Do Kiosks and IVRs Threaten Human Interaction? 294
DavidGilbert99 writes "According to research by the Hyatt Hotel group, one third of customers are already checking in at self-service kiosks in their hotel lobbies, eschewing the traditional route of the receptionist. This is indicative of a wider trend according to voice recognition experts Nuance who believe we simply never want to talk to a real human again, preferring the clipped, efficient tones of its Nina virtual assistant. Expanding this from mobile to now include the web means we could soon be living in a world where speaking to a real live human is the exception rather than the rule." When things go smoothly, I prefer the automated versions of many things (airport check-in, ordering products to arrive by mail, depositing a check); it's when things go wrong that voice menus and web sites just seem to make simple problems into complicated ones.
Re:Speed and cost (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Speed and cost (Score:5, Interesting)
Bingo. This is exactly why I came to the comments of this post... to call "bull" on Nuance, for the very reason that you've already cited:
Nuance assumes that people don't want to have conversations with customer service reps -- but what they fail to consider is that most people do indeed enjoy human interaction... when it's actually human interaction. Whether it's the rep behind the counter at a hotel with their fake plastic smile and artificially exaggerated concern for your exhaustion, or the cashier at your local supermarket with their scowl and monotonous droning "Thank you... have a nice day..." it's all just forced and... well, predictably inhuman.
Generally speaking, people love interacting with their friends -- and for some of us, that even includes family -- and that type of camaraderie has largely been lost in today's customer services... the small town where you know Doris behind the register at the supermarket and your good buddy Joe who pumps your gas for you is gone. So the reaction from far too many people in "customer service" roles are, quite frankly, already so robotic as to offer no real advantages over the automated check-in kiosk and automated check-out registers... so why wouldn't I want the efficiency of an actual robot?
Now, mind you, if more companies were intentionally hiring employees who show genuine customer focused attitudes -- for example, in the same fashion as the folks running Chick-fil-a seem to have done -- then the pendulum might start swinging back the other way. In the absence of that, I'll go to the kiosk at every opportunity.
Re:Speed and cost (Score:4, Interesting)
Coded in vi, notepad or dreamweaver, I fail to see the connection.
It just so happens that a CSS whiz is no more a programmer than a programmer is a UI/psychology professional. It also happens that a UI/psychology isn't very good at either of these.
During these times we find that what is simple often works best (until it is replaced (but usually augmented) by something even more simple). Keyboard meet mouse. Wait you mean you want to take my keyboard!!!!!?
AS/400 forms are simple, follow basic consistent rules and reliably submit/check data. They were developed to be as simple, as lightweight and fast as possible, by very knowledgable (even if green) scientists (not ajax wizards with something to prove). They counted keystrokes, error rates and workflow shifts. In this area AS/400 is just hard to beat.