How might we help voice assistants fail with grace?

  • Client: Large technology company with software and hardware offerings

  • Responsibilities: UX Research

  • Team: Team: Self (UXR), 1PM, 1 Presentation Designer

  • Topic: Trust-breaking vs. trust-building moments

  • Methods: Qualitative in-depth interviews (IDIs)

Context

The client came to use with an ask to identify the impact of voice assistant misactivations on product trust and perceptions of how the client makes money from these products.

Commentary

I’m particularly proud of this project. We can’t control if/when voice assistants misactivate 100% of the time, but we can design for graceful remediation.  This was an opportunity to create a broader framework for designing graceful responses, drawing on principles of social norms and etiquette.

This work was used as part of a broader validation of the client’s research on trust-breaking vs. trust-enforcing principles, and was socialized across the client org.

Redacted sample deck excerpts available upon request.