Investigating the usability and user experiences of voice user interface

Recently, commercial Voice User Interfaces (VUIs) have been introduced to the market (e.g. Amazon Echo and Google Home). Although they have drawn much attention from users, little is known about their usability, user experiences, and usefulness. In this study, we conducted a web-based survey to investigate usability, user experiences, and usefulness of the Google Home smart speaker. A total of 114 users, who are active in a social-media based interest group, participated in the study. The findings show that the Google Home is usable and user-friendly for users, and shows the potential for international users. Based on the users' feedback, we identified the challenges encountered by the participants. The findings from this study can be insightful for researchers and developers to take into account for future research in VUI.