2020’s Voice First Industry –3 Things To Watch
The speed of change occurring in Voice is unlike any other technology before it. Already, we’re beginning to see real changes in the way applications are being created, used, and shared.
2020 is set to be a key year, with 50% of all searches predicted to be by voice. How does the Vixen Labs team see next year panning out?
First, an assessment of where Voice First is now:
We’ve not quite reached the end of the beginning. Voice is well on its way out of R&D departments, and landing on the laps of everyday consumers (as well as brands looking to stay relevant).
Use of assistants and smart speakers is moving from consumption — music, weather, general knowledge — into conversation.
Fewer skills are being made. On the front of it, this doesn’t sound like a positive shift, but it is: voice applications are being created to a higher standard, therefore taking longer to get to market.
Skill discovery is low. The industry isn’t investing a huge amount in marketing itself, and is currently in more of a ‘build it and they will come’ mindset. We shouldn’t be relying on the Alexa Developer Newsletter to get our skills downloaded and utilised.
The next 12 months will see Voice grow from a curiosity into mainstream media.
These are the 3 predictions which Vixen Co-founder James Poulter, reckons will help Voice make that shift…
Prefer to listen? James Poulter, CEO at Vixen Labs, delivered this post as Voice Summit Day 2’s opening keynote. Watch it on Modev’s YouTube:
1 — Voice First 2020 will fight eco-system lock-in and help consumers navigate complexity
As Voice emerges from being the device in the corner of the room and becomes entrenched in consumers’ everyday activities in shopping, search, and home, how can we help users to navigate the complexity?
Part of this is helping the public to understand differences between utterances, actions, and intents, and how to navigate their way around all of the new verbiage which comes with the Voice First shift.
Fighting eco-system lock-in will also play a role. Developers need to focus on creating systems which work well for one another, as well as their primary end-users, in order to create a truly human-friendly experience. We don’t want a repeat of the iOS versus Android battle. The unnecessary friction created won’t help consumers or the industry.
2 — higher-quality experiences will move beyond the low hanging fruit
Creating bad experiences leads to a bad industry. Voice first experiences in 2020 will move past the stages of novelty into true utility.
The top 3 uses of smart speakers are all linked to daily routine. If your brand isn’t already helping users move through their to-dos, then you’re missing out. It’s easier to build on an existing habit than build a new one.
Helping users move through their to-dos, and improving the quality of experiences, will move Voice up the pecking order in media even faster.
3 — Voice in 2020 will be a mindset, not an add-on
Brands serious about entering the voice first industry will build high functioning, well-integrated teams around their own organisational need to provide experiences.
We had this challenge with the mobile, then social, and now with the voice revolution: where does it sit? Well, probably not solely in your marketing department. If, for example, a skill is produced without conversing with the consumer experience team, the e-commerce department, or any other part of the organisation, it’s going to fall flat à la the other short-lived ideas (public Snapchat filter anyone?).
Vixen Labs is Europe’s leading voice strategy consultancy and design studio.
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