# Eliciting Spoken Interruptions to Inform Proactive Speech Agent Design

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2106.02077 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.02077/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 3 Jun 2021.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Design Principles for Human-Agent Interaction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.20630/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Current speech agent interactions are typically user-initiated, limiting the interactions they can deliver. Future functionality will require agents to be proactive, sometimes interrupting users. Little is known about how these spoken interruptions should be designed, especially in urgent interruption contexts. We look to inform design of proactive agent interruptions through investigating how people interrupt others engaged in complex tasks. We therefore developed a new technique to elicit human spoken interruptions of people engaged in other tasks. We found that people interrupted sooner when interruptions were urgent. Some participants used access rituals to forewarn interruptions, but most rarely used them. People balanced speed and accuracy in timing interruptions, often using cues from the task they interrupted. People also varied phrasing and delivery of interruptions to reflect urgency. We discuss how our findings can inform speech agent design and how our paradigm can help gain insight into human interruptions in new contexts.