Designing for Inclusion: Key Considerations for Voice Interfaces for Emergent Users

Voice interfaces are increasingly being adopted by diverse user groups globally, including emergent users-individuals with limited formal education, minimal technological exposure, and constrained resources.In this short study, we deployed our "Human-plus-AI" smart speaker with three emergent user families over a 10-day period.Based on learning and observations from this field study, we propose five key design considerations: voice interface utility, bilingual interaction and voice recognition, privacy aspects for female users, conversation design, and cognitive load.Our recommendations aim to guide the creation of more effective and accessible voice interfaces for emergent user populations.We hope these findings will inspire Conversational User Interface (CUI) designers and practitioners to develop more inclusive and user-friendly voice systems.