Cool for the sake of coolness
August 31st, 2009
I was making coffee earlier and I overheard my wife on the phone.
“English”
5 seconds later
“En-glish.”
5 seconds later
“ENGLISH”
It didn’t take long to figure out she was on the phone with her cell phone carrier. I won’t say which one, but let’s be honest, in the United States they are all pretty much equally bad.
That’s not the worst part. She then recited the phone number of the account she’s trying to work with. Recited, as in spoke out loud.
I’m not a user interface designer. I don’t claim to be. But I can’t find a single reason why someone would think it’s better for customers to speak the phone number rather than simply using the keypad like we’ve been doing for decades now.
Yes, voice recognition may be cool. But cool isn’t always the best option.
