Voice is a natural mode of expression offered by modern computer-based systems. Qualitative perspectives on voice-based user experiences (voice UX) offer rich descriptions of complex interactions that numbers alone cannot fully represent. We conducted a systematic review of the literature on qualitative approaches to voice UX, capturing the nature of this body of work in a systematic map and offering a qualitative synthesis of findings. We highlight the benefits of qualitative methods for voice UX research, identify opportunities for increasing rigour in methods and outcomes, and distill patterns of experience across a diversity of devices and modes of qualitative praxis.

For consumers, the continuing growth of voice UX is undoubtedly a welcome development – as evidenced by the proliferation of platforms and devices integrating the tech, and the increasing number of people getting acclimated to using voice. But for web and application designers, voice interaction represents, perhaps, the biggest UX challenge since the dawn of the touchscreen age. By now, everyone is familiar with all the quirky names of voice assistants--Siri, Cortana, Bixby, and Alexa--a testament to the new level voice UI has reached in the last few years. The technology only looks to soar higher, with its capabilities penetrating more and more digital ecosystems. Voice User Interfaces (VUI), essentially, is the ability to speak to devices and its capability, in turn, to understand and act upon users' commands.

A voice user interface, or VUI (voo-e), is an application that the user interacts with using speech. Early examples of this are automated telephone services. Since then, we've seen the growth of products like the Amazon Echo and Google Home and we now see Apple entering the market with their'HomePod' but what does any of this have to do with UX design? The design process for voice interfaces is not massively different from a usual discovery stage in any UX project. You need to understand what your users are trying to achieve, what they need along the way to achieve it and what channel or solution might help them achieve it best.