“Alexa, good morning” is the new Google Doodle. How to win at voice.
“Alexa, Good morning” is the first thing I say each morning — knowing that I’ll invariably learn something, perhaps be uplifted and usually entertained … all in half a minute. It’s a positive way to start the day.
It’s the new Google Doodle — a daily celebration of an event, holiday, achievement or person.
Recent gems have included:
Good morning. The TV series “Lassie” premiered on this day in 1954. Contrary to popular belief, the famous furry friend never rescued poor Timmy from a well. But she did pull him from lakes, mines, and even quicksand. I wonder if Timmy’s parents ever considered moving.
Or :
Good morning! Today parts of the US will experience the first solar eclipse in 38 years. I think I’ll watch it from the dark side of the moon, while cranking Total Solar Eclipse… of the heart!
Similar greetings have celebrated the autumn equinox, the Suffragettes movement and even Eid Al Adha. Though my all-time favourite still remains:
Good morning, it’s National Relaxation Day. Seems to me like it would do better on a Saturday, but I don’t write the calendars. I just keep track of them. Anyway, make sure to take some time to kick back and relax. You deserve it!
Thanks, Alexa, I’m glad somebody recognizes it.
By comparison, “Siri, Good morning” will reward you with a trite “Good morning, it’s 8:30”. Thanks Siri, good to speak with you too — have a wonderful day.
Meanwhile, Google Home automates some variation of the following:
Good morning, Bob. It’s 7.20am. Currently in Dubai it’s 34 degrees and sunny. Today it will be clear with a forecasted high of 44. Your commute to work is currently 12 minutes with light traffic if you take the E20.
At first blush, this may appear more useful than the Alexa morning greeting but personally as somebody with predictable weather & commute times, it’s of no use to me. I’d rather be uplifted with a little of humour and variety first thing in the morning. I can ask Alexa for my traffic update after breakfast.
Comparing the differing approaches of Alexa, Siri and Google to this daily use case, consider the following when you create your voice-activated services:
1. Don’t automate everything by default.
Engineers are naturally inclined to build solutions to avoid repetitive work … the first thing which would have crossed many a developer’s mind when tasked with creating a morning greeting is to return a random greeting from a list (e.g. ‘hey’, ‘good morning’) and plug into APIs for the weather and traffic. i.e. exactly what Google did.
By contrast, undertaking to write unique, interesting, relevant and witty copy for each day is much more work. It’s a commitment.
Don’t be afraid of things which don’t scale. They surprise & delight. They create brand personality and evangelists.
This is how you win.
2. Create habit-forming experiences.
How many brands do you actively, proactively engage with each and every day? Which coffee brand doesn’t wish they owned that Good Morning greeting?
This is the epitome of retention, engagement, loyalty, stickiness, whatever you want to call it.
Want the low-hanging fruit ? Think “day part”. Own a daily moment in the day. Unfortunately, those opportunities are disappearing very fast.
3. Invest in words.
Great copy has long been that indefinable yet under-rated ingredient which makes a super user experience complete. Unfortunately, however, it’s too often left as an afterthought in the UX workflow.
The conversational UI is all about the message. Start with the words, the flow.
In the meantime, hats off to whomever writes those Good Morning ditties for Alexa … know that they’re well appreciated. Thank you.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com on September 25, 2017.
