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No, please, no. I understand that it's often easier to express something with a quick voice message, rather than writing it up. But is it searchable? Is it coh

No, please, no. I understand that it's often easier to express something with a quick voice message, rather than writing it up. But is it searchable? Is it coherent information that I can refer to, copy and paste? Is it efficiently consumable? No. More often than not it is a meandering, unreflected ramble with low information density. You also can't fix mistakes or reword something in a voice messages without re recording the whole thing, so you just leave it as is. Or record an addendum. Voice messages are more convenient for the producer, but are always more work for the consumer. Automatic transcripts help a bit, sure. But they only go so far. Both because of accuracy and because of different structure to the content. I can see niches where this is useful, but I very much do not want to be bombarded with voice messages in a professional context.

camhart 6y ago
You're acting like email has to go away if this gets used. Simply use both. There certainly are use cases for this and hearing someones voice can convey things that words can't.
christophilus 6y ago
I agree for with your reasons, but if they add a transcript feature, and allow 2x playback speed, this could be handy. You could choose to read vs listen / watch. There is a advantage to voice / video which is that you can detect tone and nuance much more readily. You can also listen to your messages while running or driving.
- loloquwowndueo 6y ago
  When you’re driving please focus on driving or you’ll end up killing someone. If you’re paying attention to driving you’re not paying (full) attention to messages; you’ll have to listen to them again once you stop. So just use email :)
  - blendorwhat 6y ago
    I agree loloquwowndueo: safety first - don't text and drive or do anything distracting while driving, including listening to work-related voice messages.
- blendorwhat 6y ago
  Thanks christophilus, we're actually looking into integrating playback speed option down the road.
GekkePrutser 6y ago
There's also some practical concerns. You can't check voice messages while you're in a call. You can't check them in an office setting without having to look for a headset. You can't see them on a smartwatch etc. And it takes a lot more time to consume the content. I can read in 5 seconds what it takes 60 seconds to speak :)
- blendorwhat 6y ago
  Thanks GekkePrutser, great observations and valid points here! Honestly, I think that voice messages are not the end-all solution for work communication - I'm treating this more as an addition to text messages. Did you by any chance tried voice messages in your work setting? How did that work out, any specific problems you've encountered?
  - GekkePrutser 6y ago
    No we didn't. We use MS Teams pretty much exclusively (it's one of the things I look after). We experimented with MS Teams' Walkie Talkie feature but it requires specific Samsung devices with a Push To Talk button so it was prohibitively expensive. But we always planned for this only in a frontline worker usecase (security, first aid, maintenance etc)
fblp 6y ago
Understood on voice messages substituting written communication - but what about when they substitute synchronous meetings and calls? Sometimes async voice can be better where you can communicate a couple pages of thoughts in a few minute, with tone of voice.
- blendorwhat 6y ago
  Thanks for the comment fblp, I agree with you here: this depends on the situation - sometimes async voice memo can work better than having called another meeting.
- runako 6y ago
  > you can communicate a couple pages of thoughts in a few minute The canonical answer to this is for the sender to spend a couple of minutes to distill down those thoughts into less text. This is solved by improved writing.
schlowmo 6y ago
> Voice messages are easier for the producer, but are always more work for the consumer. This is so true especially for long voice messages. I really don't like listening to people thinking aloud about what they want to tell me. I mean...this isn't a suprised-by-voicemail moment, they intentionally decided they wanted to send this voice message in the first place. But it gets even worse if you (like me) don't like sending voice messages. Maybe it's just me, but to reply to a lengthy voice message via text I have to listen to it in parts multiple times to adress every question/topic which was raised in it. I'm totally fine with people calling me, if they prefer voice. But please don't send me voice messages as long you're not in a car or otherwise unable to text and have a real important message. > I very much do not want to be bombarded with voice messages in a professional context. I had one client who started sending me voice messages and it drove me nuts. I realised that most people tend to forget what they said in a voice message faster then via other means.
- dannyw 6y ago
  I have a close friend who does this often, and she says it come from her ADHD. She find it difficult to type long messages. I believe her.
- EGreg 6y ago
  Actually EVERYTHING that is easier for the producer is harder for the consumer, and basically given that an average produced item would have a nontrivial number of consumers, every corner you cut has a massive cost for everyone else. There should be a technology that can automate all the kinds of things a producer can do to make it easier for consumers to search, discover, remix and collaborate with git and so on. Maybe start a company to do that?
daniellarusso 6y ago
Anybody remember the voice-memo gadgets of the 80s, 90s, or 00s?
blendorwhat 6y ago
Hi the_duke, thanks for your feedback, all your concerns are on point. If not a secret, did you/your team use any type of voice messaging maybe? I'm trying to find different use cases so we could anticipate any possible issues/bottlenecks down the road. Thanks in advance!
tanelpoder 6y ago
We built a similar app for asynch 1-1 & group voice chat (back in 2010 or so, it was called Voicee). Found exactly the same thing (even when we/founders were developing it and knew how to use it). It's so much easier to keep blabbing and that will put the burden on the listener(s) to spend time & focus on playing it. We didn't have audio transcription, so this may change the game a bit. So, if the sender can't (or doesn't want to) type at the moment, could reply to an otherwise text stream via voice. When we started, iMessage, WhatsApp didn't have asynch voice capability, but now they do - I guess having transcription always enabled would be a differentiator. But in general (a request that I ignored for too long), you'll have to have texting capability in your app too, otherwise people will gravitate towards whatever allows them to read & type without distracting others with playing audio...

camhart 6y ago

You're acting like email has to go away if this gets used. Simply use both. There certainly are use cases for this and hearing someones voice can convey things that words can't.

christophilus 6y ago

I agree for with your reasons, but if they add a transcript feature, and allow 2x playback speed, this could be handy. You could choose to read vs listen / watch. There is a advantage to voice / video which is that you can detect tone and nuance much more readily. You can also listen to your messages while running or driving.

loloquwowndueo 6y ago
When you’re driving please focus on driving or you’ll end up killing someone. If you’re paying attention to driving you’re not paying (full) attention to messages; you’ll have to listen to them again once you stop. So just use email :)
- blendorwhat 6y ago
  I agree loloquwowndueo: safety first - don't text and drive or do anything distracting while driving, including listening to work-related voice messages.
blendorwhat 6y ago
Thanks christophilus, we're actually looking into integrating playback speed option down the road.

GekkePrutser 6y ago

There's also some practical concerns. You can't check voice messages while you're in a call. You can't check them in an office setting without having to look for a headset. You can't see them on a smartwatch etc. And it takes a lot more time to consume the content. I can read in 5 seconds what it takes 60 seconds to speak :)

blendorwhat 6y ago
Thanks GekkePrutser, great observations and valid points here! Honestly, I think that voice messages are not the end-all solution for work communication - I'm treating this more as an addition to text messages. Did you by any chance tried voice messages in your work setting? How did that work out, any specific problems you've encountered?
- GekkePrutser 6y ago
  No we didn't. We use MS Teams pretty much exclusively (it's one of the things I look after). We experimented with MS Teams' Walkie Talkie feature but it requires specific Samsung devices with a Push To Talk button so it was prohibitively expensive. But we always planned for this only in a frontline worker usecase (security, first aid, maintenance etc)

fblp 6y ago

Understood on voice messages substituting written communication - but what about when they substitute synchronous meetings and calls? Sometimes async voice can be better where you can communicate a couple pages of thoughts in a few minute, with tone of voice.

blendorwhat 6y ago
Thanks for the comment fblp, I agree with you here: this depends on the situation - sometimes async voice memo can work better than having called another meeting.
runako 6y ago
> you can communicate a couple pages of thoughts in a few minute The canonical answer to this is for the sender to spend a couple of minutes to distill down those thoughts into less text. This is solved by improved writing.

schlowmo 6y ago

> Voice messages are easier for the producer, but are always more work for the consumer. This is so true especially for long voice messages. I really don't like listening to people thinking aloud about what they want to tell me. I mean...this isn't a suprised-by-voicemail moment, they intentionally decided they wanted to send this voice message in the first place. But it gets even worse if you (like me) don't like sending voice messages. Maybe it's just me, but to reply to a lengthy voice message via text I have to listen to it in parts multiple times to adress every question/topic which was raised in it. I'm totally fine with people calling me, if they prefer voice. But please don't send me voice messages as long you're not in a car or otherwise unable to text and have a real important message. > I very much do not want to be bombarded with voice messages in a professional context. I had one client who started sending me voice messages and it drove me nuts. I realised that most people tend to forget what they said in a voice message faster then via other means.

dannyw 6y ago
I have a close friend who does this often, and she says it come from her ADHD. She find it difficult to type long messages. I believe her.
EGreg 6y ago
Actually EVERYTHING that is easier for the producer is harder for the consumer, and basically given that an average produced item would have a nontrivial number of consumers, every corner you cut has a massive cost for everyone else. There should be a technology that can automate all the kinds of things a producer can do to make it easier for consumers to search, discover, remix and collaborate with git and so on. Maybe start a company to do that?

daniellarusso 6y ago

Anybody remember the voice-memo gadgets of the 80s, 90s, or 00s?

blendorwhat 6y ago

Hi the_duke, thanks for your feedback, all your concerns are on point. If not a secret, did you/your team use any type of voice messaging maybe? I'm trying to find different use cases so we could anticipate any possible issues/bottlenecks down the road. Thanks in advance!

tanelpoder 6y ago

We built a similar app for asynch 1-1 & group voice chat (back in 2010 or so, it was called Voicee). Found exactly the same thing (even when we/founders were developing it and knew how to use it). It's so much easier to keep blabbing and that will put the burden on the listener(s) to spend time & focus on playing it. We didn't have audio transcription, so this may change the game a bit. So, if the sender can't (or doesn't want to) type at the moment, could reply to an otherwise text stream via voice. When we started, iMessage, WhatsApp didn't have asynch voice capability, but now they do - I guess having transcription always enabled would be a differentiator. But in general (a request that I ignored for too long), you'll have to have texting capability in your app too, otherwise people will gravitate towards whatever allows them to read & type without distracting others with playing audio...