Designing Accessible Audio Nudges for Voice Interfaces

Older adults (65+) increasingly use voice assistants for informationseeking, but experience challenges and uncertainty in assessing information quality due to limited visual cues. HCI researchers have primarily used nudging, subtle approaches to guide users towards better decision-making, in visual interfaces to mitigate online misinformation and facilitate critical thinking. Thus, we extend nudging to voice-based systems to help older adults alleviate uncertainty in voice-based searches. We evaluate four audio nudge prototypes (i.e., non-speech and speech-based) with older adults (n = 34). Findings show that speech nudges more effectively prompt critical reflection than non-speech nudges because they are more disruptive. We discuss the significance of these findings for designing accessible audio nudges, highlighting the tension between disruption and accessibility best practices. Further, we propose that effective audio nudges should be explanatory and interactive to help older adults mitigate information uncertainty and raise open questions for the community about designing reflective nudges.

• Human-centered computing → Empirical studies in accessibility; Empirical studies in HCI.