UX Internship | Amazon

Identifying gaps in Alexa Personality’s Adaptive-Content Management System.

Time

12 Weeks

Team

Alexa Personality

Role

Research
UX
Visual

Deliverables

Figma Prototype

I designed a gap explorer feature to help Alexa experience builders to identify and address gaps in content.

I had the pleasure of working on the Alexa Personality team as an UX Design Intern for the summer of 2021. Alexa Personality team creates and serves non-factual and personable responses through the Adaptive-Content Management System (A-CMS). I was able to learn from and work with an incredible team of designers, researchers, writers, developers, project managers, and scientists spanning across the US and international locales.

Disclaimer: Due to the confidentiality agreement, I am unable to share the details of my work here, but don’t hesitate to contact me to discuss my work!

PROBLEM

As an experience builder, I am unable to identify and address gaps that exist within the content I create.

Solution

Gap Explorer

A one-stop tool to help identify & address content gaps.
Flexibly explore existing and future gaps depending on user preferences
Quickly understand what the gap is, why it is occurring, and how to address it at a glance
Easily understand which gaps to prioritize based on metric data

Process

RESULTS

Improved functionality by 85% with high-fidelity Figma prototype in usability studies.
I integrated feedback from Alexa designers, developers, research scientists, and project managers to create 7 design iterations and delivered a full design of the gap explorer dashboard, alongside logic flows, reimagined main flows, and personas.

In my usability study with 7 internal users, I found that:
0/7 users were satisfied their current ability to identify gaps.
With Gap Explorer, 6/7 users were satisfied with their ability to identify gaps.
A user shared: “This will not only tell me here there are gaps, what is contributing to gaps, and links to address the gaps. Not just for live content as well, but it’s telling me of potential issues and it’s anticipating gaps. This is super helpful.”

LEARNINGS

There is so much to learn, and not enough time.
Although it was difficult to initially grasp the complexities of A-CMS and the intricacies within content creation processes, it was rewarding to deepen my knowledge in a domain specific field. I also enjoyed furthering my UX design skills such as reducing bias in testing, communicating designs, and providing clear rationales for design.
Additionally, I was able to take on additional endeavors such as learning VUI design through Alexa Voice Academy, launching a Kid’s Hi/Hello experiment, and working on a Kid’s Goodnight experiment. I loved being able to learn about a multitude of things, and I wished my internship was longer so that I could continue to satisfy my curiosity.
Simple is best.
Throughout the course of the summer, I learned how to focus on customer needs by taking something complicated and making it simpler. There were times when I had to let go of more complex designs that I had previously put a lot of a lot of work into, and be open to move towards a simpler design that better prioritized the needs of the customers.
Move quickly with purpose.
Given that I only had a short time here at Amazon to complete my project, I had to prioritize based on the rapidly upcoming deadlines. Prioritization was a huge self-learning here, especially in relation to advocating design decision with rationales based on users.
Collaboration is key.
Sourcing feedback was a phenomenal experience as I got to work with both US and international teams, as well as BI and engineering teams. I really valued learning about weighing both technical practicality and customer benefits, alongside being able to ensure various use cases were met in my designs throughout the iterative process.
All of these learnings would not have been possible without a lot of help—and I am incredibly grateful for all the feedback, advice, and support that my manager Toby Barnes, my mentor Celine Park, and my design lead Christine Hill provided throughout the entirety of this summer.

Thanks for reading!

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