Specifying a Speech System Persona

This topic is the fifth of six topics covering speech application specifications. This sequence of topics provides a template for an application specification, describing the various sections that should be included.

Speech applications use a human voice to interact with the user, which gives the application human-like characteristics. To improve effectiveness, base the application's voice on a specific personality. To increase the realism and appropriateness of the personality, design it, as described in this topic.

Speech System Persona

Evidence indicates that we infer personality and social characteristics from the voice of a person, even if we know the voice to be recorded. In effect, we create a mental image of a personality based on the voice and language choices. In speech applications, this mental image is known as a persona.

Businesses are often concerned with their brand image and want that image to project appropriately to customers. An auto-attendant is often the first point of contact for an external caller. Thus, a persona that reflects the brand image is important. A good speech interface engages the user in a seamless and consistent conversation. A persona can act as a style reference to ensure that the choice of language and the prosody of speech remain consistent throughout the call.

One way to define a persona is to create a fictional biography, as in the following sample sections.

Background

Lori Shea is in her early thirties and is currently employed as the primary receptionist for a medium-sized company. She has a B.S. in Theatre/Communications and worked as a waitress during college. She worked for three years as an enrollment consultant for a small health care company and then for two years as a receptionist at a properties company. She's now working for Lucerne Publishing and is hoping to grow into an executive administrative assistant in the future.

Personality

Key personality attributes:

• Professional: Lori knows that her main goal is to get the caller in touch with who they want to reach (could be a person by name, person by occupation, etc.) as quickly as possible.
• Friendly: Lori understands that she is often the first point of contact for the business, and she wants to portray a welcoming, non-threatening face to callers.
• Courteous: Lori wants to help as many callers as she can. She is patient, wants to help, and doesn't patronize the caller.
• Experienced: Lori has been a receptionist for the past two years.

The vocal attributes:

• Friendly but not overly so.
• Positive but not peppy.

See Also

Creating a Speech Application Specification | Specifying End-User Scenarios | The Psychology of User Interfaces | The Speech Project Lifecycle | Speech Application Design Considerations