Abbrevicons: Efficient feedback for audio interfaces

Abstract

Abbrevicons are a technique for encoding audio information efficiently while still providing the user with useful and appropriate feedback. Ideally, abbrevicons are targeted towards audio interfaces that are infrequently used and where the user doesn't have the opportunity to develop a strong model of the system or make sense of rich encoding schemes. Abbrevicons allow us to present natural language feedback that is identifiable and comprehensible, while taking significantly less time than traditional verbal feedback. Abbrevicons can decrease the speed of short descriptive feedback by up to 200% while still ensuring user comprehension. These techniques seek to provide richer user feedback in audio interfaces while still keeping in mind the need for efficient user interactions. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2005.