It used to be the case that we only spoke to computers in their language. But more and more often, we’re interacting with them in ours. We are moving quickly into a world of computer conversation, and one in which, for many applications, the most natural interactions will be through spoken language. But how do you create engaging narrative and compelling, organic conversational interactions using the imprecise tools of speech recognition and intent resolution? In this session, we look at the experience as a whole and take you through key learnings that you can use when building your skills. We cover issues like knowing your audience, creating compelling storylines, using a cast of characters, integrating voiceover, designing a soundscape, and finding those “magic moments”. For each of these, we share the design pattern, the backing AI or physiological science, and how to implement the experience with Alexa.
The Art and Science of Conversation Applied to Alexa Skills - ALX303 - re:Invent 2017
1. AWS re:INVENT
THE AR T AND S C IENC E OF C ONV ER S ATION AP P LIED TO
ALEXA S KIL LS
A M I T J O T W A N I ( A M A Z O N A L E X A )
A L X 3 0 3 : B R E A K O U T
D A N I E L L E F R I M E R ( P U L L S T R I N G )
L U C A S I V E S ( P U L L S T R I N G )
J A S O N H A B E R ( P U L L S T R I N G )
11. CONVERSATIONAL DESIGN:
PROCESS AND PRACTICES
DANIELLE FRIMER
CONVERSATIONAL DESIGNER, PULLSTRING
LUCAS IVES
HEAD OF CONVERSATION ENGINEERING, PULLSTRING
JASON HABER
PROGRAM DIRECTOR, PULLSTRING
12.
13.
14.
15. CASE STUDY: BOSCH
From prompt
• who’s your audience?
• what’s your source material?
• do your research
To pitch
16. PITCH (EXCERPT)
“Annabelle Crowe leaves a voicemail for Bosch: her friend Nora is in trouble. Nora
was having some issues with… a client, a married guy who said he wanted to
leave his family to be with her. […] Nobody’s been able to track Nora down for
days, and Annabelle’s worried something really bad has happened. Could Bosch
look into it?
You (the user) are a new recruit at the bureau. You’ve been there just a few weeks.
Bosch briefs you on the situation and asks you to handle it – discreetly.”
22. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
• User as scene partner
• The Zen of Fallbacks
• What they are
• How to use them
23. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
• User as scene partner
• The Zen of Fallbacks
• What they are
• How to use them
• Global Interjections
• What they are
• How to use them
24. TESTING STRATEGY
• Debug while you write
• ASR specific testing
• Testing & scope
• Value of user testing
27. SCOPING CONSIDERATIONS
Alexa skill development time, with TTS
Alexa skill development time, with Voice Talent & Sound Design
Development Time (TTS)
Development Time (TTS)
+Additional Time
(Voice Talent)
SkillLaunch
StartDate
28. SCOPING CONSIDERATIONS
Alexa skill development time, with TTS
Alexa skill development time, with Voice Talent & Sound Design
Alexa skill development time, with Voice Talent & Sound Design - Optimized
Development Time (TTS)
Development Time (TTS)
+Additional Time
(Voice Talent)
Development Time (TTS) Scoping & Optimization
SkillLaunch
StartDate
29. BUDGETING CONSIDERATIONS
● Writing
● Engineering Support/Solutions Architect
● QA
● Submission Support
● Production
● Writing
Engineering Support/Solutions Architect
QA
Submission Support
Production
● + Audio Engineering and Editing
● + Audio Design (Music, Sound Effects)
● + Voice Talent
● + Additional Overhead
● + Additional QA
Alexa skill with Voice TalentAlexa skill with TTS
30. SCHEDULING CONSIDERATIONS
Alexa skill with TTS
Alexa skill with Voice Talent & Sound Design
Design Production QA Submission
Design
Audio Design + Music/Sfx
Production QA Submission
Recording Audio Editing/Polish
31. SCHEDULING CONSIDERATIONS
Design
Audio Design + Music/Sfx
Production QA Submission
Recording Audio Editing/Polish
Locking VO Script
Timing of
Recording Sessions
Submission vs Launch
AssetsAudio Design Input
33. GOAL IS TO UNIFY…
• Content
• Intent
• Context
34. DEEPLY INTEGRATED CONTEXT
• Context on Alexa
• flat intent list
• usually match something
• no way to disable intents
35. • Context on Alexa
• flat intent list
• usually match something
• no way to disable intents
• Better scenario:
• aware of exact location in flow, not just previous turn
• only a handful of intents are active (+ globals)
• context-specific fallbacks
DEEPLY INTEGRATED CONTEXT
44. THANK YOU!
A L X 3 0 3 : B R E A K O U T
A M I T J O T W A N I ( A M A Z O N A L E X A ) D A N I E L L E F R I M E R ( P U L L S T R I N G )
L U C A S I V E S ( P U L L S T R I N G )
J A S O N H A B E R ( P U L L S T R I N G )