Call for Papers | 12th AVIxD Workshop 2014

Documenting Cross Channel Customer Journeys

Sunday, August 17, 2014 | Just prior to SpeechTek 2014 | 1 – 7 PM

New York City, New York

 Join us for the 2014 workshop on voice interaction design, Documenting Cross Channel Customer Journeys. The AVIxD workshop is a hands-on session in which voice user interface practitioners come together to debate a topic of interest to the VUI community. The workshop is an opportunity to meet with your peers and delve deeply into a single topic. As in prior workshops, we will be publishing the outcome of the workshop on www.avixd.org. Please visit our website for more details on the purpose of the organization and how you can be part of it.

To be considered for the workshop, individuals must submit a position paper of approximately 500 words on this workshop’s topic:

Multi-channel customer experiences are still in their relative infancy. Years ago, we began with paper-based literature and live agent interactions. Subsequently, we evolved to the World Wide Web co-existing with paper-based literature and live agents. Still later, we introduced IVRs and other social media technologies to the mix. Organizationally speaking, different business units came to represent the aforementioned mediums. Though there may have been efforts to synchronize content across these channels, today, there still does not yet exist a coherent, consistent, and holistic approach toward documenting the customer experience across channels.

We invite your thoughts on this important area. For example:

• What would an interaction design model for the cross-channel customer experience look like?
• How should we document customer experiences across multiple channels and possibly across multiple platforms?
• What design tool will meet the need for documenting the needs of each channel i.e. IVR, SMS, web, etc.? Are there multiple tools/applications required to adequately address the needs of each modality?
• What technical issues and organizational issues must be addressed in the cross channel design?
• What solutions are already in place and by whom? Are there groups out there who have already tackled this issue to some extent that could serve as a model for this work?
• How will we measure the effectiveness of cross-channel customer experience? Can existing VUI measures be used wholesale or adapted to address this broader area?
• Will there be a shift in the skills sets needed for cross-channel design? If so, what skills sets will designers need going forward?

As usual, specific examples of research you’ve conducted are always most valuable to the UX community.

The cost of participation is free to AVIxD members; non-members will be charged $40, however the fee may be applied towards AVIxD membership at the workshop. Please submit your papers via email no later than Friday, July 18, 2014 to cfp@avixd.org. Letters of acceptance will be sent by Friday, August 1, 2014.

We look forward to seeing you in New York City!  Contact either of the co-chairs with questions: Mark Smolensky (ms6134@att.com) or Renae Rogers (RMRogers@west.com).

Documenting Cross Channel Customer Journeys  Sunday, August 17, 2014 | Just prior to SpeechTek 2014 | 1 – 7 PM New York City, New York
Join us for the 2014 workshop on voice interaction design, Documenting Cross Channel Customer Journeys. The AVIxD workshop is a hands-on session in which voice user interface practitioners come together to debate a topic of interest to the VUI community. The workshop is an opportunity to meet with your peers and delve deeply into a single topic. As in prior workshops, we will be publishing the outcome of the workshop on www.avixd.org. Please visit our website for more details on the purpose of the organization and how you can be part of it.
To be considered for the workshop, you must submit a position paper of approximately 500 words on this workshop’s topic:
Multi-channel customer experiences are still in their relative infancy. Years ago, we began with paper- based literature and live agent interactions, with subsequent support from touch-tone IVRs. Later, we evolved to the World Wide Web co-existing with paper-based literature and speech-IVR/live-agent systems. Still later, we added natural language speech and social media technologies to the mix. Organizationally speaking, different business units came to represent the aforementioned media in separate silos. Though there have been efforts to synchronize content across these channels, there is not yet a single, coherent, consistent, and holistic approach toward documenting the customer experience across channels.
We invite your thoughts on this important area. For example:

• What would an interaction design model for the cross-channel customer experience look like?
• How should we document customer experiences across multiple channels and possibly across multiple platforms?
• What design tool will meet the need for documenting the requirements of each channel (i.e. IVR, SMS, web, etc.)? Are multiple tools/applications required to adequately address the needs of each modality? Can the same tool provide high-level views for decision-making stakeholders and detailed views for designers/developers?
• What technical issues and organizational issues must we address in cross channel design?
• What solutions are already in place and by whom? Are there groups out there who have already tackled this issue to some extent that could serve as a model for this work?
• How will we measure the effectiveness of cross-channel customer experience?  Can we use existing VUI measures wholesale or must we adapt them to address this broader area?
•  Will there be a shift in the skills sets needed for cross-channel design? If so, what skills sets will designers need going forward?

Specific examples of research you’ve conducted are most valuable to the UX community.
The cost of participation is free to AVIxD members; non-members will be charged $40, however the fee may be applied towards AVIxD membership at the workshop.

Please submit your papers via email no later than Friday, July 18, 2014 to cfp@avixd.org. Letters of acceptance will be sent by Friday, August 1, 2014.
We look forward to seeing you in New York City!

Contact either of the co-chairs with questions: Mark Smolensky (ms6134@att.com) or Renae Rogers (RMRogers@west.com).

During the AVIxD West Coast workshop in 2011 we focused on the question “Where does Speech Make Sense?” with respect to a range of different applications, tasks, and situations.  The workshop attendees decided that the dynamic nature of the discussion threads needed a more dynamic presentation output.  As a result the output of the workshop has been captured in the form of an interactive survey rather than a static paper.

We’re not quite done with the final output yet, but we would sure like some feedback.  So we are pleased to release a draft version of the survey at the following link:

http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/quizshowall.php?title=does-speech-make-sense-your-product

Please give it a try and send your feedback to JonathonB at SpeechCycle dot com.  We could fill the rest of the post with legal-ese verbiage about “suitability for purpose” and “no guarantees”, etc.  But we’ll keep it simple by reminding you that this is still a work-in-progress and that you should in any case apply your own good judgment before making decisions or taking action based on the content.  But you knew that already, didn’t you?

Announcing the 2011 AVIxD Members Meeting!
Tuesday, August 9, 8:00-8:45 AM ET
New York Hilton, Concourse B
New York, New York
(dial-in information to follow)

All AVIxD members and potential members are invited to join us for our annual meeting.  Learn about what we’ve accomplished this year, hear our plans for the coming year, and meet the Board of Directors and officers.  This is your opportunity to tell us how AVIxD can better serve you and what you’d like to see from our organization.  Bring your ideas, questions, and suggestions and find out how you can get more involved.

The AVIxD 2007 West workshop papers on error handling have just been added to our publications page