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Suzanne Chong
Founder and Product Designer
San Francisco Bay Area

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Amazon Conversational AI



Introduction


Alexa is a voice-enabled assistant that can be accessed through various devices, such as smart speakers, mobile apps, smart earphones, in-car displays, and smart rings. The main idea behind conversational AI is to reduce the number of clicks that a user has to go through to reach a desired product. Rather than selecting a half dozen filters, a user can simply say what they’re looking for in a natural voice utterance.



Objective


Our goal is to create multi-turn voice experiences that address the inspirational and idea needs of our customers with relevant and curated recommendations. Our vision is for Alexa to become the go-to source of "ideas" to help people address life's big and small moments. We want customers to find Alexa an inspirational, trusted, and easy-to-use resource for planning birthday parties, upgrading their coffee machines, starting new hobbies such as gardening or learning new sports, decorating their homes, updating their wardrobes for seasonal changes, or improving their WFH spaces.

My role in this project is to generate creative product ideas and tips to help customers shop more efficiently and effectively with Alexa. These ideas can relate to seasonal events, daily routines, or communal interests shared by families.



Core Insights



  • Customers want to start their shopping journey with inspiration and ideas. Customers tend to search for the actual term “ideas” for a broad set of searches ranging from gift ideas to space decor ideas to summer activity ideas.

  • Customers often feel overwhelmed when attempting to start their gift shopping journey from scratch on Amazon and consider it more of a destination when they already know what they want. Instead, these customers often rely on Google or other competitors to find inspiration.

  • Customers looked for recommendations outside of retail sites. When customers were seeking gift ideas, they looked for what is popular and being purchased by other people for the same occasion.

  • Shopping is an ongoing process, customers are always on the lookout for things they may need in future, always browsing for ideas. It’s a fun process for customers and some consider it learning/awareness instead of shopping.



Launched CX Highlights 

Concept Idea: Alexa, plan a birthday


Kenton, a 10-year-old boy, has a birthday is coming up soon. Lily, his aunt, wants to host a party for him, but she doesn’t have experience hosting a party for a kid and is worried she won’t choose good presents. Alexa helps Lily plan ahead with her family calendar. Lily creates a Sticky with the guest list and tells Alexa what kinds of activities Kenton enjoys. Alexa suggests bakeries nearby, great present ideas, and helps Lily buy all the decorations and gifts needed to host a party.