行動電話服務聲音介面研究—隱喻配對取徑

Abstract

儘管行動電話相關技術日益精進，加值服務種類益多，一方面有限的螢幕大小開始造成行動電話裝置的視覺排擠的效應，而另一方面行動電話的動態使用脈絡更進一步催化介面視覺元素競爭使用者注意力的問題，以上兩者因素讓互動介面設計者亟需重新思考有關行動通訊使用者介面，以因應此類型的挑戰。本研究即欲探索可能的解決方法之ㄧ：聲音使用者介面，並聚焦於運用邊陲注意力的使用者介面設計議題。本研究藉由共同發現法，探討不同性別的六位行動電話使用者，對於行動電話服務功能需求與使用經驗，所產生的心智模式差異；進而，試圖發展行動電話服務可能對應至的意義配對。透過線上問卷結果，讓每一類型服務皆對應至三組具有意義配對的聽覺標示。最後，透過三十二名的視覺學習者、聽覺學習者與動/觸覺學習者的實驗室評估過程，進行「直覺性」、「可學習性」、「可記憶性」與「使用者偏好」等評估階段，以求得最適切的聽覺標示。

分析結果顯示不同使用經驗使用者，對於意義概念的產生，亦有不同面向的結果，如相較於男性使用者，女性使用者多參加社交娛樂活動，較踴躍地提出廣泛的可能對應的聲音意義；然而，在特定服務，如運動，男性使用者則因為高熟悉度，較主動地表示可能代表的聲音例子。實驗室評估則顯示多數服務與其對應的意義皆為適切的概念型配對，達到高學習性與高記憶性的認知表現，除了「特賣情報」與「理財」服務，屬於接近的抽象概念，較容易混淆使用者外。此外，透過事後訪談，發現物理性參數的聲音設計與直覺辨識性、使用者使用意願呈高相關性。最後，本研究總結聽覺標示的專家式評估準則，供聽覺標示設計師一個設計概念。後續研究建議進一步探究影響聲音意義解讀的使用脈落差異。

Despite rapid development of mobile phone technologies and the wide range of beneficial value-added services that are available, the limited screen sizes of mobile devices remain as a main cause of visual limitations, and the dynamic changes of context further aggravate the competitions by mobile interface elements for the user’s visual attention. Both of these encumbrances require interaction designers to rethink the designs of mobile user interfaces, in order to respond to and address these challenges. The present study thus attempted to explore auditory iconic interfaces as one of the possible solutions, with the central focus on design issues of interfaces that specifically require the peripheral attention of users. Through the co-discovery approach, several mental models were first derived from 6 study participants (3 males and 3 females) using a collation of their identified usage needs and personal experiences in using mobile phone services and functionalities. This was followed by the respective associations of meaningful mappings to these mental models to form auditory icons. Using an online survey, selected mobile phone service types were each then assigned a set of three auditory icons. A test was conducted with 32 participants (who were earlier differentiated as visual, auditory or tactile/kinesthetic learners) in a laboratory setting that evaluated the intuitiveness, learnability, memorability, and preferences of the auditory icons. This in turn determined the appropriateness of the auditory icons as the specific mobile phone service representations. Results show that the participants, having varied levels of social experiences, conceptualized and interpreted the associated meanings (of auditory icons) to different effects. For example as compared to male participants, female participants who tended to engage more in social and entertainment activities, enthusiastically suggested a wide range of possible sound effects to be used as auditory icon representations for the mobile phone services. Male participants only made such recommendations on themes or subjects that they were familiar with, such as for sports. Laboratory evaluations of the mobile phone services further determined that the majority of the associated conceptual mappings could be correctly interpreted, having achieved high learnability and memorability in cognitive performances. This was with exception to the ‘sales’ and ‘financial management’ service classifications as their abstracted forms were so closely similar that they easily confused users. In addition, the post-test interviews reveal that the physical parameters of the sound designs are highly correlated with intuitiveness and preferences respectively. Finally, this study is concluded with a proposed set of heuristic evaluation principles for designers of auditory icons with future work set to look at possibly influencing the interpretations of auditory icons under different usage contexts.