Abstract
As part of the ‘software evolution’ (Mens, 2008), acoustic rather than visual interfaces are increasingly developing into the decisive contact point in the interaction between the product or service and the user. Voices, ‘VUI’s, play an important role the design of communication, yet communication designers are not yet firmly established in this field and, for example, the process of voice selection is often described as a particular hurdle especially when the selection needs to align with strategic parameters of a brand. This raises several questions: What role can communication designers play in the future in the complex field of designing with voice? What are the specific challenges (and opportunities) for designers in this field? And how can design education respond? This case study focuses on a project course with communication design students that addressed the topic ‘designing with voice’. It explores the element of voice in a design educational setting in terms of five aspects: module concept, sequence of activities, findings and evaluation, and positioning communication designers in the context of VUI.
Keywords
service design, conversational design, conversational branding, voice-based services, case study
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs_lxd2021.04.121
Citation
Hensel, D., Bauer, B.,and Voß, S.(2021) From eyes to ears how to deal with the acoustic element ‘voice’ as a visual designer, in Bohemia, E., Nielsen, L.M., Pan, L., Börekçi, N.A.G.Z., Zhang, Y. (eds.), Learn X Design 2021: Engaging with challenges in design education, 24-26 September, Shandong University of Art & Design, Jinan, China. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs_lxd2021.04.121
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Research Paper
Included in
From eyes to ears how to deal with the acoustic element ‘voice’ as a visual designer
As part of the ‘software evolution’ (Mens, 2008), acoustic rather than visual interfaces are increasingly developing into the decisive contact point in the interaction between the product or service and the user. Voices, ‘VUI’s, play an important role the design of communication, yet communication designers are not yet firmly established in this field and, for example, the process of voice selection is often described as a particular hurdle especially when the selection needs to align with strategic parameters of a brand. This raises several questions: What role can communication designers play in the future in the complex field of designing with voice? What are the specific challenges (and opportunities) for designers in this field? And how can design education respond? This case study focuses on a project course with communication design students that addressed the topic ‘designing with voice’. It explores the element of voice in a design educational setting in terms of five aspects: module concept, sequence of activities, findings and evaluation, and positioning communication designers in the context of VUI.