Human factors in the design of telephone features

Technology is providing users expanded control over telecommunication services. However, this control increasingly depends upon successful structuring of the human/machine dialogue. In this paper, we describe several phases of dialogue design, including task analysis, generation of alternative designs, and evaluation of design proposals. Examples of these phases are drawn from small business systems as well as systems designed for wide residential deployment. We give special emphasis to the evaluation phase, showing how human factors methods are employed to ensure a dialogue design supporting both novice and experienced users of services.