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A Visio-based solution for reducing documentation and creating clear, technical, and automated designs for Voice User Interface Designs (VUIDs).
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VUID Tools: Designing Ease of Mind Matt Shomphe Phil Shinn
Overview • The Problems • The Solution • Visio Shapes • VBA Macros • Results • Caveats • Next Steps
The Problems • Two problems • Reduce documentation • Common symbols that VUIDs could use • Have a document and symbol set that are… • Clear enough to present to business-minded people • Technical enough to hand over to developers • Formal enough to be “automate-able” • Easy to maintain
Other Solutions • Formal UML has been proposed by Mark Stallings of IBM (SpeechTEK, 2006) • V-Builder (Nuance: http://www.nuance.com/voiceplatform/) • SpeechDraw (http://www.speechvillage.com) • Others... All are more towards the code end of the spectrum
Details, Details… Finding the right level of detail to present
A Solution • Reduce documentation by allowing the callflow to store more data. • Visio template of UML-style shapes which VUIDs can use as a common “language”. • Macros for automating common tasks.
Shapes & Their Properties • Shapes use Visio’s “Custom Properties” fields • Allows for structured data, custom presentation, and automation.
The Shapes • Grammar State • State name • Main prompt name & TTS • Two reprompts • Grammar name • Prompt State • State Name • Prompt name & TTS
The Shapes • Checkpoint • Decision text • List of variables • Open-ended for further automation
Shapes • Start/End • Off-Page Reference • Database • Computational State
The Macros • Export_Prompts • Puts all prompts in Prompt & Grammar states into Excel • IterateOverConnections • Exports a computer-readable text representation of the flow • List_Of_Grammars • Exports the list of grammar names and the states in which they exist
Design Assumptions • Prompts & Grammars have state names • Every grammar state has a main prompt, two reprompts, and the name of the grammar • If the main prompt is named “Main”, the reprompts are “MainR1” and “MainR2”. • Only the top-level prompt is exposed • Formal but flexible. • You won’t get an error if something isn’t defined.
Results • Successfully in use both at Countrywide Home Loans & Genesys Labs • Readable by both business & development teams • Greatly assisted in document management • Prompt lists are generated from the callflow • Scripts & recording lists use the prompt list
Caveat Aedificator • This is a Visio-only solution • Macros require Excel • There are issues converting between Visio 2002 & 2003 • Output of IterateOverConnections is more of an example than something in-use • No restrictions (e.g., type-checking, loops, etc.)
Where to get it Step 1: Sign up for the VUIDs User Group: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/vuids/ Step 2: Click on “Files” Step 3: Download “VUID Tools Lite.zip” Step 4: Participate!
Conclusion & Next Steps • Publicly available, Visio-based stencil & macros as a starting point for a common symbol set for VUIDs. • The level of “formality” allows for flexibility in design with structure enough for automation. • This is an extendable solution, so start extending!
Questions? • Contact Info • Matt Shomphe • matthew_shomphe@countrywide.com • Phil Shinn • pshinn@genesyslab.com