Overview
Voice is a mainstream input method (here to stay) that is enabling interaction for many visually or physically impaired people, and is making our interactions with the world more natural and conversational.
Voice interactions are easier, faster, more memorable, and more emotionally positive than text interactions, because the human brain is optimised for voice, and not for typing or reading text. People find voice more convenient and like the immediacy and conciseness of voice-activated answers.
Those answers can come from many different Voice or Virtual Assistants (VA) like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Samsung Bixby, Apple’s Siri, Microsoft Cortana, etc. They each have their own Conversational User Interface (CUI) and can be interacted with via smart speakers, mobile apps, cars, and all kinds of connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices like fridges and microwaves.
Expertise:
- Market & Benchmark Research – delivering in-depth, well-illustrated, clear reports of who uses which Voice Assistant (VA) where, when, and why
- Ideation / Use Case Research – facilitating workshops with the appropriate mix of stakeholders, guerrilla testing, card sorting, etc.; generating ideas; and prioritising ideas on suitability (why ‘Voice’), feasibility, viability, commercial benefits, and customer needs
- Voice User Experience Design (VUX) – Dialogue design (considering all ‘if-then-else’ situations of actual usage), Voice tests with Echosim & My Pronunciation Teacher, Rapid Prototyping with Voiceflow, etc.
- User Research – gathering and analysing qualitative data (via user forums and surveys) and quantitative data (via store and website analytics)
- Training / Presentation – enlighten & delight stakeholders, colleagues, staff, and end users, to support and onboard everyone
Examples
TUI – 3 Alexa Skills (Voice Apps)
Voice apps to help choose, prepare for – and look forward to – your holiday.
For my ‘TUI Voice’ strategy research, I created 3 apps for smart speakers with Amazon’s Voice Assistant (VA) ‘Alexa’, which launched publically, and were trialed by TUI customers during the 30 days before their holiday departure:
- TUI Holiday Countdown (countdown + practical well-timed preparation tip + inspirational destination tip) – Alexa Skill (Voice App):
It gained almost 3x as many users as trial respondents (although niche: only for a September trip to 1 of 3 destinations); 100% of all respondents would recommend and re-use the skill, having found it relevant and useful; and – after returning home – many felt that it had enhanced their holiday experience, and felt cared-for by TUI - TUI Travel News (inspiration) – Alexa Flash Briefing (Voice Broadcast):
It gained 4x as many users as trial respondents, and 75% of respondents would recommend it, even though its content wasn’t ideal during the trial - TUI Deals (enticing offers) – Alexa Flash Briefing (Voice Broadcast):
It gained 6x as many users as trial respondents, and although all respondents were about to go on holiday (they weren’t looking for deals), 81% would still recommend and use it again
I went many extra miles, constantly adapting the skills to changing demands, and – besides writing, testing, and prioritising the daily spoken texts almost single-handedly – also created content for the daily Alexa cards that were pushed to users’ phones with each Voice output (valuable references for before & during the trip, with useful URls that could sometimes generate revenue) – and linked each Flash Briefing card to its own WordPress webpage (to visit at anytime) with yet another content (with more info & useful follow-up links that could also sometimes generate revenue).
My role (mostly single-handedly):
- Benchmark Research – Why, when, where, and who uses which VA how
- Use Case Research – Workshops, Guerrilla testing, Card sorting, etc.
- Mentoring – Advocate ‘TUI Voice’ and ‘Innovation’ to onboard stakeholders
- Feasibility – Adjust continuously to IT, Information Security & Legal needs
- VUX (Voice User Experience Design) – Dialogue design, Voice tests with Echosim & My Pronunciation Teacher, Prototyping with Voiceflow, etc.
- Content Creation – Optimised for Voice, Card, and Webpage outputs
- Skill Coding & Launch – Manage an external coding agency for this aspect
- User Research (Qualitative) – Collaborate with TUI experts & agency Sparkler to invite TUI customers to the trial, and gather continuous feedback via an online user forum, and by surveys before & after
- Usage Research (Quantitative) – Collate and Analyse data from the Alexa Store (users, sessions, utterances), 2 Flash Briefing Websites (visits), TUI website (visits from the 2 sites), and the user forum & surveys
- Strategy & Roadmap – Analyse outcomes, formulate recommendations, and present them in my ‘TUI Voice’ strategy doc to many stakeholders in several countries, with a clear holistic roadmap for the future
- Promotion – My project (and passion for Voice & Innovation) enthused so many TUI stakeholders (across several source markets) that I was interviewed about it in the TUI magazine, printed for millions of customers, and digitally available here: Tell me what I want