Improving the User Interface of Dictation Software

Some research suggests that speech dictation software is hard for novices to use and recommends that it be adapted to their preferred interaction style. Older research into how novice users approach new software can provide insights into the preconceptions that novices have about all software and the ways in which dictation software can be redesigned to be aware of these preconceptions. The tendency of novice users to persist with spoken error correction illustrates that novices have an incorrect mental model of dictation that is closely related to their existing mental model of typing. This paper suggests that dictation software should be redesigned to make clear the differences in use between typing and dictation.