Portfolio: MERL — SpeakPod usability study

Mitsubishi Electric Research Lab (MERL) developed a prototype allowing people to control an iPod by speaking song requests while driving. We developed a usability study to see what potential customers thought of it. (See projects on finding video highlights and spoken TV program selection.)

SpeakPod has a simple interface: a list of songs matching the spoken request and a now-playing screen.

The focus was on getting the features in place; as with most early prototypes, visual design will come later.

SpeakPod screen shots

About the study

We used a simple driving simulator during the study. It required participants to divide their attention between the road, the driving controls and the SpeakPod interface.

Usability studies can teach us new things or reinforce what we already know (or suspect). This study had both types of results.

Safety is important. We knew this, but it was good to hear participants mention it explicitly. They thought that SpeakPod would make it easier to use an iPod while driving.

Speech recognition. In some situations, speech recognition must be completely accurate. For entertainment uses, a lower accuracy rate may be acceptable; after all, your iPod is filled with your music, so even the wrong song is probably something you like. Still, the less that drivers have to think about the selection process, the more they can focus on driving.

What to play next. Songs end, and an open question was what the iPod should play after the selected song finishes. Drivers may not be ready to make another selection right away, so we explored different follow-up actions.

More work is required before MERL can turn SpeakPod into a product, but this study provided useful information for that development work.

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