lab4_improvements.txt

Shortcomings from lab 1

In lab 1, the assignment was to call an external application and evaluate the 
shortcoming of it. I couldn't test further than the initial message, since the 
application didn't let me come through. My report therefore focused mostly on 
this initial message, which gave no hint of what the user could say to be 
accepted. 

In my application, I start by a quite open prompt ("Tell me the details of your 
trip"). This is to show the user that it is an open-ended prompt that lets them 
talk relatively freely. If the user says something that contains her destination 
or departure, the application will (hopefully) catch this and continue. But if 
the application does not understand the user at all, I go on with a second 
prompt that explains what kind of information is expected. If this also fails, 
a third prompt with an explicit example is spoken to the user, and lastly, it 
will take the user through the single prompts one by one. I repeat this behavior 
also for each single item the user is asked for if the application didn't catch 
the whole utterance. If the application goes on and interprets an utterance the 
user says, even though the user might not be sure that she has said the right 
thing (or she might regret her choice), I have implemented a global start over 
function so that it's possible to start from the beginning again from any point 
in the dialogue. 

In the application, I have several conditions that I check before letting the 
user go on. For example, I check that the destination and departure isn't the 
same, or that the baggage isn't fragile, and that the user want to confirm the 
booking that the application has interpreted. All of this conditions leads to 
different paths, and I always make sure to tell the user that something was 
evaluated and what will happen because of this. 

One complaint I had about the system from lab 1, was that the application made 
the user feel blamed for her mistakes. I have phrased my application's 
utterances in a more polite manner and made sure to exit the call with a nice 
phrase instead of just hanging up.