Thoughts on the UX of AI

Siri Wishlist, Fall 2017

Only when Siri is used with AirPods, it uses a slightly different tone of voice. Like a whisper over your shoulder from an assistant in a meeting. The effect is simulated with binaural audio (“3D sound”), biased toward the right ear.

Siri Wishlist, Spring 2018

When Siri is “at your shoulder” (AirPods in), it uses different vocabulary. It’s both more formal and more familiar. Less Cheery Waitstaff, more Chief of Staff. This new “Shoulder Siri” voice includes subtle verbal backchannels, giving context and confidence that it’s listening and understanding as expected.

Siri Wishlist, Summer 2018

You can now trust Shoulder Siri with context from past interactions, message threads, private viewing history, etc. Grant it authority to make inferences and implications from this knowledge in certain domains — simply confirm its recommendations.