Workshop
A Brave New Voice-First World: Ideating and Designing a voice application for Alexa and Google Assistant
Brielle Nickoloff
Ideate and design a voice application from the ground up!
Part 1 of the workshop guides attendees through the product ideation phase of launching a voice first experience. We will brainstorm use case ideas, work though which ones are suited for Voice First and which ones are not, discuss the elements of a good Voice First fit, and how to systematically think through a use case to assess its viability. The participants will gather in groups and will, by the end of the workshop, define the functional requirements for a minimally viable product.
Part 2 focuses on designing an effective and highly usable voice first experience that could be consumed on either of the two main voice platforms, Alexa and Google Assistant. Brielle will go over the core principles behind great Voice First design, and then will work with the participants to help them design a voice flow based on the functional requirements fleshed out in the ideation session.
At the end, participants will have developed scripts that outline a happy path and other paths that don’t follow an ideal flow. Participants can then choose to act out their scenarios in front of the group, choosing one participant to play the user and one to play Alexa!
Workshop tickets are sold separately from other conference events.
Outline
Introduction to Voice First /Why is this relevant? - (presentation/discussion - 30 min)
Ideation of Voice First applications /finding use cases that are a good fit (workshop- 30 min)
Naming your voice skill- (workshop 20 min)
Break (20 min)
Writing to be heard: How voice design differs from “writing” /an introduction to voice design best practices - (presentation/discussion - 30 min)
Designing your voice application’s happy path (workshop - 30 min)
Designing for “other” paths (workshop - 30 min)
Introduction to Voice research techniques (presentation/discussion - 20 min)
Refining your voice application using research (workshop- 15 min)
Presentations/constructive critiques of each team’s voice application! (workshop -15 min)
Target audience
Anyone that has the desire to learn about voice user experiences and participate in ideating and designing a conversational flow. No prerequisites. No prior design or voice development experience needed!
About the speaker
Brielle Nickoloff
I began my career as a Voice UX designer and have since transitioned into a lead Product role at Witlingo, a Washington D.C. Voice First startup. Witlingo’s product makes it possible for anyone to easily deliver a voice presence onto The Voice First Web -- as accessed via platforms like Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Assistant. Prior, I earned dual Bachelor’s degrees in Linguistics and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Much of my research in the conversational design space began with a closer look at the ways one’s emotional reaction to a voice interface is notably more inflated than reactions to other types of user interfaces. As a leadership member of Women in Voice and a guest lecturer at the University of Maryland, I advocate for better awareness of emerging career paths like Voice UX design within the broader field of design.