We don’t like to talk to someone who doesn’t really understand, who is empathically on a different level than us, in short: who doesn’t get us.

We humans tend to humanize things of all kinds. Voice assistants are no exception here, on the contrary: speaking is our most primitive way of communicating. When we speak to somebody, we attribute human qualities. In communication, we expect more than just a reaction from our counterpart.

We want to be understood, both in terms of content and in human terms. If we feel that someone does not react adequately, we first react critically. And, probably we don’t want to invite them in our home.

Therefore the persona of a language assistant is extremely important for our acceptance. Anyone who tries Alexa in different languages can quickly notice that – depending on the cultural and linguistic context – it affects us completely differently. It’s not a coincidence.

A well-known principle from communication is: “You can’t not communicate.” This includes body language, gestures and facial expressions. But the tone of the voice and the speaking behavior also seduce interpretations: what is the meaning of what you have just heard? These interpretations are mostly passive.

Whether we want to or not, we automatically identify the speaker’s character on the basis of hearing. And with that it is decided whether we want to stay in contact with the other person. For example, who likes to hear one call after another or wants to be overwhelmed by questions? But sometimes it is only very subtle nuances in the speech design that decide when something is interpreted as a request or a question. It all depends on who is listening and who is speaking.

This means that the development of a persona must be based on detailed considerations in order to design the user experience of users in such a way that they like to talk to their language assistant over and over again.

Not only do vocal characteristics have to be used, the choice of words, sentence structure and dialect also flow into this individual style.

The more concretely the picture of the persona as a whole is painted, the more tangible it becomes. Perhaps it then even formulates itself in its naturalness all by itself, because you can almost “already hear” it. The experience between the user and the language assistant becomes a more natural dialogue, always adapted to the respective context. The language assistant is perceived positively, accepted and a popular interlocutor.

Persona design is a step in the design of any voice user interface that should not be neglected and should precede the general design process. A comprehensive persona design is the key to the acceptance of the voice assistant.

Would you like to learn more about Voice Persona Design? Ask us.