Amazon

Designing voice user interface for Alexa Together

Petek Basibuyuk x Saskia Aryono x Shreyans Baid

Overview

This project focuses on creating a voice interaction system for Amazon Alexa tailored to support multi-generational families in the United States. The aim is to foster collaborative caregiving by leveraging Alexa's voice capabilities to streamline communication, caregiving responsibilities, and accessibility for all family members, regardless of age or technical proficiency.

Summary:

Designed a hands-free task coordination feature for caregivers, enhancing collaboration and task management within caregiving networks for aging in place

Impact

Voice Interaction Designer

Duration

3 Months (External engagement studio)

Summary:

Designed a hands-free task coordination feature for caregivers, enhancing collaboration and task management within caregiving networks for aging in place

Impact

Voice Interaction Designer

Duration

3 Months (External engagement studio)

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Project Background

Our Amazon project enhances collaborative caregiving in multi-generational families by integrating voice interactions into the Alexa Together ecosystem. Voice offers a natural, screen-free way for care recipients, especially those aging in place, to engage with technology effortlessly. This feature creates a more holistic experience, fostering connection and simplifying caregiving for families.

Challenge

Multi-generational families often face challenges in coordinating caregiving responsibilities, managing schedules, and sharing updates across generations. These issues are amplified by diverse needs, preferences, and technology access levels.

Objective

To design an intuitive voice interaction system using Amazon Alexa that bridges the communication gap and simplifies caregiving for multi-generational families.

Stakeholders

Elderly family members requiring care.
Primary caregivers managing responsibilities.
Secondary caregivers who provide occasional assistance.
Younger tech-savvy family members who support technology adoption.

Research Insights

Insights

Communication gaps: Families often lack real-time updates about caregiving activities.
Technology barriers: Elderly family members find apps or interfaces overwhelming.
Coordination struggles: Delegating and tracking caregiving tasks is time-intensive.

Opportunity

✦ Opportunity

Alexa Together provides a natural, voice-first platform to streamline caregiving coordination.

Design Solution- Core features

Design Solution-
Core features

Care Log Updates

Family members can add updates by voice   
e.g., "Alexa, add a note that Mom's medicine was given at 10 AM".
Automatically shared with all family members.

Task Assignment & Reminders:

Users can assign caregiving tasks within the circle of support.  
e.g., "Alexa, remind John to take Dad to his doctor appointment tomorrow at   3 PM".

Shared Calendar Integration:

Alexa syncs caregiving schedules with Google Calendar or Apple Calendar for the entire family.

Alexa syncs caregiving schedules with Google Calendar or Apple Calendar for the entire family.

Voice User Interface (VUI) Design

Voice User Interface Design

The role of Voice User Interface (VUI) design in making the Alexa Together Task Coordination feature user-friendly and efficient.

Natural Language Understanding (NLU):

Prioritize conversational and intuitive interactions to minimize learning curves.

— Design Principles

Context Awareness:

Alexa adapts responses based on user history and current conversation context.

Error Handling:

Proactively guide users when commands are unclear.

Efficiency:

Streamline tasks to require minimal input from users, reducing time to task completion.

Design Principles

Turn-Taking Mechanism:

Alexa maintains a natural flow in conversations by clearly signaling when the user should respond.

Example:
After asking “What’s the task?” Alexa pauses, waits for input, and confirms the task before proceeding.

Error Recovery:

If the user provides ambiguous input, Alexa clarifies without causing frustration.

Example:

User: “Create a task for groceries.”

Alexa: “Do you want to assign this task to someone?”

Proactive Assistance

Alexa suggests additional actions to streamline task coordination.

Example:
“Would you like me to remind Mike an hour before the deadline?”

Personalization:

Alexa remembers frequent tasks and preferences.

Example:
User: “Create the usual grocery task.”

Alexa: “Task created for Mike to pick up groceries. Deadline set for Saturday, 5 PM, as per your usual schedule.”

— Key Components of VUI Design

Key Components of VUI Design

Task Mappings

Task mapping provides a clear blueprint for how users interact with Alexa during task coordination. It ensures seamless transitions between user commands, Alexa responses, and task outcomes while minimizing friction.