How people interact with Voice in their daily lives ……Voice control ‘feels’ like the future: ‘Action at the speed of thought’ Decreasing the time and effort it takes to

How people interact with Voice in their daily lives –

Now & Next

Enhancing our understanding of how people use voice in their daily lives –

Now and Next

2

TECHNOLOGY

ATTITUDES

RETAIL

SCENARIOS

AI

USAGE

Retail Revolution | How people interact with Voice in their daily lives – Now & Next

Through multiple research phases, we track and explore

people’s AI adoption, utilisation, perceptions and desires

3

PARTNER

COLLABORATION

AI PERCEPTONS &

ADOPTION

HOW PEOPLE INTERACT WITH

VOICE IN THEIR DAILY LIVES

1 2 3OPENNESS TO NEAR

FUTURE CAPABILITIES

4

COMING SOON

(Quantitative survey) (Qualitative research) (Quantitative survey)(Workshops)

THIS REPORT


COMPLETE

GoPro Documentation In-home Interviews Mobile Ethnographies

Methodology

CAPTURING THE NOW CAPTURING THE NEXT

Retail Revolution | How people interact with Voice in their daily lives – Now & Next 4

We partnered with 2CV research to conduct a multi-phased qualitative investigation looking at both current Voice behaviours and

perceptions as well as their openness to future capabilities. We recruited a broad range of Voice users taking into account

different demographics, life stages and frequency of voice usage across the US, UK and Spain to maximise our learning.

https://www.2cv.com/

Voice control

‘feels’ like the

future:

‘Action at the

speed of

thought’

Decreasing the time and effort it takes to interact with technology

5

“It works so well with the high

paced life that people are living

now. We live in a world where

we want/require such

instantaneous answers and this

is one way we can achieve this.”

Female, 31, Pre-Family, UK

“Voice control technology is so

convenient and feels so

futuristic. It’s like when I was a

child in the 80s thinking about

what the future would look like

with technology. I don’t have to

manually type out a question or

look up an answer. Even more

amazing is its ability to be almost

like a person.”

Female, 37, Young Family, USA

“I think Voice technology is

incredible, I think that it’s an

outstanding achievement

technologically to be able

to talk into a microphone or

a device and for it to

understand you – that to me

is exciting”

Male, 63, Older Family, USA

“It’s the future of technology.

It’s the way we’re going to

interact with devices more

and more as it gets better.”

Male, 42, Older Family, Spain


Established

Voice usage

forms after

initial

excitement

and novelty

wears off

Voice users can be broadly classified into three groups

6Retail Revolution | How people interact with Voice in their daily lives – Now & Next

High usage due to initial

excitement of purchase

and novelty of usage

Dip in usage as

novelty interactions

decrease ( i.e. testing

random requests,

asking for jokes, etc.)

Actively explore and incorporate

additional devices. These users

claim to have increased their use of

Voice looking for new ways to use

the technology, linking devices and

using more new skills to inform,

entertain and automate their homes

These users have incorporated

Voice as part of their everyday lives.

The core functionality of Voice

control has been embedded into

their home – often centered around a

few core skills and basic functionality

Giving up on Voice, these users

are decreasing how much they

use the technology because of a

lack of comfort and/or

unsuccessful experimentation

Honeymoon Stage

Experimenters

Comfort Zone Users

Lapsed/Lapsing Users

Usa

ge

Time

• Simple: Playing music, playing games,

asking for jokes, controlling TV, etc.

• Sophisticated: Setting up multi-room

audio, creating music playlists, etc.

• Simple: Asking for weather updates,

general queries, setting alarms and

reminders, etc.

• Sophisticated: Recipe assistance,

making calls, helping with homework,

making home announcements, etc.

Information and Assistance

• Simple: Turning on music, controlling

TV/ Radio/ News, etc.

• Sophisticated: Controlling of smart

home devices such as lights, plugs,

thermostats, cameras, etc.

Automation

7

Entertainment


Popular skills typically deliver a clear benefit in one or several

of these areas

Users want to speak to Voice technology

as they would a human and expect

human-like responses (to a limit)

Brands have an opportunity

to build their personality

through Voice


Voice technology

is a very personal

technology – the

medium creates

emotional

connections

“Sometimes she get things wrong, but

I've always believed electrics have

bad days just as us humans do...”

Female, 39, Pre-Family, UK

“She feels more like a person than a

robot – she’s more like a friend. I can

ask her anything and she knows it – I

don’t have to google things myself

because I can ask her anything.”

Male, 39, Young Family, UK

Households with children are more experimental with Voice

Their usage tends to revolve around using practical functions that

help to make life a bit easier (e.g. checking the weather, news,

setting timers/reminders, turning things on and off, etc.)

Adults typically take a more utilitarian approach in

their relationship

They are often the most confident and prolific users of Voice

control in the household. Their usage tends to consist of

entertainment, including games/quizzes, as well as playing with the

‘robot Voice’ (e.g. asking silly questions just to see what it says)

Kids are much more likely to experiment and play

with Voice-controlled features


Parents like that Voice allows them to multi-task and that their

children can use it to entertain their curiosity

“Taking down notes for me and reminders is so

helpful. Knowing I have an ally in Alexa to help me

remember things without me needing to write things down

is just invaluable for me as a single mom.”


“The kids are constantly asking questions – it’s amazing to

have something that can give them answers to their

questions without me needing to google things on my phone.”

Female, 53, Older Family, UK

“I have concerns with my three kids being online but when they

use Alexa or Google Home, I can at least hear what they

want, and I am also able to put controls into it as my phone

is the source it comes from.”

Female, 39, Young Family, UK

“It’s useful for me as being a busy mum it can able me to

do things via Voice control that I'd normally have had

to use my hands for and if I'm tied up doing something

else like cooking it's a big help as I can say Alexa play it

(said nursery rhyme).”

Female, 39, Young Family, UK

“I use Alexa to help control “tv time” for my kids by

hooking her up to the smart-plug I can switch the TV off

with my voice.”


An ally to parents A source of entertainment & knowledge for kids

”The kids love to ask it silly questions and play games

with it – it’s great to have something that I find really useful but

the kids also enjoy using it“

Male, 42, Young Family, Spain


Voice delivers

a strong

experience

– but it is far

from perfect


Voice is like a combination of the web,

smartphone apps and e-commerce all

in their infancy stages

Regular users know that they

can’t be too complex or long-

winded in their requests

It is broadly appreciated that

Voice control capabilities will

improve with time


People adapt their

language and

complexity of

requests to fit the

capabilities and

limitations of Voice

“I notice that we’re steadily using it

more; that’s logical seeing as we’re

happy with it. It took a bit of

getting used to – we had to learn

how to speak to her ‘properly’ to

get the results we wanted.”

Female, 49, Young Family, Spain

Users want to discover and

experiment with new third-party skills

so they feel their device is being

utilised to the best of its ability

However - awareness of additional

skills beyond ‘core’ functionality’ is

low and expectations of skill usage

lifespan is limited


People want easier

ways to discover

new Voice skills

and uses

“There’s a lot of useless skills

out there – sometimes you’ll be

excited about the idea of

something but realise that it

doesn’t quite work in the way

you expected or wanted it to.”

Male, 26, Pre-Family, UK

Many users have concerns

regarding security and the

potential to make mistakes, or

have experienced this in the past

For users to feel more comfortable,

they would like only their ‘voice’ to be

able to purchase or they at least want

a confirmation of purchases


People are excited

about Voice

purchases and

brands have the

opportunity to

create positive

initial experiences

“I would be interested in

purchasing if it was setup right

so only I could do it, not my kids –

maybe making repeat purchases

would be easiest…”


“I have used the echo to call Uber – I

found it very handy when I was

rushing last weekend to get ready

round an active 2 year old and one of

our first nights out for sometime.

Ease and convenience – hands-

free super good!”


“You pay for Spotify, you buy apps,

you have Netflix…it all boils down

to how enticing and compelling

the services are to people”

Male, 40, Pre-family, Spain

“I like the idea of brands creating skills

– but if I have to say the brand

name for no good reason to

activate the skill, that’s pretty

annoying”


Brands are welcome in the Voice space if delivering value

BRAND RELEVANCY SIMPLE VALUE DRIVEN


Otherwise consumers feel that brand interaction is an intrusion to their home

Voice devices are highly personal

devices - people don’t want to hear

unexpected occasional adverts

Users only begin to feel comfortable

with the idea of advertising when

they see the clear benefit to them


People feel

uncomfortable

with direct

advertising on

their Voice devices

“If there is advertising, then I don’t want a

big spiel, but something quick and

useful like promotions could work.”

Female, 30, Young Family, US

“Advertising is ok if it pertains to me

e.g. my local Safeway is doing a BOGOF

on Juice. This most important thing is

that it has to be personalized to me.”

Male, 44, Young Family, US

“Book a taxi to take me to the

airport now”

There is an appetite for Voice transactions – but for now mostly

low-consideration purchases

“Order my favourite takeout”“Order my weekly shop again”

REPEAT ORDERS SIMPLE ORDERS PRE-SET ORDERS

“I’d like brands to be able to get me tickets to a show, or reserve a table at a restaurant;

or even book a room at a hotel – that would be amazing”

Female, 47, Older Family, Spain


Those open to paying for skills

would expect them to be similar

prices to a smartphone app

Offering a free trial or version of a skill

appeals to users so they can assess the it

and determine value through ongoing usage


Consumers are not

averse to paying

for premium

skill content

“You pay for Spotify, you buy apps, you

have Netflix... it all boils down to how

enticing and compelling the services

are to people”

Male, 40, Pre-family, Spain

“I wouldn’t pay for a Voice app unless

the functionality was clearly useful

and almost essential. Maybe 1€/ month

if it was worth it...but it’s hard to say.”

Female, 47, Young Family, Spain

The medium itself

makes encouraging

experimentation

difficultBrands need to build awareness and encourage skill

usage through other products and channels

19

“I’ve downloaded a few apps for it, but I haven’t

used any of them more than once or twice.”



Users want to discover and experiment with new third-party/

branded skills so they feel their device is being utilised to the best of

its ability

Due to a lack of a screen on many Voice devices, smart speaker

users feel there are less opportunities for Voice control devices to

show them new skills – they tend not to look at Voice apps on their

phones often

Some become aware of third-party/branded skills through

exploring mobile/TV apps connected to their Voice device, but

ongoing usage doesn’t always result in continuing to experiment and

try new skills

“I set reminders for things like dental

appointments, social events (theatre, meetings for

meals with friends, but I do not use any

additional skills beyond that. I am, vaguely,

aware that I am not using the device to its full

potential, but I am impressed by its capabilities.”

Male, 59, Older Family, UK

The future of Voice technology promises excitement

and further simplification of daily life


Voice hasn’t quite caught up with our futuristic expectations

Improving Basic Functionality

• Faster dialogue/more efficient language

• Better understanding of Voice commands

• User profiles activated by their voice – consistent across all

devices and companies

• More natural conversations, not having to repeat wake-

words during a chain of exchanges

• Ease of linking and seamless usage of third party devices


A growing distrust

of big tech and fear

of data abuse

could restrict Voice

Caution and concern about ‘always-

on’ listening, and potential for this

power to be abused (for commercial

or illegal gain)

Fears about data security and

potential for ‘inappropriate usage’

of Voice data are held by users

and non-users alike

“I would like to trust the brands.

However, I am sure they monitor

elements of what I do as adverts that

come up on social media sites often

reflect what I have been looking

at/asking Alexa about.”

Male, 34, Pre-Family, UK

“I’m a bit wary to fully trust because of

all the privacy breaches - I do not feel

comfortable with employees listening

to our family’s conversations – it’s an

invasion of privacy.”


Ultimately, most users of Voice

feel that the evident and

practical benefits outweigh the

potential negatives

Most are broadly comfortable with data

being gathered when used to improve

services and to provide a more

personalised experience


But fears can be

overcome by

ongoing positive

experiences

“I haven’t looked into what they are

using the data for but I believe its just

to improve products. I would be more

concerned about using brands that

weren’t household names.”


“I really don’t think anyone is ‘listening’

per se, I certainly have nothing

interesting to hear and plus, I don’t make

purchases or provide sensitive

information. What really matters is the

practicality of the device.”

Male, 47, Pre-Family, Spain


Voice has a tremendous amount of potential for becoming

ever-more relevant in our lives

Desired Future Features

• Increased home automation, moving from lights to appliances to total home control

• More engaging entertainment experiences and creative uses of cross-device play,

such as Voice incorporation into games etc.

• Ability to learn from user habits and predict needs for information and support

• For families with children, they are open to "nanny" style help with the kids (e.g.

homework, chores, personal hygiene)

• Easier, safer purchasing features, starting with simple purchases first, but eventually

almost everything

Documents

How people interact with Voice in their daily lives ……Voice control ‘feels’ like the future: ‘Action at the speed of thought’ Decreasing the time and effort it takes to