17.4 Conclusion


In the same way that a successful VUI is designed with an overarching concern for its potential users, so should your recording script be designed with its user in mind, the voice actor. In other words, think of script preparation fundamentally as a usability task. Consider what the voice actor needs to know to deliver successful recordings. Consider how each recording will be heard by callers when they encounter each one in context. Scripts should therefore build the voice actor's contextual knowledge, and they should also be formatted for readability and the actor's comfort.

In addition to being familiar with the script, a good director must be familiar with certain procedural details of session management. More importantly, the director needs to communicate to the voice actor the business goals and user requirements that underlie the persona and dialog design. The director must also know how the application works overall and how each prompt to be recorded figures in context. After all, the order in which the voice actor records the prompts will certainly not be the order in which callers will hear them.

Merely "understanding" business, user, and application requirements is not enough; the director must also have an ability to communicate this information to the voice actor efficiently and effectively. A successful director knows how to set the tone of the session, creating a supportive, nonthreatening atmosphere in order to bring out the best in a voice actor. Finally, a successful director possesses a keen range of listening skills, able to attend to the many auditory nuances that, when taken together in context, users will perceive as a persona who is optimally comprehensible and socially appropriate.



Voice User Interface Design 2004
Voice User Interface Design 2004
ISBN: 321185765
EAN: N/A
Year: 2005
Pages: 117

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