The design of personalities and natural language UX

Description

Whether it’s wearables, the Internet of Things, robots, or our mobile device, we now talk with our computers. And these computers measure us.

These systems are appearing all over the place. Amazon’s Echo, Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, Nuance’s Nina, and Google’s Now are just a few examples of systems that measure the emotion in our voice, parse the intention of our words, and use that data to make both recommendations and decisions. Natural language processing and analytics technology is now working, and so the next question is: How do we best apply it? This is a design question that has ethical implications.

The user-experience of NLP is an uncharted terrain in which the psychologist takes the role that the graphic designer used to play. More importantly, when we talk with a computer and it makes recommendations on how to take medication, or spend our money, an important power dynamic occurs: Does the system ask us to question what it says, or does the system manipulate us to follow its advice? Does the voice in the machine allow freedom of choice?

This talk looks at natural language technologies in general – and the design of conversational avatars and robots in particular – as a strange new design space in which power dynamics and the role of psychology merit examination, not only for improving user experience, but also for avoiding a dystopic future in which privacy is not just invaded, but fully owned. The talk provides solutions, signposts, and best practices. Oh, and a demo or three.