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persona_and_brand [2019/08/06 12:50] lisa.illgen_concentrix.com [Defining the persona for your system] Added link to Multilingual Applications content |
persona_and_brand [2019/08/08 10:42] (current) lisa.illgen_concentrix.com |
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| **// It’s OK for applications to refer to themselves in the first person singular //** | **// It’s OK for applications to refer to themselves in the first person singular //** | ||
| - | Although anthropomorphism in IVRs has been controversial among researchers in human–computer interaction (Gardner-Bonneau, 1999), it is currently common to script applications using the personal pronouns “I” and “me,” (especially when doing so allows more concise, conversational scripting than would be possible without the personal pronouns). There is some evidence that callers prefer applications that use personal pronouns even though they do not explicitly notice their use (Boyce, 2008). Even so, it is important to keep the user in focus when designing dialogs, avoiding applications that are excessively self-referential, which can be distracting to callers (Balentine, 2007). | + | Although anthropomorphism in IVRs has been controversial among researchers in human–computer interaction ([[references#gardner-bonneau1999|Gardner-Bonneau, 1999]]), it is currently common to script applications using the personal pronouns “I” and “me,” (especially when doing so allows more concise, conversational scripting than would be possible without the personal pronouns). There is some evidence that callers prefer applications that use personal pronouns even though they do not explicitly notice their use ([[references#boyce2008|Boyce, 2008]]). Even so, it is important to keep the user in focus when designing dialogs, avoiding applications that are excessively self-referential, which can be distracting to callers ([[references#balentine2007|Balentine, 2007]]). |
| **// Be careful in the use of named personae – most IVRs do not need a name //** | **// Be careful in the use of named personae – most IVRs do not need a name //** | ||
| - | There is general agreement among VUI designers that applications that speak to users elicit automatic reactions that lead them to imply personality characteristics of the artificial speaker (Dahl, 2006; Larson, 2005). Most IVRs designed to provide service to callers should have a voice that is generally friendly and moderately enthusiastic without going “over the top,” although there will be exceptions (for example, imagine an application designed for children to call and interact with while waiting in line at a theme park). In accordance with the appropriate social role of an IVR and the known characteristics of expert customer service representatives (Balentine & Morgan, 2001; Suhm, 2008), IVRs should assume the caller is busy, be efficient when communication is good, be helpful when progress is slower, be polite, rarely apologize, and never blame the caller. | + | There is general agreement among VUI designers that applications that speak to users elicit automatic reactions that lead them to imply personality characteristics of the artificial speaker ([[references#dahl|Dahl, 2006]]; [[references#larson|Larson, 2005]]). Most IVRs designed to provide service to callers should have a voice that is generally friendly and moderately enthusiastic without going “over the top,” although there will be exceptions (for example, imagine an application designed for children to call and interact with while waiting in line at a theme park). In accordance with the appropriate social role of an IVR and the known characteristics of expert customer service representatives ([[references#balentine2001|Balentine & Morgan, 2001]]; [[references#suhm2008|Suhm, 2008]]), IVRs should assume the caller is busy, be efficient when communication is good, be helpful when progress is slower, be polite, rarely apologize, and never blame the caller. |
| ==== How much effort? How extreme the persona? ==== | ==== How much effort? How extreme the persona? ==== | ||
| - | Is there a need to go beyond this to create a more compelling and successful caller experience? This question has been at the heart of the debate over the use of personae in VUI design for more than 10 years (Balentine, 2010). As Balentine & Morgan stated in 2001 (p. 251):\\ | + | Is there a need to go beyond this to create a more compelling and successful caller experience? This question has been at the heart of the debate over the use of personae in VUI design for more than 10 years ([[references#balentine2010|Balentine, 2010]]). As [[references#balentine2001|Balentine & Morgan]] stated in 2001 (p. 251):\\ |
| * A recent trend in the speech recognition community emphasizes what is called the persona as an essential part of a telephony application. A persona is distinguished from a personality in its emphasis on the fictional nature of the character. Promoters of this trend specify the persona thoroughly and painstakingly before approaching other details of the application—implying a belief that the persona is the foundation for every other design element. In many cases, considerable time and expense are devoted to the persona, including focus groups, psychological profiles, and voice talent audition and selection.on and selection. | * A recent trend in the speech recognition community emphasizes what is called the persona as an essential part of a telephony application. A persona is distinguished from a personality in its emphasis on the fictional nature of the character. Promoters of this trend specify the persona thoroughly and painstakingly before approaching other details of the application—implying a belief that the persona is the foundation for every other design element. In many cases, considerable time and expense are devoted to the persona, including focus groups, psychological profiles, and voice talent audition and selection.on and selection. | ||
| - | One of the arguments in favor of developing a persona is corporate branding (Kotelly, 2003) – which usually involves giving the persona a name. Another is to help designers produce a consistent caller experience by drawing on the characteristics of the persona to guide design elements such as tone, accent, specific wording choices, and confirmation styles (Cohen et al., 2004). | + | One of the arguments in favor of developing a persona is corporate branding ([[references#kotelly2003|Kotelly, 2003]]) – which usually involves giving the persona a name. Another is to help designers produce a consistent caller experience by drawing on the characteristics of the persona to guide design elements such as tone, accent, specific wording choices, and confirmation styles ([[references#cohen|Cohen et al., 2004]]). |
| - | Relatively well-known named voice personae are Amtrak’s Julie, Sprint’s Claire, and Bell Canada’s Emily. As reported in The New York Times (Hafner, 2004): | + | Relatively well-known named voice personae are Amtrak’s Julie, Sprint’s Claire, and Bell Canada’s Emily. As reported in The New York Times ([[references#hafner|Hafner, 2004]]): |
| She’s adventurous and well educated, friendly but not cloying, and always there to take your call. Meet Emily, the automated agent that answers customer-service calls for Bell Canada. So eager was Bell Canada to infuse the system with a persona that when Emily was introduced to customers nearly two years ago, she came complete with small-town roots and a history degree from Carleton University in Ottawa. Her biography said she played volleyball and had backpacked around Asia after college. | She’s adventurous and well educated, friendly but not cloying, and always there to take your call. Meet Emily, the automated agent that answers customer-service calls for Bell Canada. So eager was Bell Canada to infuse the system with a persona that when Emily was introduced to customers nearly two years ago, she came complete with small-town roots and a history degree from Carleton University in Ottawa. Her biography said she played volleyball and had backpacked around Asia after college. | ||
| - | Providing this level of detail in the biography of a persona raises the question of exactly how playing volleyball or being a history major at Carleton can possibly affect IVR scripting decisions (Balentine, 2007; Balentine & Morgan, 2001; Dahl, 2006; Klie, 2007). Note that Julie is still at Amtrak, but Emily is no longer with Bell Canada (and Claire is no longer with Sprint). Other arguments against designs focused on personae are: | + | Providing this level of detail in the biography of a persona raises the question of exactly how playing volleyball or being a history major at Carleton can possibly affect IVR scripting decisions ([[references#balentine2007|Balentine, 2007]]; [[references#balentine2001|Balentine & Morgan, 2001]]; [[references#dahl|Dahl, 2006]]; [[references#klie2007|Klie, 2007]]). Note that Julie is still at Amtrak, but Emily is no longer with Bell Canada (and Claire is no longer with Sprint). Other arguments against designs focused on personae are: |
| - | * Investments in VUI should be on the user and efficient task completion rather than a focus on crafting the persona—“The enterprise exhibits shock and dismay when callers reject the solution because no one could afford a simple usability test, and yet $100,000 and more went to a detailed analysis of her clothes, her marital status, and whether there’s a mole on her left arm” (Balentine, 2007, p. 102). | + | * Investments in VUI should be on the user and efficient task completion rather than a focus on crafting the persona—“The enterprise exhibits shock and dismay when callers reject the solution because no one could afford a simple usability test, and yet $100,000 and more went to a detailed analysis of her clothes, her marital status, and whether there’s a mole on her left arm” ([[references#balentine2007|Balentine, 2007]], p. 102). |
| - | * When things go wrong in the IVR, having a branded name can give callers “something to latch onto … and that personality becomes a negative reflection on the entire company, not just the IVR” (Klie, 2007, p. 24). | + | * When things go wrong in the IVR, having a branded name can give callers “something to latch onto … and that personality becomes a negative reflection on the entire company, not just the IVR” ([[references#klie2007|Klie, 2007]], p. 24). |
| - | * It might look fine on paper, but actually experiencing an “overly animated, artificially enthused IVR” (Rolandi, 2003, p. 29) can quickly become annoying to callers. | + | * It might look fine on paper, but actually experiencing an “overly animated, artificially enthused IVR” ([[references#rolandi2003|Rolandi, 2003]], p. 29) can quickly become annoying to callers. |
| - | Walter Rolandi, one of the most outspoken writers against excessive investment in persona development, noted in his article “The Persona Craze Nears an End” that inappropriate, overly emotive personae can establish unrealistic user expectations, distract callers from their tasks, and annoy callers. Even appropriate personae cannot “make a dysfunctional application functional, add value to a questionable value proposition, or make an unusable application more usable” (Rolandi, 2007, p. 9). For practical VUI design, the following advice from Polkosky (2005b, p. 25) seems appropriate: | + | Walter Rolandi, one of the most outspoken writers against excessive investment in persona development, noted in his article “The Persona Craze Nears an End” that inappropriate, overly emotive personae can establish unrealistic user expectations, distract callers from their tasks, and annoy callers. Even appropriate personae cannot “make a dysfunctional application functional, add value to a questionable value proposition, or make an unusable application more usable” ([[references#rolandi2007c|Rolandi, 2007]], p. 9). For practical VUI design, the following advice from Polkosky ([[references#polkosky2005b|2005b]], p. 25) seems appropriate: |
| "Be concerned about persona, but not too much. While it is true that the speech and linguistic characteristics of an interface are important to user perceptions, persona should have the appropriate perspective: it is a secondary consideration after catering to users’ needs. Undoubtedly, the friendliness and naturalness of the system voice are important characteristics that need to be controlled and the prompts should convey helpfulness and politeness; but don’t let a blind focus on these design issues lead you to neglect the more important design decisions that enable a clear, simple, and efficient UI based on user goals." | "Be concerned about persona, but not too much. While it is true that the speech and linguistic characteristics of an interface are important to user perceptions, persona should have the appropriate perspective: it is a secondary consideration after catering to users’ needs. Undoubtedly, the friendliness and naturalness of the system voice are important characteristics that need to be controlled and the prompts should convey helpfulness and politeness; but don’t let a blind focus on these design issues lead you to neglect the more important design decisions that enable a clear, simple, and efficient UI based on user goals." | ||
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| One aspect of branding in an IVR is the selection of the voice talent. If an enterprise has an existing spokesperson or actor, it may be a branding-consistent choice to use that or a similar voice for the IVR. | One aspect of branding in an IVR is the selection of the voice talent. If an enterprise has an existing spokesperson or actor, it may be a branding-consistent choice to use that or a similar voice for the IVR. | ||
| - | Voice talent agencies want to work with designers and clients to help them select a good voice for their applications (one consistent with the enterprise's branding) (Graham, 2005, 2010). | + | Voice talent agencies want to work with designers and clients to help them select a good voice for their applications (one consistent with the enterprise's branding) (Graham, [[references#graham2005|2005]], [[references#graham2010|2010]]). |
| - | A typical method is to provide samples of three or four voices to clients so they can choose one that appropriately represents their company. We recommend making sure that the top-level decision maker for this aspect of the IVR participates. As Lewis (2011, pp. 103-104) writes, "Trust me—you do not want to be in a meeting where you’re presenting the working version of the application (including all professional recordings) to the senior vice-president in charge of customer care who, upon hearing the voice for the first time, says, 'I hate it. We need a different voice.'” | + | A typical method is to provide samples of three or four voices to clients so they can choose one that appropriately represents their company. We recommend making sure that the top-level decision maker for this aspect of the IVR participates. As [[references#lewis2011|Lewis]] (2011, pp. 103-104) writes, "Trust me—you do not want to be in a meeting where you’re presenting the working version of the application (including all professional recordings) to the senior vice-president in charge of customer care who, upon hearing the voice for the first time, says, 'I hate it. We need a different voice.'” |
| **// Use branding tones only if they are clearly identified with the brand and short enough to not aggravate callers //**\\ | **// Use branding tones only if they are clearly identified with the brand and short enough to not aggravate callers //**\\ | ||
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| **// Place branding content appropriately //**\\ | **// Place branding content appropriately //**\\ | ||
| - | “Poorly placed advertisements that inappropriately take up the caller’s time or offer directions that are unlikely to be followed, are a hit against the brand—unless the brand stands for slow, thoughtless service. This behavior frustrates the caller and wastes money” (Kotelly, 2006, p. 62). | + | “Poorly placed advertisements that inappropriately take up the caller’s time or offer directions that are unlikely to be followed, are a hit against the brand—unless the brand stands for slow, thoughtless service. This behavior frustrates the caller and wastes money” ([[references#kotelly2006|(Kotelly, 2006]], p. 62). |
| As with any other content that is not central to the caller's situation, avoid putting that content in the caller's way. Designers often place concise branding content in the welcome statement of the introduction (e.g., "Welcome to the XYZ help line") and in the closing (e.g., "Thanks for calling XYZ). Inside the IVR, excessive reference to the enterprise runs the risk of damaging rather than enhancing the brand. | As with any other content that is not central to the caller's situation, avoid putting that content in the caller's way. Designers often place concise branding content in the welcome statement of the introduction (e.g., "Welcome to the XYZ help line") and in the closing (e.g., "Thanks for calling XYZ). Inside the IVR, excessive reference to the enterprise runs the risk of damaging rather than enhancing the brand. | ||