Fine-tuning the human-computer interface: Verbal versus keyboard input in an idea generation context

Voice recognition technologies are rapidly evolving to help humans interact with computers more efficiently and effectively. Despite their potential advantages, their impact on system usability has not received sufficient empirical attention. To this end, this study applies voice recognition technologies in a setting where the speed and volume of human input is critical - small group idea generation. Rather than forcing group members to input ideas via keyboard, a novel idea generation technique is introduced whereby ideas are captured directly through verbalization. The results indicate that inputting ideas verbally enhances system usability, providing a more efficient and effective mechanism for generating ideas in a computer-mediated environment. Verbalizing ideas appears to help group members focus on analytical thinking and leverage others' ideas, ultimately facilitating the creation of idea pools that are vastly superior in terms of quantity and quality. As expected, these effects are robust across nominal and small interacting groups.