Voice Assistant UX Overview
Alan Tan
FEBURARY 2020
Overview
01
What problems do voice assistants solve in the car?
02
Current Voice Assistants Landscape
03
How can Telenav improve upon current voice assistant solutions?
What problems do voice assistant solve?
  • Anytime your eyes are not on the road you increase the likelihood of getting into an accident.
  • Voice assistants improve driver safety by helping drivers maintain attention on the road by using their voice to control functions of the infotainment system.
The Latest voice assistants in the market
ANDROID AUTO
CARPLAY
MERCEDES
BMW
See Mercedes and BMW go head-to-head

Voice assistants have been in the market for a long time but it's only recently that the experience improved with the introduction of Siri in Carplay and Google Assistant in Android Auto.
Past voice assistant experiences have been mediocre
Video: tap to play
Video: tap to play

Compare the original Sync 3 VR system to the Polestar running Google Assistant for controlling temperature and you can see how far along Voice Assistants have matured over the years. Today's systems sound more like you are having a conversation than in the past.
Limitations of Carplay/Android Auto in-market
One shot commands are not conversations
Conversations require cooperation between the speaker and listener
In Android auto, some tasks cannot be completed using voice only. For example, in "find a destination" task the user must complete it by tapping on the screen.
Video: tap to play
Even conversations with real people can be problematic
Voice systems cannot be 100% effective in maintaining road and car safety because of diversion of attention.
Video: tap to play
How to improve upon the voice assistance experience
ALLOW USERS TO TALK MORE NATURALLY TO THE ASSISTANT
  • The assistant should try to make sure the user is satisfied with its actions and continue to listen to allow over-ride of its decision.
  • The user should be able to barge in while the system is talking and respond to the command or response without requiring the user to wait for the system to finish talking first.
THE ASSISTANT SHOULD MAKE TASKS EASIER TO COMPLETE
  • Users should be able to easily multi-task using their voice, meaning users can continue to view their original content while engaged in a secondary task.
  • Make it multi-modal, whatever is asked using my voice should also be accessible via touch.
MAKE THE ASSISTANT MORE AWARE OF ITS SURROUNDINGS
  • The assistant is aware of the vehicle status and current states of apps and can adapt appropriately to a driver's current context.
  • The assistant is aware of driver distractions and can adjust based on those distractions.
ALLOW USERS TO TALK MORE NATURALLY TO THE ASSISTANT
  • The assistant should try to make sure the user is satisfied with its actions and continue to listen to allow over-ride of its decision.
  • The user should be able to barge in while the system is talking and respond to the command or response without requiring the user to wait for the system to finish talking first.
Video: tap to play
THE ASSISTANT SHOULD MAKE TASKS EASIER TO COMPLETE
  • Users should be able to easily multi-task using their voice, meaning users can continue to view their original content while engaged in a new task.
  • Make it multi-modal. Whatever is asked using my voice should also be accessible via touch.
Video: tap to play
THE ASSISTANT SHOULD BE AWARE OF ITS SURROUNDINGS
  • The assistant is aware of driver distractions and can adjust based on those distractions.
  • The assistant is aware of the vehicle status and current states of apps and can adapt appropriately to a driver's current context.
Video: tap to play
Thanks!