVoice User Interface (VUI) DesignAI Ethics, Fairness & AccountabilityPrivacy by Design & User ControlCHI
“Giving a little ’ayyy, I feel ya’ to someone’s personal post”: Performing Support on Social Media Social media platforms offer people a variety of ways to interact, ranging from public broadcast posts, to comments on posts, to private messages, to paralinguistic interactions such as "liking" posts. In 2015, the commenting function "replies" was temporarily removed from Tumblr, providing a unique opportunity to study the deprivation of a standard social media feature. We administered a survey to investigate Tumblr users' perceptions and use of replies. Respondents reported that they used replies to simultaneously support others' performance and their own. Respondents compared replies to other digital interaction channels such as paralinguistic interactions, the sharing feature "reblogs", and "direct messages" (DMs), citing social considerations and norms around each. We used Goffman's performance theory to draw insights on the perceived semi-public / semi-private space of replies, which enabled users to perform supportive actions that did not belong in their main blogging identity frontstage but that were not backstage either. We discuss the limitation of performance theory to describe a presentation to a limited but unknown audience, and we describe how replies enabled new frontstages such as the delicate ramp up to the performance of intimacy in DMs. We discuss implications for performing support and identity on social media with audiences that are perceived as limited but are unknown.2019DLDanielle Lottridge et al.Social support and interventionCSCW
How Do People Change Their Technology Use in Protest?: Understanding “Protest Users”Researchers and the media have become increasingly interested in protest users, or people who change (protest use) or stop (protest non-use) their use of a company’s products because of the company’s values and/or actions. Past work has extensively engaged with the phenomenon of technology non-use but has not focused on non-use (nor changed use) in the context of protest. With recent research highlighting the potential for protest users to exert leverage against technology companies, it is important for technology stakeholders to understand the prevalence of protest users, their motivations, and the specific tactics they currently use. In this paper, we report the results of two surveys (n = 463 and n = 398) of representative samples of American web users that examine if, how, and why people have engaged in protest use and protest non-use of the products of five major technology companies. We find that protest use and protest non-use are relatively common, with 30% of respondents in 2019 reporting they were protesting at least one major tech company. Furthermore, we identify that protest users’ most common motivations were (1) concerns about business models that profit from user data and (2) privacy; and the most common tactics were (1) stopping use and (2) leveraging ad blockers. We also identify common challenges and roadblocks faced by active and potential protest users, which include (1) losing social connections and (2) the lack of alternative products. Our results highlight the growing importance of protest users in the technology ecosystem and the need for further social computing research into this phenomenon. We also provide concrete design implications for existing and future technologies to support or account for protest use and protest non-use.2019HLHanlin Li et al.Protest and participationCSCW
The 2nd Workshop on Hacking and Making at Time-Bounded Events: Current Trends and Next Steps in Research and Event DesignHackathons or Hackathon-style events, describe increasingly popular time-bounded intensive events across different fields and sectors. Often cited examples of hackathons include the demanding overnight competitive coding events, but there are many design variations for different audiences and with divergent aims. They offer a new form of collaboration by affording explicit, predictable, time-bounded spaces for interdependent work and engaging with new audiences. This one-day workshop will bring together researchers, experienced event organizers, and practitioners to share and discuss their practical experiences. Empirical insights from studying these events may help position the CHI community to better study, plan and design hackathon-style events and socio-technical systems that support new modes of production and collaboration.2018ETEi Pa Pa Pe Than et al.Carnegie Mellon UniversityMakerspace CultureParticipatory DesignCHI
Workshop: Accessible Voice InterfacesVoice interfaces such as in-home and mobile digital assistants, mobile screen readers, and chatbots are tools that can support communication, collaboration, and information seeking, and are becoming increasingly commonplace. Because they don’t require the motor skills needed for text input through a keyboard, the barriers of entry and use for older adults and people with disabilities are lowered. Yet, accessibility of speech interaction can still be a challenge. Using and designing voice interfaces is radically different from graphical interfaces, redefining how we must think about accessibility and what it means for a conversation to be accessible.2018RBRobin Brewer et al.Workshop: Accessible Voice InterfacesCSCW
Panel: Voice Assistants, UX Design and ResearchIn this panel, we discuss the challenges that are faced by HCI practitioners and researchers as they study how voice assistants (VA) are used on a daily basis. Voice has become a widespread and commercially viable interaction mechanism with the introduction of VAs such as Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, the Google Assistant, and Microsoft's Cortana. Despite their prevalence, the design of VAs and their embeddedness with other personal technologies and daily routines have yet to be studied in detail. Making use of a roundtable, we will discuss these issues by providing a number of VA use scenarios that panel members will discuss. Some of the issues that researchers will discuss in this panel include: (1) obtaining VA data & privacy concerns around the processing and storage of user data; (2) the personalization of VAs and the user value derived from this interaction; and (3) the relevant UX work that reflects on the design of VAs?2018JKJofish Kaye et al.MozillaVoice User Interface (VUI) DesignIntelligent Voice Assistants (Alexa, Siri, etc.)CHI
Imaginary Design Workbooks: Constructive Criticism and Practical Provocationhis paper reports on design strategies for critical and experimental work that remains constructive. We report findings from a design workshop that explored the “home hub” space through “imaginary design workbooks”. These feature ambiguous images and annotations written in an invented language to suggest a design space without specifying any particular idea. Many of the concepts and narratives which emerged from the workshop focused on extreme situations: some thoughtful, some dystopian, some even mythic. One of the workshop ideas was then developed with a senior social worker who works with young offenders. A “digital social worker” concept was developed and critiqued simultaneously. We draw on Foucault’s history of surveillance to “defamiliarise” both the home hub technology and the current youth justice system. We argue that the dichotomy between “constructive” and “critical” design is false because design is never neutral.2018MBMark Blythe et al.Northumbria UniversityTechnology Ethics & Critical HCIDesign FictionCHI