THE VOICE OF US - Datafication

THE VOICE OF USRESEARCH REPORT 2019

HOW AUSTRALIANS ARE USING VOICE INITIATED HUMAN INTERFACES TO CHANGE THE WAY THEY ARE INTERACTING WITH COMPUTERS AND AI.

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DATAFICATION 2019 // THE VOICE OF US

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE DATAFICATION PROJECT 3

THE VOICE OF US METHODOLOGY 4

THE HUMAN VOICE 5

VOICE INTERACTION IS NOW MAINSTREAM 7

APPLE AND GOOGLE LEADERS IN VOICE 8

OUR USE OF VOICE IS GETTING MORE SOPHISTICATED 11

CONCERNS AROUND VOICE SECURITY AND PRIVACY 13

VOICE PERSONALITY 14

SIX IMPACTS OF VOICE INTERFACE 15

HOW CAN WE HELP YOU MAKE HAPPIER HUMANS? 16

CONTACT DETAILS 17

The Datafication Project started way back in 2011 with a simple aim; to independently uncover truths and insights about how Australians really communicate on social platforms.

The key differentiator of our approach was to go beyond the press releases and sales pitches to identify the good, the bad and the occasionally ugly facts about how we engage on these social media platforms. This has delighted and sometimes irritated these tech and social platforms. More importantly we have uncovered actionable insights about how humans use Instagram, Twitter and social video. We also look at the level of deceit in social media and how we use messaging apps. This year for the first time we dive into the world of human interfaces, namely our voice.

2011 DATAFICATION 1SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY:First twitter map of Sydney

2013 DATAFICATION 3SOCIAL TRUTHS:Instagram image analysis

2014 DATAFICATION 4SECRET LIFE OF SOCIAL VIDEO: Social video trends & engagement

2012 DATAFICATION 2SOCIAL ARCHETYPES:First twitter user segmentation

2016 DATAFICATION 6GET ON MESSAGE:Messaging app use

2015 DATAFICATION 5THE DECEIT ALGORITM:Why we lie in social

2017 DATAFICATION 7BOT WARS:Chatbot use cases and audiences

2019 DATAFICATION 8The Voice of Us:How we are using voice interaction

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THE DATAFICATION PROJECT

8 YEARS OF DATA DRIVEN INSIGHTS

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THE DATAFICATION TEAM

The best bit of marketing is asking questions about people and about life in order to gain

insight, dig deeper and satisfy your inner curiosity. This delivers smarter thinking for better outcomes, more sales and more loyalty.

That curiosity is also what drives The Datafication Project. We try to answer questions that often have answers based on inference from US or UK data, or worse still, an answer based on anecdote. And as we know, anecdote is not evidence, so over the last 8 years we have created large data sets to create true evidence and insight in areas that are less understood.

Our previous Datafication studies on Twitter psychology and on emoji use in Australia

reflected a gravitation to the emotional web.The next stage is emotion-built interfaces.

This study looks at conversational voice as the primary computer interface. We are well past the tipping point on voice use, but the best is yet to come as we are in the infancy of Assistants. Imagine a future in which marketing utilises an ability to detect emotion in real time via Assistants for selling flowers, chocolates and airline tickets all through voice. It allows us to enter an era of empathy in marketing.

THE VOICE OF US METHODOLOGY

A 25-question quantitative survey was conducted with a representative sample of over 2,000 Australians aged 15 and above who have adopted new technology including voice-enabled technology. Results were collected, validated, analysed and overlaid onto the latest census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics to substantiate the number of Australians adopting and using new social technologies. To understand nuances, significance testing was implemented to draw out cohort differences to 95% confidence.

DOUGLAS NICOL, CREATIVE PARTNER – THE WORKS

SURESH SOOD, BRAND DATA SCIENTIST – UTS

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The human voice really is an extraordinary thing. Every single voice is unique, even identical twins have different voice prints.

Our voices, and the sounds we create using them, is an ingenious process. One that requires the intricate coordination of a billion neurons in our brain, 96 different muscles, and oxygen from our lungs.

Voices around the world speak 6,502 languages. The female voice can sing in soprano, mezzo-soprano, and contralto. The male in tenor, baritone, and bass with the widest vocal range of ten octaves.

But the human voice is more than a musical instrument. It’s an essential part of our ability to survive and thrive – to communicate, to create communities and to share.

Your voice is also a fundamental part of your identity: It can tell us your age, gender and your

nationality. Encrypted voiceprints can be used to identify yourself and avoid fraud.

But your voice can reveal your state of mind and wellbeing too: When you’re happy, sad, angry or tired. It can even be an early indicator of coronary artery disease and illnesses like Parkinson’s disease as well as a biometric indicator for mental health issues like depression, PTSD and anxiety.

Today, we’re using our voices in new ways As a human interface with computers. We can ask questions, give commands, complete tasks with AI on smart phones, in our cars and in our homes.

Your voice is the new keyboard, your words the new typing, tapping and swiping.

So, speak up, there’s never been a better time to use your extraordinary voice.

THE HUMAN VOICE

Human interfaces like voice are becoming mainstream.


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TALKING IS THE NEW TYPING

In this analysis we take a macro view of voice with a simple question – how many Australians are using their voice in any way to engage with computers or AI? Interestingly when we asked this question unprompted (without a list of voice-enabled devices like a smartphone) we identified 49% of responders who used

voice. When we prompted them with the list, the number jumped to 69% of those aged 15+. This says to us that many Australians are using voice so naturally and as part of their daily routine they forgot how often they were using voice throughout their day.

of survey respondents reported to use voice to interact with technology.


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VOICE INTERACTION IS NOW MAINSTREAM

Q. Which devices do you use your voice to interact with?

PHONE TABLET LAPTOP SPEAKER CAR TV WATCH APPLIANCE

17%

61%

14% 12% 11% 9% 6% 4%

Q. Which of the following smart speakers do you own?

Q. Which of the following Assistants do you use?


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Some tech players enjoy a distinct advantage in voice. Apple have over 8.6 million iPhones in the Australian Market, the perfect launchpad for their Assistant Siri. Google have a reported 95% share of Australian search engine users, a useful base to extend into voice-based search. These advantages have delivered impressive market penetration in voice with Siri leading in Assistant use, and Google in its impressive dominance of the Australian Smart Speaker market.

APPLE AND GOOGLE LEADERS IN VOICE

Australians own a Smart Speaker2.9MGoogle owners, own a Google Home Hub22%

Have used an Assistant63%Average Assistants used1.4

59%Apple

Siri

47%Google

Assistant

9%Samsung

Bixby

12%Microsoft Cortana

7%Amazon

Alexa

56%Google

13%Amazon

8%Apple

8%Sonos 8%

JBL

7%Harman Kardon

Voice Natural Language Processing and understanding the Australian accent.

ON AVERAGE WE REPEAT QUESTIONS TWICE TO ASSISTANTS


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of respondents who have talked to Samsung Bixby repeated themselves once, 30% more than twice.


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‘Hey Google, what age is Flume?’ The bridge between this question, AI and the human voice is Natural Language Processing (NLP). A process that allows computers to understand large amounts of natural spoken words. NLP needs to be trained (a lot) to really comprehend the intent of a particular spoken instruction or question. This requires NLP to be trained to

understand a myriad of different accents and vocabulary. There are hundreds of ways people say the word yes – from ‘aye’ through to ‘yep’. NLP accuracy gets better every minute of every day in millions of conversations. But it’s still not perfect as we can see from this data NLP has not yet quite mastered the Australian accent and our unique vocabulary.

THE REPEAT RATE

Q. When you talk to a smart speaker, how often do you need to repeat yourself?

30%

Never, it understands me first time

15%

I have to repeat

myself twice

FIRST TIME REPEAT ONCE REPEAT 2+

Apple Siri 26% 49% 25%

Google Assistant 35% 46% 19%

Mircosoft Cortana 30% 43% 27%

Samsung Bixby 20% 50% 30%

Amazon Alexa 34% 48% 18%

45%

I have to repeat

myself once

10%

I have to repeat myself three

times or more

Q. What tasks do you or would you consider using your voice for?

Q. Where do you or would you use your voice to interact with technology?


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So, what are we doing with our voices? What are the main uses? Here we can see that the simplest of applications like ‘what’s the weather forecast?’ dominates our use today. But we can also see search query questions on Smart Speakers are becoming longer and more complex and conversational than traditional browser typed queries (Source: Google May 2019).

We believe that this more in-depth spoken intent will accelerate and lead to more sophisticated uses like shopping, paying bills and booking a flight. The increasing penetration of smart home devices in our homes will also see voice as a key access point for managing many aspects of our houses from reducing power bills to security.

OUR USE OF VOICE IS GETTING MORE SOPHISTICATED

66%Weather

54%Alarm

53%Directions

52%Call

51%Music

65%Living room

39%Bedroom

38%Car

35%Kitchen

25%Home office

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WE LOVE VOICE INTERFACES BUT 91% OF US HAVE CONCERNS AROUND SECURITY AND PRIVACY

Q. What concerns do you have with using your voice to interact with?


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Recent negative publicity about the tech and social media giants and their data practices has fuelled the ‘voice conspiracy’ theories. Are smartphones listening to me? Is my Smart Speaker voice data being sold to advertisers? So, we thought we would look at people’s fears around voice-based

devices almost everyone has a concern, but it doesn’t stop them loving and using these devices. Maybe we are starting to give up on the idea that our personal data can ever be truly protected? We humans are complicated and contradictory.

CONCERNS AROUND VOICE SECURITY AND PRIVACY

6% 91%

Price

24%It’s a novelty

20%

Accuracy of info

18%My accent

14%

Public embarrassment

11%

DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS

POSSIBLE

HAVE CONCERNS

Being Hacked

32%

Conversations being saved

31%No security

29%

Do everything with typing

26%

Accidental activation

26%


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No one wants to sit beside the boring person at a dinner table, we don’t enjoy dull monotone voices that grate. It is said humans judge someone based on their voice and face within 15 seconds. So, if you are a brand and you have consumers having conversations with you on a Smart Speaker, you now need

to design a voice for your brand. A great starting point is to understand the kinds of voice personalities that we love. This led us to ask Australians who their favourite celebrity voices were. It turns out Morgan Freeman is the celebrity voice of choice for Assistants.

VOICE PERSONALITY

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PREFERRED TECHNOLOGY VOICE1 2 3 4 5

MORGANFREEMANAmerican actor

17.6M Facebook followers

GEORGECLOONEYAmerican actor

21K Facebook followers

SEANCONNERY

Scottish actor36K Facebook followers

NICOLEKIDMAN

Australian actress10.4M Facebook followers

DAVIDATTENBOROUGH

English Broadcaster83K Facebook followers

LEAST PREFERRED TECHNOLOGY VOICE

PREFERRED TECHNOLOGY VOICE

MEGHAN MARKLE

American actress / Duchess 410K Facebook followers

MALCOLM TURNBULL

Australian politician400K Facebook followers

KYLIE JENNER

American TV personality22.0M Facebook followers

BILL COSBY

American comedian439K Facebook followers

DAVID BECKHAMEnglish footballer

51.9M Facebook followers

MENPREFER

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USA EnglandAustralia Scotland

USA EnglandAustralia Scotland NothernIreland

WOMENPREFER

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SIX IMPACTS OF VOICE INTERFACE

CXLee Tucknott Head of Design RXP

Voice interfaces are a new and fertile channel for better customer experiences. We are using voice-based stimulus in our Human Centered Design programs and increasingly the output of our design thinking includes a dimension for voice. This is key to creating new possibilities for branded experiences.

SEARCHMatea Adamec Media Strategist RXP

Voice Search Optimisation (VSO) is an emerging and as yet, imperfect discipline. However, speed to competency is critical, given what is at stake. Your FAQ and step by step guides are crucial, as is correct additional tagging for voice optimisation.

CONTENTRuth Haffenden Head of Content & Strategy

Our love of voice interfaces and the explosion in podcast consumption is rewriting the content creation landscape. We now build content strategies that look at voice only, voice forward (in car), intermodal and sound-off content with various permutations of sound and screen to deliver our content stories.

DATAPeter Grainger Insights Director RXP

Natural Language Processing allows humans to have a plain English conversation with AI. This leads to intuitive insights and emotional data discovery that enables new forms of empathy. Speak, and thou shalt have insight!

IoTAdam Donnelley Chief Strategy Officer RXP

IoT has been a slow burn, held back by an inability to design use cases sticky enough to become part of our daily routines. Improvements in voice mean Zero UI, or touchless technologies are no longer just gimmicks and IoT devices may finally find a broader audience.

BRANDDamian Pincus Partner RXP / The Works

We now live in a world of voice interfaces where you are literally talking to a brand. This provokes many questions of a brand – is your voice the actual brand or an agent of the brand for example? Is it male or female? Does it use colloquial language? All these brand considerations are part of the brave new world of branded voice.


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Happier people are more productive.Productive people get results. Results make our clients happier.

The evidence to suggest that a happier workplace culture can deliver better business results is clear. Ultimately, making people happier and live better lives is the whole point of what we do. Whether it’s staff, clients, customers or stakeholders, our reason for getting out of bed is to make them happier by delivering world class human experiences through technology and creativity.

The marketing industry has made a habit of overcomplicating things for many years. And as companies transform digitally, this apparent appetite for complexity seems to be evolving at speed.

And yet consumers want things to be simpler, quicker and more efficient than ever. This is what makes them happier.

We have phenomenal strategic and creative tools to make the journey between consumers and brands seamless and financially rewarding. But the real difference between The Works and other creative companies is our passion for making happier humans. And it starts with our own people.

The Works is part of the RXP Group who fuse brand, insight, design and technology to help organisations innovate and transform. We deliver brand expression, brand experience and brand enablement to some of Australia’s biggest brands.

HOW CAN WE HELP YOU MAKE HAPPIER HUMANS?

Insight

CreativeSt

rate

gy

Expression

Design Thinking

UX

Data and Analytics Service D

esign

Experience

Change Management

Tech

nolo

gy C

onsu

lting

Agile Ways of Working

Development

Enablement

CONTACT DETAILSDOUGLAS [email protected] call +61 411 114 635

THE VOICE OF US - Datafication

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