Designing Effective Speech Interfaces [Paperback]

Susan Weinschenk (Author), Dean T. Barker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 18, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0471375454 | ISBN-13: 978-0471375456 | Edition: 1

Master the critical knowledge you need to design speech-enabled applications

It's not just a far-fetched gizmo straight out of a sci-fi movie anymore. Speech interface technology, which allows a user to communicate with computers via voice instead of a keyboard or a mouse, is quickly becoming a main feature in new software. This straightforward guide provides traditional graphical user-interface designers, developers, usability engineers, and product managers with all the information they need to make a rapid transition in order to stay abreast of this monumental shift in technology.

Weinschenk and Barker, two experts in state-of-the-art online communication, discuss the basics of speech interfaces and speech technology, hardware, and software. They clearly explain the interface design principles that are applied to S/GUI and AUI interfaces and describe the latest practices of leading experts.

In addition to its in-depth look at speech technologies and the different types of user interfaces, this book:
* Provides an overview of the field of human factors and defines the basic concepts of human computer interaction
* Discusses the current state of speech technology applications
* Explains the laws of human factors that apply to speech interfaces
* Contains guidelines and examples for user control, human limitation, model integrity, accommodation, clear dialogue, and aesthetic integrity
* Details the best practices in interface design and usability engineering
* Explores the special issues involved in interface design for disabled persons

Visit the companion web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks/weinschenk/ for a categorized resource list of speech, speech interface, and human-computer interaction books, articles, and links.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...substantial and useful, [...] this book is informative and educational" (Computing Reviews, June 2000)

From the Back Cover

Master the critical knowledge you need to design speech-enabled applications

It's not just a far-fetched gizmo straight out of a sci-fi movie anymore. Speech interface technology, which allows a user to communicate with computers via voice instead of a keyboard or a mouse, is quickly becoming a main feature in new software. This straightforward guide provides traditional graphical user-interface designers, developers, usability engineers, and product managers with all the information they need to make a rapid transition in order to stay abreast of this monumental shift in technology.

Weinschenk and Barker, two experts in state-of-the-art online communication, discuss the basics of speech interfaces and speech technology, hardware, and software. They clearly explain the interface design principles that are applied to S/GUI and AUI interfaces and describe the latest practices of leading experts.

In addition to its in-depth look at speech technologies and the different types of user interfaces, this book:
* Provides an overview of the field of human factors and defines the basic concepts of human computer interaction
* Discusses the current state of speech technology applications
* Explains the laws of human factors that apply to speech interfaces
* Contains guidelines and examples for user control, human limitation, model integrity, accommodation, clear dialogue, and aesthetic integrity
* Details the best practices in interface design and usability engineering
* Explores the special issues involved in interface design for disabled persons

Visit the companion web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks/weinschenk/ for a categorized resource list of speech, speech interface, and human-computer interaction books, articles, and links.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 406 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (February 18, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471375454
• ISBN-13: 978-0471375456
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,202,231 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not up-to-date, and often wrong, January 30, 2005

By 

Frederick (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Designing Effective Speech Interfaces (Paperback)

Some things in this book are very useful, notably the interviews. However, this book is fairly out-of-date, and doesn't reflect the state of the art for speech recognition technology. The section on linguistics is wrong more often than right, and wouldn't add much to the reader's understanding of designing speech interfaces even if the errors were corrected. While I think that the authors' knowledge of user interface design, in general, is solid, their experience with speech is less so. For example, in the interview with Kate Dobroth (which is really the highlight of the book for me) the authors/editors consistenly transcribe the term "n-best" as "end best" pointing to the authors' inexperience with the technology.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book to get started, March 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Designing Effective Speech Interfaces (Paperback)

This books provides some great ideas of where and how to get started with Speech Interfaces. I found the interviews to be very helpful. The people interviewed within the book share great insights and ideas as to where they see speech technology going in the future. The technology discussed in the book is low cost, and in my opinion, not very high tech. There are better solutions which can handle more robust speech applications, none of which were mentioned here.