Usability Evaluation of a Commercial Voice Activated Dialing System Using a Driving Simulator

Abstract

Commercially available voice-activated dialing systems (VADS) are promoted as providing users with a safer car phone method, hands-free dialing. Despite the safety benefits, errors (such as call flow and user interface design issues) can cause users to reject the technology. The purpose of this study was to investigate the call flow structures of a commercially available voice activated dialing system under simulated driving conditions and provide recommendations for its improvement. Results demonstrated that users were most frustrated with voice recognition errors. Additionally, we found that menu navigation was intuitive for the most part but that more practice in the tutorial could be used as a stopgap measure to help solidify the voice directory concept. The HELP call flow presented the majority of problems to users due to its cumbersome design. Finally, the user interface design could be improved by following the principles of conversational speech especially with the call by NAME option and avoiding repetitive prompts which contribute no additional information to the user.