Avoid long prompts: obviously, unnecessarily long prompts will quickly tax the user’s patience. Long prompts explaining how the application works, for instance, may be inevitable and necessary with a novice user, but they should not be forced upon an expert user. Differentiate at the outset of a call between novice and expert users, and use short, to the point prompts with the experts.
Use short menus: the length of an alphabetically sorted drop down menu on a web page is a non-issue. The length of a menu in a voice interface on the other hand should not exceed five or six.
Put important information first: don’t annoy the user by having them wait through unnecessary noise for the information they need. Give them what they want upfront.
Allow interruptions: the ability to interrupt is usually a must have when dealing with non-novice users. People who know what they want to do, what to say and how to say it don’t want to wait for the system to finish talking before they give their response.
Offer short cuts for the user who knows what to do: another must for non-novice users are shortcuts that cut through menus and get the user to what they want to do or where they want to be in a menu structure.
Allow pauses: an enormous advantage that a graphical interface has over a voice interface is the ability to easily pause and pick up where you left off. We do this without even thinking about it when we are reading a piece of text. During interactions where the user may need to pause and do something, make sure that you offer that option to them. For instance, if the user needs to take down a long series of numbers (say a confirmation code), ask them to go ahead and get paper and pencil and to say, “continue,” when they are ready.
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