Two mobile mockups of the Type with Alexa messaging experience, one shows the default message of 'Hi Sarah, how can I help?' and the second is a conversation where the user asks Alexa to play musicTwo mobile mockups of the Type with Alexa messaging experience, one shows the default message of 'Hi Sarah, how can I help?' and the second is a conversation where the user asks Alexa to play musicTwo mobile mockups of the Type with Alexa messaging experience, one shows the default message of 'Hi Sarah, how can I help?' and the second is a conversation where the user asks Alexa to play music

Type with Alexa

  • Strategies:

  • Design Thinking, Competitive Analysis, Personas, Wireframing, Pattern Library

  • Timeline:

  • Jun - Aug 2020

  • Tools used:

  • Sketch

Strategies: Design Thinking, Competitive Analysis, Personas, Wireframing, Pattern Library

Timeline: Jun - Aug 2020

Tools used: Sketch

In the summer of 2020, I interned virtually at Amazon on the Amazon Devices Design Group (DDG).

During the 12-week internship, I focused on customer experience and future vision for the new Type with Alexa feature, which launched in the Alexa app in November 2020.

On the side, I also participated in an Alexa Hackathon, pairing with a product manager and engineering to deliver user flows for a demo in just 2 days, and supported the Alexa Comms team with design exploration and production for other 2020 projects.

Type with Alexa

Type with Alexa lets customers on iOS in the English-US region interact with Alexa using texting in the Alexa App when voice is not a good option (ex. loud public environment) and gives people with speech difficulties the ability to interact with Alexa on their smartphone.

You can read more about the Type with Alexa launch via The Verge, The Ambient, or Voiceboy.ai.

A mobile chat interface with an AI assistant asking 'Hi, how can I help?'

In addition to the Type with Alexa launch design, I also worked on concepts exploring future opportunities in this space. This included looking beyond the initial customer experience to think big about how to become a more useful mobile assistant, connecting to Alexa’s device ecosystem, and adding new features/rich content to better serve customer needs.

My process included stakeholder interviews, competitive auditing, collaborative sketching & storyboarding, UI mockups and a final high fidelity vision presentation demonstrating a day in the life of a customer using the future Alexa Assistant in the mobile app.

Due to NDA, I am unable to publicly show my design process or final deliverables. However, feel free to contact me via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to discuss this project more in detail in an interview!

Other Projects

As mentioned earlier, I also was able to design for the Alexa Comms team, working on Alexa Invites and Alexa Announcements (and I can show more of my designs from these projects!!).

Alexa Invites

On December 7, 2020, Amazon launched Alexa Invites in the Alexa app in the US region. With this launch, Alexa customers can invite their friends and family to also get Alexa for video calling, music sharing and more; no device required.

Invites are sent through a contact's page via SMS with an invite link.

Mobile interface of a fictional contact named Adam Smith on the Alexa App. There is a button that reads 'Invite Adam to Alexa'

Step 1 - Contact page

New iMessage with fictional contact Adam Smith. The text preview that hasn't been sent yet reads 'Let's connect on the Alexa app! We can video call, message, and more.' followed by a fake link to download the Alexa mobile app

Step 2 - Send invite link

When the invite recipient taps on the link, they are brought to the app store to install the Alexa app and set up Comms. Once the invitee completes set up, they see a card to start communicating with the person who invited them to Alexa.

Interface of the Communications tab on the Alexa mobile app. There is an incoming invitation from a fictional contact Eliana Feigelstock

Step 1 - Comms channel

Interface of a takeover screen that reads 'Eliana has invited you to connect. Accept the invite to start using Alexa Communications with Eliana.' There are two call-to-action buttons, one to dismiss and one to accept.

Step 2 - Open invite

Mockup of a conversation thread in the Communications tab, The receiver's side says 'Eliana has invited you to connect!' and the sender's side says 'Adam accepts your invite to connect'

Step 3 - Message

An alternative design flow for this process.

Interface of the Communications tab on the Alexa mobile app. There is an incoming invitation from a fictional contact Eliana Feigelstock

Step 1 - Comms channel

Interface of a takeover screen that reads 'Eliana has invited you to connect. Accept the invite to start using Alexa Communications with Eliana.' There are two call-to-action buttons, one to dismiss and one to accept.

Step 2 - Open invite

Mockup of a conversation thread in the Communications tab, the receiver's end reads 'New invitation: Eliana has invited you to connect!' followed by another message 'You accepted Eliana's Alexa Invite!'

Step 3 - Message

Alexa Announcements

Now with Alexa Announcements, on the mobile app, you can add sound effects to your devices!

Interface of an announcement on the Alexa mobile app, there is a text prompt to type an announcement with a carousel of suggested sound effects
Interface of an announcement on the Alexa mobile app with a pulled up list of sound effects a user can add

I was able to design some alternative interfaces for this experience. This is version 1.

Alexa Announcement screen with a text prompt for users to type an announcement and a button to add sounds

Step 1 - Open Announcements

Alexa Announcement screen with a list of sound effects with sound previews

Step 2 - Open sound effects list

Alexa Announcement screen with some sound effects typed out

Step 3 - Preview sound effects

Version 2

Alexa Announcement screen with a text prompt for users to type an announcement and a button to add sounds

Step 1 - Open Announcements

Alexa Announcement that reads 'I'm on my way home' and a list of sound effects to users to add to their announcement

Step 2 - Open sound effects list

Alexa Announcement that reads 'I'm on my way home' with some sound effects typed out

Step 3 - Preview sound effects

Conclusion

I cherished every moment of my internship at Amazon Alexa, connecting with people remotely and learning strategy and pattern libraries was crucial in shaping my design career path. Once again, if you’d like to learn more about my work at Amazon feel free to contact me via email.

Check out some other projects: