Designing Speech Applications for Older Demographics

Caroline Leathem8th August 2006

• A major concern of customers looking to invest in speech applications is …

• How their older callers will cope with an automated speech service

• What implications will this have on caller satisfaction & overall transaction success rate

Introduction

• Older adults form a significant proportion of the population– Some 42 million aged 65 or older in

the USA.– 13% of the population– 6% increase since 2000

• This is predicted to climb to 21% of the population by 2050

Annual Estimates of the Population by Selected Age Groups and Sex for the United Stateswww.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/NC-EST2004/NC-EST2004-02.xls

Sex and age

Population estimates

July 1, 2005

July 1, 2004

July 1, 2003

July 1, 2002

July 1, 2001 July 1, 2000

.45 to 64 years 72,837,806 70,692,944 68,640,274 66,554,780 64,408,521 62,412,913

.65 years and over 36,790,113 36,333,025 35,952,389 35,588,891 35,329,850 35,077,751

.85 years and over 5,095,938 4,867,438 4,716,013 4,546,961 4,417,660 4,286,158

Projected Population of the United States

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2000

2010

2020

2030

2040

2050

..85+

..65-84

..45-64

..20-44

..5-19

..0-4

Usability Issues

• Aging may result in a combination of usability issues that must be taken into account to ensure the successful adoption of a speech service.

• As adults get older they experience "a wide range of age related impairments including loss of vision, hearing, memory and mobility, the combined effects of which contribute to loss of confidence and difficulties in orientation and absorption of information“ 1

• Response time of people over 75 is slower with a learning rate around half that of people in their 20s. 2

• They remember fewer items at a time and are more likely to become distracted from their current activity 3

• There is loss of high-frequency detection and discrimination 4

1 - Zajicek, M., Wales, R., Lee, A., (2004) Speech interaction for older adults2 - Francik, E. (1999). Telecommunications problems and design strategies for people with cognitive disabilities.3 - Hyponnen, H. (1997a). Disability and ageing 4 - Gardner-Bonneau, D. J. (2001) Meeting the needs of older adults in speech application design

Usability Issues

• HOWEVER …

– Slower response rate does not mean an inability to perform a task.

– Slower processing time does not mean that learning is not achieved

– If new information fits into the mental model older adults may not show deficits in performance

Research

• In the UK interaction with automated telephony systems is becoming increasingly commonplace

• 79% of respondents aged 50 and over use them at least once a week 1

• Jupiter Research found that older people who have used speech recognition technology "are much more likely to prefer [it to] other demographic groups." 2

• Research undertaken by Fluency in the UK showed that older callers tended to respond to speech recognition systems in a structured manner and were more tolerant of the system.

– If a caller failed to complete their transaction it was rarely due to technological limitations

– The prime reasons were related to dialog design - in particular the logic of the dialog and the intelligibility of the prompts.

– The dialog flow of a speech system drives customer perception and clarity is the single most important aspect of the customer experience

1 - L Stevens (2003) View on speech recognition in UK exceeds expectations2 - Jupiter Research (2001) Managing the Migration to Speech Systems3 – Fluency reference

The Lucky 13 Design Principles

1. Be consistent2. Signal that the system is automated3. Minimize the cognitive load 4. Support the mental model5. Confirm data and get final confirmation for financial transactions6. Include navigational and explanatory markers7. Provide context-specific help and error recovery messages8. Offer escape route9. Be cautious with barge-in especially at confirmation stages10. Increase time-out and JIT settings11.Five, Nine, S, F should be enunciated clearly12.Send out material in advance of go-live13.Test, test, test

ReferencesRNIB Guidelines http://www.tiresias.org/guidelines/ivr.htmNielsen, J. 1993, Usability Engineering, Academic Press, San Francisco.

The Virtuous Circle of Design

Caller uses application

Application has easy navigational

structure

Confirmation strategy

reassures caller

Application has low memory

load

Caller’s mental model is reinforced

Caller’s confidence increases

Case Study: Standard Life Bank

The Brand• Consumer Demographics

– 55 years plus, intelligent, traditional, secure, anti-marketing

• Consumer Values– Professionalism, independence, honesty, self improvement

• Brand Promise– SLB keeps you in control and allows you to plan for a secure future

• Brand Essence– Grown up banking

• Brand Values– Solid, principled, enthusiastic, pioneering

The Decisions

• Support the 55+ demographic

• Don’t frustrate younger callers

• Reduce barge-In

• Allow agent breakout following 2 errors

• Greater level of confirmation

• Alternative ID&V

• Follow the Lucky 13

The ServiceWelcome

PrimaryIdentification

AlternativeIdentification

Verification

MainMenu

SayBalance

MakeAWithdrawal

Agent Transfer

GoodBye

identified

identified

Verified, account specified

not verified;don't have PIN or password

Agent Transfer

not identified don’t have account number

MakeADeposit MakeATransfer

BalanceInfo

AgentTransfer

Verified, account not specified

The Results

• 38% of callers are aged 60+

• 82% of these callers above complete ID&V

• 86% who chose a transaction completed the transaction

Age Range of Callers

90 and over 0.2%

80 and over 1.7%

70 and over 11.6%

60 and over 24.9%

50 and over 24.2%

30 and over 32.3%

29 and younger 5.1%

60+ 50 - 60 30 - 50 <30

% complete identification and verification 82% 89% 89% 71%

% of callers who completed a chosen transaction 86% 91% 93% 88%

The Voice

• It is vital for the success of a speech application that the agents buy in to it

• SLB staff were encouraged to promote the system to the customers

• As part of the process of promoting the service a competition was held to christen the application and determine her identity

stop

IVY comes to life

• It was then decided that IVY should make an appearance

– Full Size

– And

– In 3D

Summary

• A well designed dialog that builds on the caller's mental model and increases the caller's confidence in using a speech application will ensure that older users are successful in their interactions.

• The design features used to assist these callers are equally applicable to inexperienced users of any age, and with careful design can be unobtrusive for experienced users.

Questions …