# Challenges and Opportunities for the Design of Smart Speakers

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.05741 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.05741/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 5 of its 135 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 9 Jun 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [StoryBuddy: A Human-AI Collaborative Chatbot for Parent-Child Interactive Storytelling with Flexible Parental Involvement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.06205/) (2022)
- [How do you Converse with an Analytical Chatbot? Revisiting Gricean Maxims for Designing Analytical Conversational Behavior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.08420/) (2022)
- [Alexa as an Active Listener: How Backchanneling Can Elicit Self-Disclosure and Promote User Experience](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.10191/) (2022)
- [Alexa, Who Am I Speaking To? Understanding Users' Ability to Identify Third-Party Apps on Amazon Alexa](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.14112/) (2019)
- [Alexa, in you, I trust! Fairness and Interpretability Issues in E-commerce Search through Smart Speakers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.03934/) (2022)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Not Just Novelty: A Longitudinal Study on Utility and Customization of an AI Workflow](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.09894/) (2024)
- [Facilitating Longitudinal Interaction Studies of AI Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.10252/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Advances in voice technology and voice user interfaces (VUIs) -- such as Alexa, Siri, and Google Home -- have opened up the potential for many new types of interaction. However, despite the potential of these devices reflected by the growing market and body of VUI research, there is a lingering sense that the technology is still underused. In this paper, we conducted a systematic literature review of 35 papers to identify and synthesize 127 VUI design guidelines into five themes. Additionally, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 smart speaker users to understand their use and non-use of the technology. From the interviews, we distill four design challenges that contribute the most to non-use. Based on their (non-)use, we identify four opportunity spaces for designers to explore such as focusing on information support while multitasking (cooking, driving, childcare, etc), incorporating users' mental models for smart speakers, and integrating calm design principles.