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CLC number: TP311.5

On-line Access: 2024-08-27

Received: 2023-10-17

Revision Accepted: 2024-05-08

Crosschecked: 2022-01-30

Cited: 0

Clicked: 3054

Citations:  Bibtex RefMan EndNote GB/T7714

 ORCID:

Shuyue LI

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6009-1707

Ting LIU

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7600-0934

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Frontiers of Information Technology & Electronic Engineering  2022 Vol.23 No.5 P.749-762

http://doi.org/10.1631/FITEE.2100467


How to manage a task-oriented virtual assistant software project: an experience report


Author(s):  Shuyue LI, Jiaqi GUO, Yan GAO, Jianguang LOU, Dejian YANG, Yan XIAO, Yadong ZHOU, Ting LIU

Affiliation(s):  Faculty of Electronic and Information Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China; more

Corresponding email(s):   lishuyue1221@stu.xjtu.edu.cn, jasperguo2013@stu.xjtu.edu.cn, yan.gao@microsoft.com, jlou@microsoft.com, dejian.yang@microsoft.com, yan.xiao@microsoft.com, ydzhou@xjtu.edu.cn, tingliu@mail.xjtu.edu.cn

Key Words:  Experience report, Software project management, Virtual assistant, Machine learning


Shuyue LI, Jiaqi GUO, Yan GAO, Jianguang LOU, Dejian YANG, Yan XIAO, Yadong ZHOU, Ting LIU. How to manage a task-oriented virtual assistant software project: an experience report[J]. Frontiers of Information Technology & Electronic Engineering, 2022, 23(5): 749-762.

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journal="Frontiers of Information Technology & Electronic Engineering",
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pages="749-762",
year="2022",
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Abstract: 
Task-oriented virtual assistants are software systems that provide users with a natural language interface to complete domain-specific tasks. With the recent technological advances in natural language processing and machine learning, an increasing number of task-oriented virtual assistants have been developed. However, due to the well-known complexity and difficulties of the natural language understanding problem, it is challenging to manage a task-oriented virtual assistant software project. Meanwhile, the management and experience related to the development of virtual assistants are hardly studied or shared in the research community or industry, to the best of our knowledge. To bridge this knowledge gap, in this paper, we share our experience and the lessons that we have learned at managing a task-oriented virtual assistant software project at Microsoft. We believe that our practices and the lessons learned can provide a useful reference for other researchers and practitioners who aim to develop a virtual assistant system. Finally, we have developed a requirement management tool, named SpecSpace, which can facilitate the management of virtual assistant projects.

管理面向任务的虚拟助手软件系统的经验性研究

李姝玥1,郭家琪1,高妍2,楼建光2,杨德建2,肖炎2,周亚东1,刘烃1
1西安交通大学电子与信息工程学院,中国西安市,710049
2微软亚洲研究院,中国北京市,100080
摘要:面向任务的虚拟助手是为用户提供自然语言接口以完成特定领域任务的软件系统。随着近年来自然语言处理和机器学习技术的发展,越来越多面向任务的虚拟助手产品开始涌现。由于自然语言理解这一问题的复杂性和困难性,管理一个面向任务的虚拟助手软件项目具有挑战性。同时,据我们所知,与虚拟助手开发相关的管理和经验在学术界和工业界都少有研究或分享。为填补这空白,本文分享了我们在微软开发一项虚拟助手产品过程中的管理经验和教训。相信我们的经验和教训能为研究人员和相关从业者提供宝贵参考。最后,设计了一个需求管理工具SpecSpace,对我们虚拟助手项目的管理有很大帮助。

关键词:经验报告;软件项目管理;虚拟助手;机器学习

Darkslateblue:Affiliate; Royal Blue:Author; Turquoise:Article

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