Designing speechacts: Issues in speech user interfaces

SpeechActs is an experimental conversational speech system. Experience with redesigning the system based on user feedback indicates the importance of adhering to conversational conventions when designing speech interfaces, particularly in the face of speech recognition errors. Study results also suggest that speech-only interfaces should be designed from scratch rather than directly translated from their graphical counterparts. This paper examines a set of challenging issues facing speech interface designers and describes approaches to address some of these challenges. Keywords: Speech interface design, speech recognition, auditory I/O, discourse, conversational interaction