Skip and scan

TLDR

Telephone interfaces frustrate users because they must listen to long prompts, whereas visual media allow users to skip and scan text. The study introduces skip and scan, a telephone interface that lets callers issue explicit commands to skip and scan prompts. The interface allows callers to issue explicit commands to skip or scan prompts. Laboratory and field tests show that skip and scan menus enable faster selection, higher user preference, and successful use by the general public without written instructions.

Abstract

The current generation of telephone interfaces is frustrating to use, in part because callers have to wait through the recitation of long prompts in order to find the options that interest them. In a visual medium, users would shift their gaze in order to skip uninteresting prompts and scan through large pieces of text. We present skip and scan, a new telephone interface style in which callers issue explicit commands to accomplish these same skipping and scanning activities. In a laboratory experiment, subjects made selections using skip and scan menus more quickly than using traditional, numbered menus, and preferred the skip and scan menus in subjective ratings. In a field test of a skip and scan interface, the general public successfully added and retrieved information without using any written instructions.