8 Conveying reassurance with confidence and confirmation
This chapter covers
- Understanding why and when reassurance is important
- Designing for reassurance in different contexts
- Choosing the right confirmation method for your users and task
- Implementing confirmation in VUI dialogs using webhooks
Every dialog depends on shared understanding. It’s as true for two people talking as when one participant is a computer. When you talk to someone, how do you know if you’re being understood or not? By the listener’s responses. They either reassure you that you’re understood or suggest that some correction is needed. When something’s really important, you even check that your listener is paying attention by confirming that information with your listener. And when you’re the listener, you sometimes want to verify your understanding or show that you’re still listening. When you’re talking to someone on the phone and can’t see each other’s faces and body language, verbal reassurance is even more necessary.
Reassurance is an important topic in voice systems for three related reasons:
- VUI accuracy, verifying that recognition and interpretation is correct
- user confidence that the VUI got it right, contributing to user trust in the VUI
- overall success, helping conversations reach their goal with minimal backtracking
8.1 Conveying reassurance and shared certainty
As a user, are you sure your money is going to the right place in this spoken dialog?