Programming Voice Interfaces

Chapter 6. What Else Can We Do?

As you can imagine by now, there are myriad ways we can grow our voice-enabled product. We can add more inputs (e.g., sensors) and add more outputs (e.g., a digital display or different types of LEDs). Alternatively, we can also create variations of our product or expand the product line, as Amazon has done with Echo and Alexa. Initially, there was just Echo and Alexa, then Alexa appeared in Fire TV, then Echo Dot, Echo Tap, Echo Look, Dash Wand, Echo Show, and a number of other Amazon products, not to mention all the third-party Alexa-enabled devices.

We do this by first understanding how the product will be used and how to elevate that experience. For instance, does adding a motion sensor help the user experience or make it worse? Does adding a screen or extra buttons improve the overall experience and if so how would they be used? The best way to answer all these questions is to create variations of your product and get beta testers involved. Invite your friends and family over to play with the device to gather feedback. That feedback loop is critical to the success of your device. Even if you will be the only user of the device you’re building, it’s helpful to have other people test it—they can provide you with insight you wouldn’t have otherwise thought of on your own.

There are a number of IoT sensors out there that you can use. Here’s a short list of sensors you might want to consider playing with—do some research and experiment with how ...