o n e

Facebook
lite
Kristine Bunker Laura Lu Rodrigo Muoz Bharadwaj Janarthanan

Facebook Fone lite 1-855-636-8559 12/12/2012 Facebook Fone

Abstract
As Facebook has reached 1 billion users, Facebook has the potential for continued growth and development. With internet and mobile usage, Facebook has already reached a large population; however, it has yet to tap into the massive demographic of individuals who have phones, either landline or mobile. In order to best expand to such an audience, a phone speech recognition system provides an easy-to-use interface that can increase Facebook usage exponentially. Facebook Fone lite was designed to allow Facebook Users who dont have internet access or mobile data plans, access to their account while on the go. Users can now check their friend requests, notifications, newsfeed posts, and inbox messages by calling into Facebook Fone. Through initial testing, Facebook Fone has received positive response as a quick and simple system to check Facebook updates. This system has the major potential to achieve Facebooks ultimate goal: bringing society one step closer to be being open and connected.

Facebook Fone | 1-855-636-8559

Table of Contents
Abstract ................................................................................................................. 1 Motivation .............................................................................................................. 4 Sample Call ........................................................................................................... 5 Call Flow Diagrams ............................................................................................... 7 State Tables .......................................................................................................... 8 Technical Challenges .......................................................................................... 25 Usability Testing .................................................................................................. 27 Research ....................................................................................................... 27 Usability Test 1 ................................................................................................. 30 Pre-Test Questionnaire ................................................................................. 30 Instructions .................................................................................................... 31 Post-Test Questionnaire ................................................................................ 32 Results and Summary ................................................................................... 34 Usability Test 2 ................................................................................................. 36 Pre-Test Questionnaire ................................................................................. 36 Instructions .................................................................................................... 37 Post-Test Questionnaire ................................................................................ 38 Results and Summary ................................................................................... 40 System Databases .............................................................................................. 42 Names .............................................................................................................. 42 Newsfeed Posts................................................................................................ 42 Notifications ...................................................................................................... 45 Messages ......................................................................................................... 46 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 48 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................... 48
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Appendix A: Possible Ideas................................................................................. 49 Appendix B: Meeting Notes ................................................................................. 52 Appendix C: Call Flow ......................................................................................... 58 Appendix D: K-Scripts ......................................................................................... 63 Appendix E: State Tables .................................................................................... 69 Appendix F: Presentation Planning & Slides ....................................................... 92

Facebook Fone | 1-855-636-8559

Motivation
On October 4th, 2012, Facebook reached 1bn active users. One in seven people in this world use Facebook on a regular basis. The question becomes how do we reach out to the other six people and get them to use Facebook?

For Facebook to grow, it must be able to both maintain active users and reach out to new users. Developments in mobile technology have opened up a massive new market for Facebook: With the advent of smartphones, tablets and other mobile computing devices, it is possible to provide a full Facebook user experience through a mobile device. There are currently 1bn smartphone users in the world, and there are significant efforts to improve the mobile experience to tap into that market. However, there are 5bn mobile phone users in the world! How do we tap into the other 4bn users with regular phones? There are many projects to reach out to this market. One such example is 0.facebook.com. 0.facebook.com is optimized for speed and data usage. It minimizes the amount of data that needs to be transferred by making the interface as light as possible, and is in collaboration with more than 50 mobile operators in over 45 countries to provide completely free access to the site, thereby avoiding any data charges to its users. This still, however, requires users have phones with some form of mobile internet browser. But what if you dont? What if all you have is a regular mobile phone or even a landline? There exists no solution for using Facebook right now for these users, and they currently represent a significant fraction of the population. This problem is what motivated the creation of Facebook Fone. Recognizing that there is a massive, untapped pool of people with access to phones but without access to Facebook, Facebook Fone seeks to bring the Facebook experience to these users, ultimately making the world more open and connected

Facebook Fone | 1-855-636-8559

Sample Call
Who System What Hey! Welcome to Facebook Fone! You currently have 1 new friend requests, 1 new messages, and 1 new notifications, 1 new newsfeed posts. At anytime you may say Main Menu to return to the main menu, or Exit to exit the system. Would you like to check your friend requests, messages, notifications, or news feed posts? Friend Requests You have a friend request from Joel. Would you like to accept or ignore this friend request? Accept Notes The System remembers the last login session of returning users. The users can also interrupt the conversation anytime using the keywords main menu to return to main menu and exit to end the call. During time-out and retry prompts touch tone options are given During time-out and retry prompts touch tone options are given If the user had more friend requests the system would continue to read each one offering to accept or decline

Caller System

Caller

System

Caller System

Great! Friend Request Accepted. You have checked all of your current friend request. Would you like to check your friend requests, messages, notifications, or news feed posts? Messages John said, That concert was wicked awesome we should go again. Would you like me to repeat that message or go to the next one?

Each message is read with the option to repeat or go to the next message until the user has no messages left. During time-out and retry prompts touch tone options are given

Caller System

Caller System

Next You have no new messages in your inbox. Would you like to check your friend requests, messages, notifications, or news feed posts? Notifications Kristine and 2 others liked your photo. Would you like me to repeat that notification or go to the next one?

Each notification is read with the option to repeat or go to the next notification until the user has no notifications left. During time-out and retry prompts touch tone options are given
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Caller System

Caller System

Next You have no new notifications. Would you like to check your friend requests, messages, notifications, or news feed posts? Newsfeed Natalie posted 24 hours a day is just not enough. Would you like me to repeat that post or go to the next one?

Each post is read with the option to repeat or go to the next post until the user has no posts left. During time-out and retry prompts touch tone options are given The system ends the call when there are no more new friend requests, messages, notifications or newsfeed. However if the user ends the call in the middle of the conversation the system saves the number of new friend requests, messages, notifications and newsfeed from the database.

Caller System

Next You have no new updates. Thanks for calling Facebook Fone. Good Bye!

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Call Flow Diagrams

Welcome To Facebook Fone! Key
Message Page Question Page

Confirm Accept

Confirm Accept

No More Messages

Get Repeat or Next

Next Friend Request

Get if Accept

No More Friend Requests

Repeat (same message) Next (next message)

Get Friend Request Get Whats New On Facebook Account

Get New Inbox Message

Repeat (same post)

Get New Newsfeed Post

Get New Notification

Repeat (same notification)

Next (next post) No More Notifications

Next (next notification)

Get Repeat or Next

No More Posts

Get Repeat or Next

Nothing New on Facebook

Thank You (end call)

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State Tables
0001_Initalize_Call_Variables 0010_Check_Returning_User 0020_Load_Existing_Unchecked_Updates 0100_Welcome Play Prompt Entering from 0020_Load_Existing_Unchecked_Updates Prompts Name Condition Wording Always Welcome back Facebook Fone! Initial Condition Action Always Go to: 0200_Updates_Intro

0200_Updates_Intro Speech Input Entering from 0100_Welcome Prompts Type Condition Always Initial Option Always

Wording You currently have

Action Go to: 0201_Update_Existance_Check

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0201_Update_Existance_Check Branch on Condition Entering from 0200_Updates_Intro, 0301_Main_Menu Condition Action IF NewFriendRequests, Go to: 0202_No_New_Updates NewMessages, NewNewsFeedPosts, and NewNotifications equal zero Else Go to: 0210_Friend_Request Branch

0202_No_New_Updates Play Prompt Entering from 0201_Updates_Existance_Check Prompts Name Condition Wording Always No new updates Initial Condition Action Always Go to: 10000_Goodbye

0210_Friend_Request_Branch Branch on Condition Entering from 0201_Update_Existance_Check Condition Action IF NewFriendRequests greater Go to: 0211_Read_Friend_Request_Count than zero Else Go to: 0220_Messages_Branch

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0211_Read_Friend_Request_Count Play Prompt Entering from 0210_Friend_Request_Branch Prompts Name Condition Wording Always <number> new friend requests Initial Condition Action Always Go to: 0220_Message_Branch

0210_Message_Branch Branch on Condition Entering from 0211_Read_Friend_Request_Count, 0210_Friend_Request_Branch Condition Action IF NewMessages greater than Go to: 0221_Read_Messages_Count zero Else Go to: 0230_Notification_Branch

0221_Read_Message_Count Play Prompt Entering from 0220_Message_Branch Prompt Name Condition Working Always Always <number> new messages Condition Action Always Go to: 0230_Notification_Branch

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0230_Notification_Branch Branch on Condition Entering from 0221_Read_Message_Request_Count, 0220_Message_Branch Condition Action IF NewNotifications greater than Go to: 0231_Read_Notification_Count zero Else Go to: 0240_Newfeed_Branch

0231_Read_Notification_Count Speech Input Entering from 0230_Notification_Branch Prompts Type Condition Wording Always <number> new notifications Initial Condition Always Action Go to: 0240_Newsfeed_Branch

0240_Newsfeed_Branch Branch on Condition Entering from 0231_Read_Notification_Request_Count, 0230_Notification_Branch Condition Action IF NewNewfeedPosts greater Go to: 0231_Read_Newsfeed_Count than zero Else Go to: 0301_Main_Menu

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0241_Read_Newsfeed_Count Speech Input Entering from 0240_Newfeed_Branch Prompts Type Condition Always Initial

Wording <number> new newsfeed posts. At anytime you may say Main Menu to return to the main menu, or Exit to exit the system.

Condition Always

Action Go to: 0301_Main_Menu

0300_Update_Existance_Check Branch on Condition Entering from 0401_No_Friend_Requests, 0501_No_New_Messages, 0601_No_New_Notifications, 0701_No_New_Notifications Condition Action IF NewFriendRequests, Go to: 0310_No_More_News NewMessages, NewNewsFeedPosts, and NewNotifications equal zero Else Go to: 0301_Main_Menu

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0301_Main_Menu Speech Input Entering from 0241_Read_Newsfeed_Count, 0240_Newsfeed_Branch, All Prompts Type Wording Would you like to check your friend requests, messages, Initial notifications, or news feed posts? Timeout 1 Timeout 2 Sorry I didnt hear you. What would you like to check? You can say friend requests, messages, notifications, or newsfeed. Sorry I still cant understand you, what you like to do? You can press 2 for friend requests, 3 for messages, 4 for notifications, or 5 for newsfeed. Sorry I still cant hear you; let me take you bad to the main menu to try again. Sorry I didnt catch that, What would you like to check? You can say friend requests, messages, notifications, or newsfeed. Sorry I still cant hear you, what you like to do? You can press 2 for friend requests, 3 for messages, 4 for notifications, or 5 for newsfeed. Sorry I still cant understand you; let me take you bad to the main menu to try again. Vocabulary Action New 0200_Updates_Existance_Check Friend Request 0400_Friend_Request_Existance_Check Messages Notifications Newsfeed 0500_Messages_Existance_Check 0600_Notifications_Existance_Check 0700_Newsfeed_Existance_Check

Timeout 3 Retry 1 Retry 2

Retry 3 Option 1 2 3 4 5

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0310_No_More_News Call Transfer Entering from 0300_Update_Existance_Check Prompts Name Condition Wording Initial Always You have no more updates on your Facebook account Condition Action Always Go To: 10000_Goodbye

0400_Friend_Request_Existance_Check Branch on Condition Entering from 0301_Main_Menu Condition Action IF NewFriendRequests greater Go to: 0410_Check_Friend_Request than zero Else Go to: 0401_No_Friend_Requests

0401_No_Friend_Requests Speech Input Entering from 0400_Friend_Request_Existance_Check Prompts Type Name Wording Always You have checked all your current friend requests. Initial Condition Like Action Go to: 0300_Update_Existance_Check

0411_Gen_Friend_Request 0412_Load_Friend_Request_Data

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0413_Check_For_Name_Redundancy Branch on Condition Entering from 0412_Load_Friend_Request_Data Condition Action IF CurrentNameAudio equals Go to: 0411_Gen_Friend_Request LoggedUserName Else Go to: 0414_Friend_Request_Response

0414_Friend_Request_Response Speech Input Entering from 0413_Check_For_Name_Redundancy Prompts Type Initial Wording You have a friend request from <name>. Would you like to accept or ignore this friend request? Sorry I didnt hear you, would you like to accept or ignore this friend request, you can say accept or ignore. Sorry I still cant hear you, would you like to accept or ignore this friend request, you can press 1 for accept or 2 for ignore Sorry I still cant hear you; let me take you bad to the main menu to try again. Sorry I didnt catch that, would you like to accept or ignore this friend request, you can say accept or ignore. Sorry I still cant understand you, would you like to accept or ignore this friend request, you can press 1 for accept or 2 for ignore Sorry I still cant understand you; let me take you bad to the main menu to try again. Vocabulary Action accept Go to: 0420_Friend_Request_Accept ignore Go to: 0421_Friend_Request_Ignore
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Timeout 1 Timeout 2 Timeout 3 Retry 1 Retry 2 Timeout 3 Option 1 2

0420_Friend_Request_Accept Play Prompt Entering from 0413_Friend_Request_Response Prompts Name Condition Wording Always Great! Friend request accepted! Initial Condition Action Always Go to: 0430_Decrement_Friend_Request_Counter

0421_Friend_Request_Ignore Play Prompt Entering from 0413_Friend_Request_Response Prompts Name Condition Wording Always Ok, friend request ignored Initial Condition Action Always Go to: 0430_Decrement_Friend_Request_Counter

0430_Decremant_Friend_Request_Counter 0431_Decremant_Friend_Request_Counter_MM

0500_Message_Existance_Check Branch on Condition Entering from 0301_Main_Menu Condition IF NewMessage greater than zero Else

Action Go to: 0510_Check_Message Go to: 0401_No_New_Messages

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0501_No_New_Messages Play Prompt Entering from 0500_Message_Existance_Check Prompts Name Condition Wording Always You have no new messages in your inbox Initial Condition Action Always Go to: 0300_Existance_Check

0511_Gen_Message_ID 0512_Load_Sender_Name 0513_Check_Name_Redundancy Branch on Condition Entering from 0512_Load_Sender_Name Condition IF CurrentNameAudio equals LoggedUserName Else

Action Go to: 0511_Gen_Message_ID Go to: 0514_Read_Message

0513_Load_Message_Content 0514_Read_Message Play Prompt Entering from 0513_Load_Message_Content Prompts Name Initial Condition Always Wording <name> <message>

Condition Action Always Go to: 0520_Message_Response

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0520_Message_Response Speech Input Entering from 0514_Read_Message Prompts Type Wording Would you like me to repeat that message or go to the next one? Initial Timeout 1 Timeout 2 Timeout 3 Retry 1 Retry 2 Sorry I didnt hear that, would you like to hear this message again or move to the next one, you can say repeat or next Sorry I still didnt hear that, would you like to hear the message again or move to the next one, you can press one for repeat or 2 for next. Sorry I still cant hear you; let me take you bad to the main menu to try again. Sorry I didnt understand that, would you like to hear this message again or move to the next one, you can say repeat or next Sorry I still didnt understand that, would you like to hear the message again or move to the next one, you can press one for repeat or 2 for next. Sorry I still cant understand you; let me take you bad to the main menu to try again. Vocabulary Action Repeat Go to: 0515_Read_Message Next Go to: 0530_Decrement_Message_Counter

Timeout 3 Option 1 2

0530_Decrement_Message_Counter 0531_Decrement_Message_Counter_MM

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0600_Notification_Existance_Check Branch on Condition Entering from 0301_Main_Menu Condition Action IF NewNotification greater than Go to: 0610_Check_Notifications zero Else Go to: 0601_No_New_Notifications

0601_No_New_Notifcations Play Prompt Entering from 0600_Notifcations_Existance_Check Prompts Name Condition Wording Always You have no new notifications Initial Condition Action Always Go to: 0300_Existance_Check

0611_Gen_Notification_ID 0612_Load_Subject_Name 0613_Check_Name_Redundancy Branch on Condition Entering from 0612_Load_Subject_Name Condition IF CurrentNameAudio equals LoggedUserName Else

Action Go to: 0611_Gen_Notification_ID Go to: 0614_Read_Notificaiton

0613_Load_Notification_Content

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0615_Read_Notification Play Prompt Entering from 0613_Load_Notification_Content Prompts Name Initial Condition Always Wording <name> <note>

Condition Action Always Go to: 0620_Notification_Response

0620_Notification_Response Speech Input Entering from 0514_Read_Notification Prompts Type Wording Would you like me to repeat that notification or go to the next one? Initial Timeout 1 Timeout 2 Sorry I didnt hear that, would you like to hear this notification again or move to the next one, you can say repeat or next Sorry I still didnt hear that, would you like to hear the notification again or move to the next one, you can press one for repeat or 2 for next. Sorry I still cant hear you; let me take you bad to the main menu to try again. Sorry I didnt understand that, would you like to hear this notification again or move to the next one, you can say repeat or next Sorry I still didnt understand that, would you like to hear the notification again or move to the next one, you can press one for repeat or 2 for next. Sorry I still cant understand you; let me take you bad to the main menu to try again. Vocabulary Action Repeat Go to: 0615_Read_Notification Next Go to: 0630_Decrement_Notification_Counter
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Timeout 3 Retry 1 Retry 2

Timeout 3 Option 1 2

0630_Decrement_Notification_Counter 0631_Decrement_Notification_Counter_MM

0700_Newsfeed_Existance_Check Branch on Condition Entering from 0301_Main_Menu Condition Action IF NewFriendRequests greater Go to: 0710_Check_Newsfeed than zero Else Go to: 0701_No_New_Newsfeed

0701_No_New_Newsfeed Play Prompt Entering from 0700_Newsfeed_Existance_Check Prompts Name Condition Wording Always You have no posts on your newsfeed Initial Condition Action Always Go to: 0300_Existance_Check

0711_Gen_Newsfeed_ID 0712_Load_Subject_Name

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0713_Check_Name_Redundancy Branch on Condition Entering from 0712_Load_Subject_Name Condition IF CurrentNameAudio equals LoggedUserName Else Action Go to: 0711_Gen_Newsfeed_ID Go to: 0714_Read_Newsfeed

0714_Load_Newsfeed_Content 0715_Read_Newsfeed Play Prompt Entering from 0713_Load_Newsfeed_Content Prompts Name Initial Condition Always Condition Always Wording <name> <news>

Action Go to: 0720_Newsfeed_Response

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0720_Newsfeed_Response Speech Input Entering from 0714_Read_Newsfeed Prompts Type Wording Would you like me to repeat that post or go to the next one? Initial Timeout 1 Timeout 2 Timeout 3 Retry 1 Retry 2 Sorry I didnt hear that, would you like to hear this post again or move to the next one, you can say repeat or next Sorry I still didnt hear that, would you like to hear the post again or move to the next one, you can press one for repeat or 2 for next. Sorry I still cant hear you; let me take you bad to the main menu to try again. Sorry I didnt understand that, would you like to hear this post again or move to the next one, you can say repeat or next Sorry I still didnt understand that, would you like to hear the post again or move to the next one, you can press one for repeat or 2 for next. Sorry I still cant understand you; let me take you bad to the main menu to try again. Vocabulary Action Repeat Go to: 0715_Read_Newsfeed Next Go to: 0730_Decrement_Newsfeed_Counter

Timeout 3 Option 1 2

0730_Newsfeed_Counter_Decrement 0731_Newsfeed_Counter_Decrement_MM

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9998_Error Play Prompt Entering from All Prompts Name Initial Condition Always Wording Sorry we must have encountered an error with the system, let me take you back to the main menu.

Condition Action Always Go to: 0301_Main_Menu

9999_Goodbye 10000_Goodbye Play Prompt Entering from 0202_No_New_Updates, 0310_No_More_News, All Prompts Name Initial Condition Always Wording Thanks for calling Facebook Fone! Goodbye!

Condition Action Always End Call

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Technical Challenges
Originally, the intention was for this application to be able to access live user data through Facebooks graph API. Though this is a fairly straightforward process on a desktop or mobile application, there were certain challenges that made this process essentially impossible to implement for our system. When authorizing an app, there is an auth dialogue such as the one pictured below.

The user then authorizes the app, and the app now has access to user data for as long as the user maintains an active session with the app, or up to an hour after the active session has ended. The one key constraint here is that this authentication must be done using a browser. It need not require user input necessarily, as after the initial app authorization the auth popup will just appear and fade away immediately, yet the popup must appear nonetheless. After the popup appears the application is granted an auth token, which permits the app to query user data such as name, friend list and other features. Since the Angel system can only make GET/POST requests to scripts, and has no real notion of maintaining state or cookies, any script that mediates these interactions must be able to do so fully automatically. The problem is, that given that there needs to be a browser for the user to authenticate and grant the app a fresh token, this meant that it was impossible to do a fully automatic script. Even were it possible to fully automate,

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this would have required storing the users username and password, and automating the auth process, which is in violation of the ToS.
From a technical standpoint, using live data was unfeasible, and after sinking sufficient hours into this endeavor we decided it was best to cut our losses and simply scrape data from a profile and provide an offline data store, such that the app is still able to showcase the full functionality of a system were it to have access to live data, yet while avoiding all these technical hurdles.

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Usability Testing
R E SE AR CH
Before we began testing the actual system, we needed to figure out what should be included in the system. To do this we surveyed over 100 MIT students on what features of Facebook they use when on the go.

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See News Feed Posts Post Status Update Check for Friend's Birthdays Check Notifications Read Inbox Messages See Timeline Posts See Friend Requests Read Newsfeed from a Friend Like Messages Other

Based on these results we decided to focus on Checking on Notifications, Reading Inbox Messages, Seeing Newsfeed Posts, and Checking Friend Requests. Thirty MIT students agreed to test Facebook Fone. All the students had Facebook accounts and most of them used their Facebook at least once a day. Preliminary results indicated that the concept of Facebook Fone as a tool to check what is new on a Facebook account is useful and convenient with the mobility of cell phones. However, with a specific sample group of technologically-savvy students, the demand for such a system is not at a peak. As most MIT students own smartphones and carry around their laptops, a speech system is not the ideal mode of checking Facebook updates. On the other hand, the MIT student testers did enjoy the enthusiasm of the system speaker as Facebook, as a social networking site, is used as a means of interacting and connecting with friends. In addition, the easy, quick, and efficient navigation of the system allows for an informative yet friendly experience.

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In order to test the effectiveness of the phone system, a preliminary usability test was performed. Fourteen students participated in the test, completing both a pre- and post-test questionnaire. Each tester was tasked with (1) checking their friend requests, if they had any, (2) accepting or ignoring their friend requests, and (3) listening to the first 2 newsfeed posts.

P R E -T E S T Q U E S TI ON N AI RE

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I N STR U CTI ON S
Hello and welcome to Facebook Fone! Thank you for volunteering to test out our new phone speech system! We highly appreciate your time and help in making a facebook phone application that best serves your needs. First, complete the Pre-Test Questionnaire. Your answers will help us gauge your familiarity with facebook terminology and usage. Next, please complete the following tasks: 1. Call into 855-636-8559 2. Find out whether or not you received a friend request. You may choose to accept or ignore as you like. 3. Listen to the first 2 posts on your newsfeed. After you complete these tasks, fill out the Post-Test Questionnaire. We request that you are truthful in your answers, and we would love to get your feedback on improving the system. If, at any time, you feel uncomfortable during the test, please let us know, and we will do our best to assist you. Thank you and enjoy Facebook Fone! Sincerely, Facebook Fone Team

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P O S T -T E ST Q U E STI ON N AI R E

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R E SU L T S

AN D

S U M M AR Y

As all the users had Facebook accounts and were familiar with Facebook terminology, they were able to quickly and easily complete the tasks. Ten of the fourteen users indicated that it was either very easy or easy to complete the aforementioned tasks. One user said I really like this idea, and I can definitely see myself using it. Another enthusiastically commented I really enjoyed how upbeat the speaker sounded, and that this would be awesome for people who have trouble looking at the small screens on phones. Despite the positive feedback, several issues were identified during the test. Specifically, users had trouble understanding what the system was saying as the sound quality was less than ideal. To resolve this issue, the recorded prompts were rerecorded to improve the clarity of the system speech. In addition to sound quality, some users were unsure of how they should respond to certain prompts. For example, the system would say would you like me to repeat that or move on to the next message, and users were not sure if they should say move on or next. As such, users were forced to use touch tone responses to continue on. To remedy this, prompts were rerecorded with a modification to the framing of the question. For increased flexibility of navigation, options to return to the main menu as well as exit the system were added so that users could more easily move among Facebook features and leave the call gracefully through the goodbye message.

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Task: Listen to friend requests, accept/ ignore friend requests, and listen to the first two newsfeed posts. Issue # Description UI Severity (1-5)
5

Tech Complexity (1-5)

1

Resolution

Difficult to understand the system speaker; significant differences in volume User does not know what keywords to say to move on to next prompt Welcome back in the welcome prompt for firsttime users Trouble moving from one Facebook function to another (i.e. moving from friend requests to newsfeed) or exiting system

Re-record prompts in quiet setting; normalize volume of clips for consistent volume throughout system Re-record prompts to include keywords in initial prompt (not just in retry or no response prompts) Re-record welcome prompt to be more generic Add the options to return to the main menu or exit the system through the goodbye prompt

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After making the adjustments from the first usability test, another round of testing was conducted to test the effectiveness of the changes. Twelve MIT students tested the system and were tasked with the same objectives as in the first usability test: (1) checking their friend requests, if they had any, (2) accepting or ignoring their friend requests, and (3) listening to the first 2 newsfeed posts.

P R E -T E S T Q U E S TI ON N AI RE

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I N STR U CTI ON S

Hello and welcome to Facebook Fone! Thank you for volunteering to test out our new phone speech system! We highly appreciate your time and help in making a facebook phone application that best serves your needs. First, complete the Pre-Test Questionnaire. Your answers will help us gauge your familiarity with facebook terminology and usage. Next, please complete the following tasks: 1. Call into 855-636-8559 2. Find out whether or not you received a friend request. You may choose to accept or ignore as you like. 3. Listen to the first 2 posts on your newsfeed.

After you complete these tasks, fill out the Post-Test Questionnaire. We request that you are truthful in your answers, and we would love to get your feedback on improving the system. If, at any time, you feel uncomfortable during the test, please let us know, and we will do our best to assist you. Thank you and enjoy Facebook Fone!

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P O S T -T E ST Q U E STI ON N AI R E

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R E SU L T S

AN D

S U M M AR Y

With the updated system, most users were able to check their friend requests as well as accept or ignore the requests with ease. Nine of the twelve testers found it very easy or easy to check their friend requests, and all but one of the users found it very easy or easy to accept or ignore their friend requests. With the new, clearer recordings, eleven of the twelve testers thought that the speaker was very easy or easy to understand, which resolved the frustration of not understanding what the system was saying. After adding a prompt that informs the user of a main menu option, users were better able to navigate the system. Only two testers thought that moving from the friend request feature to the newsfeed feature was difficult or very difficult. Further, by increasing the amount of initial instruction in the system, users had more clarity as to how they should respond to system prompts; all of the testers knew what they needed to say to continue through the call. Even more indicative of the system improvement, more participants were willing to use the system in the future (only 23% of users said that they would not consider using the system to get their Facebook updates compared to an overwhelming 79% in the first usability test). Users rated the system on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 was perfect and 10 was terrible. The average overall rating after the second round of usability testing was 2.8. After this round of testing, the main source of user frustration came from the limitations of Angels voice recognition system. Although the users knew what keywords they needed to say to continue through the call, Angel had trouble recognizing what the user was saying and would send them to a retry prompt. Despite this issue, the second round of usability testing demonstrated the efficacy of the proposed solutions from the first test results.

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Overall Rating of Facebook Fone

Number of Responses
1

10

Rating
Task: Listen to friend requests, accept/ ignore friend requests, and listen to the first two newsfeed posts.
Issue # 1 Description Software has difficulty understanding what was said by user Repetitive questions for repeat or next during playback Difficulty understanding text-to-speech in Angel UI Severity (1-5) 2 Tech Complexity (1-5) 4 Resolution improve the voice recognition software After first questioning, user will figure out whether to say repeat or next for subsequent messages Improve Angel software

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System Databases
ID 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Name ID Name ID Name ID Laura 26 James 51 Jamie 76 Bharat 27 Natalie 52 Kaitlyn 77 Kristine 28 Megan 53 Colleen 78 Rodrigo 29 Katie 54 Tyler 79 Blade 30 Jordan 55 Kevin 80 Nate 31 Kate 56 Vivian 81 Jon 32 Josh 57 Elina 82 Noel 33 Joshua 58 Rebecca 83 Amy 34 Cameron 59 Celine 84 Catherine 35 Devin 60 Lauren 85 Kathy 36 Tim 61 Elliot 86 Rachel 37 Timmy 62 Kendall 87 Kira 38 Benjamin 63 Alex 88 Erica 39 Ben 64 Sarah 89 Carol 40 Chris 65 Hannah 90 Shannon 41 Christopher 66 Emily 91 Rachel 42 Rose 67 Britt 92 Alice 43 Molly 68 Brittany 93 Holly 44 Samantha 69 Mike 94 Paige 45 Sammy 70 Michael 95 George 46 Sam 71 Frances 96 Matthew 47 Samuel 72 Angela 97 Alexander 48 Andrea 73 Guy 98 Alec 49 Anthony 74 Grace 99 Jay 50 Tony 75 Patrick 100 Name Patrick Kristen Evan Kyle Victoria Harry Mary Lindsey Lisa Tina Tyler Eddy Eduardo Sarah Abby Chandler Ryan Randi Beck Christian Tommy Jackson Stewart Brian Justin

ID 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Newsfeed posted IHTFP posted Can't wait for Christmas break! posted Ugh finals! posted Go Tech! posted Hilarious Gangnam style video! posted We're number one on the rankings posted I hate facebook's new privacy settings! posted It is finally Friday! posted watching people trying cross mass ave fail posted so many tourists taking pictures posted just a couple more weeks then home!
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posted i wanna go home! posted MIT for the win posted men's basketball game tonight posted womens basketball game tonight posted come see the track team this weekend posted it should snow soon posted and my computer dies of course posted dance party in my dorm room posted hot chocolate and candy canes posted dinner with the girls posted pset party posted I love snow posted i miss warm summer days posted anyone up for some basketball tonight posted 24 hours in a day is just not enough posted heading to bed at 3am pretty good posted dance dance baby and Aaron Baker are now friends and Abby Moore are now friends and Paul Carrol are now friends and Flynn Casey are now friends and Tammy Everson are now friends and Brittany Jones are now friends and Justin Mendes are now friends and Rachel Cover are now friends and Keith Handler are now friends posted anyone up for some volleyball this weekend? is attending Movember Swing Social is attending Alpha Phi's Holiday Mixer is attending Theta Chi's Blacklight Party is attending WZLY Presents Big Freedia is attending CHRISTMAS ON THE HEIGHTS! is attending MACR Fall Convention 2012 is attending Inventional Winds - MIT Wind Ensemble December Concert is attending MIT DanceTroupe Presents... 50 Shades of Pli is attending BDE PRESENTS: The Apocalypse is attending Freak Show Party! likes USA Triathlon likes Skittles likes Camping likes summer nights likes peanut butter likes Tennis likes track and field
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likes sleeping posted watching Glee posted missing home posted on your wall Happy Winter Break! likes MIT hacks posted This is so overwhelming.I can't do this anymore posted Premium Rush is awesome likes I want to visit Old Trafford one day to see United play and Christian Bale are now friends posted we accept the love we think we deserve is at Oyster Creek Bar,Boston MA with Merlin and Cathy posted I am freezing to death posted on course 6 wall anybody up for a 6.005 Pset party tonight @ Mccommick? likes How I met your mother is at Chipotle,Kendall,Cambridge with Victoria and patrick commented on Lee's status This is so awesome was with Kristine,Rodrigo, Laura and 2 others at New Hampshire posted As the tough gets going the going gets tough was tagged in Tara's wall post So Cute you are. :P commented on his own post Life is unfair.Just take it shared Katherine's status You can do it added a life event from 2012 to timeline:First met Jessica Chauhan at San Fransico added a life event from 2010 to timeline: Started job at Apple Inc posted If you are reading this you are not studying likes Storyboard machine likes MIT memes is now single is in a relationship is engaged posted YOLO got a high score on SongPop got a high score on Tetris Battles got a high score on Words With Friends got a high score on Draw Something got a high score on Dragon City listened to Call Me Maybe on Spotify listened to Justin Bieber on Spotify listened to Eminem on Spotify listened to Jack Johnson on Spotify listened to Death Cab for Cutie on Spotify listened to Iron & Wine on Spotify listened to Nightwish on Spotify listened to Muse on Spotify
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99 listened to Blue October on Spotify 100 listened to Frank Turner on Spotify

ID 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39

Notification invited you to go to the Mumford and Sons concert on Saturday tagged you in a picture wrote on your timeline liked your comment liked your status commented on your picture commented on your status invited you to attend the Apple Info Session on Wednesday tagged you in a post tagged you in a status liked one of your pictures liked your album made your picture their profile picture mentioned you in a comment likes your page invited you to Alpha Phi's Holiday Mixer invited you to like SBS (Sloan Business Club) and 2 others wrote on your timeline and 2 others liked your status and 2 others liked your photo and 2 others liked your album and 2 others like your page and 2 others commented on your status and 2 others commented on your picture commented on your album and 2 others commented on your album invited you for ABC party commented on your wall post posted in Course 6 "How is it going kids?" and Rachell likes your link on Jay timeline likes your wall post Birthday Wishes!Sweet heart! commented on your wall post That meant a lot to me accepted your friend request likes your comment MIT is the fire in which we burn posted in MISTI Intern @ Microsoft Research Banglore invited you to like Google@MIT added you to the group MIT Gangnam Style invited you for Parallel Universe Party at Boston on 7th December tagged you in a life event Beach House Party @ Revere, Massachuetts
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posted on your wall free stuffs and pizza @ student center Run right now tagged you in 8 pictures tagged you in 5 pictures invited you to play SongPop invited you to play DrawSomething poked you invited you to play Tetric Shared a link on your timeline liked a link on your timeline and Rachel Muse like a like on your timeline and Erica Hunt commented on your status

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Message said Hey! It's been forever! How have you been? said Here's my new number! said Thought I'd share this link in a message since if it was on your wall, people would think you're weird said I don't know why I'm using facebook messaging. Gchat is so much better :) said See you soon! said It was so good to see you this weekend and catch up on everything! said Do you happen to have an extra phone charger I could use? said I really need to talk to you about something, call me later? said We should plan a surpirse party for Annie! said Is everything ok? said What are you plans for this weekend, want to meet up in Boston? said I really don't understand what is going on in problem 1 on this pset, any insight? said I got totally wrecked by that test yesterday said Alright well thanks for everything said that concert was wicked awesome, we should definitely go again said hows life going for you said any advice for what classes i should be taking next semester? said would you want to go skiing this winter in new hampshire? said the plane tickets to florida are so expensive right now said sometime soon lets go out to dinner and see a movie or something said Life is so boring and mean to me.Can you make it any better? said come over to my dorm tonight we are going to have a wine and cheese party said shall we go to the MIT media lab party tonight? said so what are your plans for the winter break? said wassup?How is life? said Sorry buddy!Can't make it to the dinner tonight!These psets are depriving me of any fun said I heard you are going to be Tim The beaver for tomorrow's event.Is that true? said Call me as soon as you see this message.I need to talk to you. said lol..that was way too funny said It's done honey.This is not going to work anymore.Let's break up

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said I can't take it anymore.I am coming home honey.Very soon. said how far have you gone with your work? said Congratulations! You proved it yet again said Dude!Pay for the pizza I shall repay you once I'm back home said How about a trip to Paris this break? said Get your asses out!It is Boxing Day today said Hi!You there? said I got promoted!Let's party! said Life is so beautiful after you entered my life.Thanks for everything said Glory Glory Manchester United said Hey, would you like to grab lunch sometime? said I'm so sorry for your loss... said there's no easy way to say this, but, you've got a problem said I just met you, and this is crazy, but here's my number, so call me maybe said Hail to the Redskins! Romo sucks! said Let's catch Saferide at 9:30 said When are you heading home for break? said dude it's Saturday! Half-price Poor House burgers tonight! Cheap college kids for the win said corny joke for you...what did the turkey say in space? hubble hubble hubble said Still stuck in lab. I'll be 30 minutes late; so sorry!

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