Amazon’s Alexa has fundamentally changed the way that users interact with the world around them. This innovative platform enables third parties to leverage the benefits of voice through Amazon’s hardware and cloud ecosystem.
However, designing effective user experiences for voice requires an understanding of the unique characteristics of the medium. At Blink, we leverage a deep knowledge of human language and interaction to understand the expectations that users bring to their conversations with machines.
Why Create an Alexa Skill?
- Deliver an innovative brand experience to your customers – Differentiate your brand with leading edge technology.
- Convenience in context – Alexa’s far-field voice capabilities allow your users to take action when and where they want to (no need to run get a laptop and login).
- To lower learning barriers – Using voice interfaces allow us the ability to communicate with technology on human terms, using effortless language practices we already know and use regularly.
- Create consistency – Users are more regularly expecting consistent experiences across their connected homes, cars, and lives, and voice is a seamless way of bringing this to fruition.
- Improve accessibility – As technology proliferates, so does the need to make our apps, devices, and tools accessible to everyone. Voice is one method of improving accessibility that is truly feasible today.
Blink’s team uses a variety of methods to examine how users interact with specific tasks in real environments. We consider how voice works with other input types, such as touch and gesture, to best meet users’ needs and expectations. Our voice designers identify language requirements and create dialogue models that allow users to talk to their machines without frustration. Our developers then bring those designs to life on various software platforms.
You can read more about one of our Alexa skills for the Washington State Ferry and see it in action via Geekwire.