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by nl 3641 days ago
I think this is great, and at the same time highlights a usability problem with conversational interfaces: we don't know how to make them discoverable.

Google attempts to do this by letting you stumble upon commands, but I don't think that is good enough. I don't think tutorials are either, but I don't have any solid alternatives.
5 comments
maxerickson 3641 days ago
At a high enough level of sophistication you can just have conversational help.

Like if you ask Google Now "Can you help me set a reminder", it prompts you for details. That isn't discoverable per se, but it addresses a lot of the same problems, the user only has to understand that the system can answer questions about capabilities to have that conversation.

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jenscow 3641 days ago
How about, when you perform an action manually it says "by the way, in future you can just tell me to ..."
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puddintane 3641 days ago
I have a plugin for IntelliJ's Webstorm/Phpstorm that does just this and it's amazing - whenever I use an item that has a shortcut it pops open that short cut so I can slowly learn them.

If I also use something that doesn't have a shortcut 3 times within the programs running then it asks me if I want to set a shortcut for that action.

I think as time goes on Google will eventually be on this route considering how well it works (at least with the first portion of showing the shortcut command whenever I use it).

However that still wouldn't solve the problem of the users having to learn the commands from scratch first so if they don't know it exists they would never learn the shortcut for it in "OK Google"

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ntpeters 3641 days ago
What plugin is that? Sounds like that'd actually come in pretty handy!
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puddintane 3641 days ago
It's amazing and I will link the phpStorm/webStorm but as I am looking I am pretty sure it has been ported to all the IntelliJ products and even more.

The only down side is it's not great on looks but honestly it's a popup to tell you a shortcut so it fits well for the purpose

"Key promoter"

https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/4455

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squeaky-clean 3641 days ago
Guessing they're referring to Key Promoter.

https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/1003

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wldcordeiro 3641 days ago
Using the search predictions and history as cues, if you're doing something that has a voice command would work too. Like if you start typing out "weather near" have a tooltip of the voice button with a caption like "Try with voice?" that you can tap and it would then turn on the mic and give you a karaoke style prompt with blanks for you to fill.
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aylons 3641 days ago
Not a new problem, nor a new solution: emacs has done this for a long time [1].

I wonder if we have to pass through all design stages every time something changes.

[1] https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/M_...

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Gracana 3641 days ago
Like how google apps tell you to use the keyboard every time you try to copy/paste with your mouse? I hate that so much!
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pizzapill 3641 days ago
Imho this is because a lot of browsers don't support it because it does work in Chrome.
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hammock 3641 days ago
The Google app does this in a lot of places, in addition to suggesting "things to try."
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pasbesoin 3641 days ago
And then they change the interface -- with no notice. And let you search blindly for and stumble your way through the new way to do it -- if it still exists.

This is particularly frustrating with regard to my parents and their Android phones. I'll get them set on how to do something... and then it suddenly no longer works, anymore.

For a gang of kids or twenty-somethings who are constantly communicating about the tech in their hands, this... word of mouth / osmosis approach to adoption may work.

For many others, it's damned frustrating. Including for the techie family members who end up having to help them -- over and over and over...

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drzaiusapelord 3641 days ago
This is the most frustrating part of owning an android smartwatch. I have no idea what it can do. I don't understand why I can't just swipe right and view a list of all the voice commands. Seems like a simple enough solution. Finding tips on random websites and forums or through trial and error (where you look like an idiot barking non-existent commands into your wrist) is not productive.
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drb311 3641 days ago
Discovering commands by trial and error isn't much fun because the fall back action -- a Google search for the words you said -- is so boring.

The conversational UI in text adventure games was fun to explore because the fall backs were sometimes funny.

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