Examining users' partial query modification patterns in voice search

This article investigates how to improve the effectiveness of voice search systems. Earlier research found that participants employed voice search much less frequently than keyboard search. The main reasons that participants disliked voice search are system mistakes and the inability to modify queries. In keyboard search, query reformulation is facilitated by partial query modification, which is not supported by most of the current voice search systems. Consequently, users need to speak the complete query in voice search even with only minor changes. This article focuses on examining partial query modification during voice search through a Wizard of Oz user experiment. It examines if users would prefer partial query modification and how they perform it in voice search. Thirty‐two participants participated in the experiment. Results indicated that when given the opportunity, the users performed more partial query modifications than complete queries. Common partial query modification strategies and patterns emerged from the experiment. The results can be used to improve the voice search system design and benefit the research community in general. System implications and future work were discussed.