HEARD

Don't believe the demos you see from top frontier AI companies. Very little of what you see works as advertised. We learned this the hard way as we tried to build a conversational voice AI agent using the latest tech in the space: OpenAI, ElevenLabs, Google Gemini, LiveKit and Vapi. After 6 weeks of building and 50 hours of audio testing, we found that no solution could provide the critical balance of latency, quality and reliability we needed. So, we reverted back to a voice infrastructure using tools that have been around since 2023. Not as flashy, but it actually works. I get why frontier AI companies optimize for flashy demos; showcasing the latest mind-blowing capability is what attracts investment and talent. But I also hope we see more focus on what’s needed to build production-grade applications, much of which comes down to good old-fashioned, “unsexy” software engineering: stable, low latency APIs, debugging tools, and graceful error handling, to name a few. Despite these frustrations, the space is moving *so* fast, and it’s an exciting challenge to build on the cutting edge. In the last week, both ElevenLabs and LiveKit reached out to update us on promising new features that might resolve some the issues we encountered. These teams are working hard and achieving new breakthroughs every day, and we’re excited to continue to collaborate and share feedback. In the meantime, Tristan Jehan wrote a guide on everything we learned so that you don't make the same mistakes we did (link in comments). And if you're building voice AI, we’d love to connect and share notes!

Thanks to John Whalen, PhD for having me on his podcast, #AI4UX. We had a wide ranging conversation, including my path to starting HEARD by Elis and the future of product development as the cost of building software goes to zero.

Need a spark for using #AI in #UX research? Try it for moderation! Our early adopter’s guide is based on first-hand experience with this method. It includes: ~> The AI moderation process? ~> Ideal use cases for this tech ~> Best practices for success ~> A list of recommended tools (like HEARD by Elis , Outset, AskMore, Genway AI, Listen Labs, Strella, and Usercall AI) Plus, we’ve put together a downloadable toolkit of AI resources so you can deploy this tech throughout your workflows. Check it out on our website: https://lnkd.in/gni9Xvhq

?? Announcing our newest report: Product x Research Collaboration ?? Partnering with Kene Anoliefo and the team at HEARD by Elis, we interviewed over 150 Product managers and leaders to learn their hits, misses, and wishes when collaborating with researchers. We uncovered the: 1?? Unique benefits Research brings to Product development 2?? Knowledge gaps Product sees in Research workflows 3?? Friction points slowing down better collaboration 4?? Company-wide impact successful collaboration has This report is perfect for: ~> Researchers looking to strengthen their Product partnership ~> Product folks curious how their peers leverage user insights ~> ReOps specialists trying to empower Product-led research ~> Leaders of Product or Research teams in need of cohesion Our thanks to the respondents who took the time to share their perspective. ?? And stay tuned for part two, which explores the skills, mindsets, and strategies both Product and Research professionals can use to improve product experience outcomes with user insights. #productmanagement #uxresearch #userexperience https://lnkd.in/gJFE4-_3

Want better #UX stakeholder relationships? Treat them like you do a user. We're partnering with HEARD by Elis to investigate how #research and #product teams can collaborate better and more effectively. If YOU work with a product person as part of your job, please share our study link. It only takes about 10 minutes and they'll be entered into a sweepstakes for a $150 gift card for completing. Study link ?? https://lnkd.in/gfdXa8jm

“One of the things I wish I understood earlier about what it takes to be a great product leader is navigating company politics. People who you think are working with you might actually be working against you behind the scenes.” This is just one of the honest insights from our study "Off the Record: An Unfiltered Look into Product Leadership." In partnership with the @ProductLeaderSummit, we used HEARD to interview 150+ CPOs, VPs and Directors of Product to uncover the real experiences behind the role. Our hope was to capture the same type of intimate conversations you might hear from a group of Product Leaders sitting down for drinks: what kind of stories would be shared, complaints aired and advice swapped? Off the Record captured all that and more. From navigating internal politics to leading in the age of AI, this report reveals what it’s really like to be a Product Leader today. Here’s a taste of what we learned: 47% of Product Leaders wish they understood the importance of managing up earlier. 39% want engineers to be more connected to customers. 67% are confident leading in the age of AI. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/gd6xYvfH