Cooking With Roux
Role: UX Researcher and Voice Interface Designer
Client: CareerFoundry UX Design (Academic)
Timeline: 3 weeks
Tools: Figma, Alexa Developer Console, Miro, Google Sheets
Cooking With Roux is an Alexa Skill that allows users to find and cook recipes through voice navigation only. Due to time limitations, sample dialogues contain features that weren't a part of the final script. This project exhibits my ability to work with limited information, testing and iterating to make progress. The skill combines my interests in research, design, and cooking, all in one place.
FileView the final voice script for Cooking With Roux
Define
Assumptions - Due to time limitations, assumptions were made for the following:
- Users of the app for the creation of a proto-persona
- Users' speaking style for the creation of the system persona
- General user needs prior to interviews
I established my user persona, Morgan, and my system persona, Roux, to reference throughout the project.
User needs and stories were defined, focusing on primary functionalities someone like Morgan might need during daily interactions with Roux.
I then wrote sample dialogues between our user and the system persona Roux. The sample dialogues would help me consider necessary functionalities and future design choices.
Expanding on my sample dialogues, I considered what a complete experience between our user Morgan and Roux might look like with multiple requests. The exchange below demonstrates functionalities added to the user flow and how they might naturally flow in conversation.
Using this, I finalized the user flow for Cooking With Roux. View the user flow here.
With the user flow, I wrote a script including utterances and prompts that I would transfer to the Alexa Developer Console. I further iterated on this using proactive information strategies and tapered prompts.
User Testing
I prepared five (5) moderated in-person Wizard of Oz usability tests and recruited participants through my professional network. The participant would communicate with me directly, and I would respond to them as Roux within the confines of the voice script. This type of test would allow me to gather data on how users were trying to find recipes and their speaking styles without spending the development time upfront.
I compiled audio transcripts and synthesized the data into an affinity map. View the affinity map here.
Using the affinity map, I created a rainbow spreadsheet to assist with pinpointing areas for improvement. You can view the rainbow spreadsheet here.
Based on the testing results, I added utterances for more polite wording such as "may I," provided instructions for handling compound ingredient requests, and error instruction that keeps users progressing.
FileView the final voice script for Cooking With RouxReflect
This project familiarized me with voice interface design principles and developing for systems such as Alexa. If I had more time, I would have preferred to research the user's needs and speaking styles instead of making assumptions. It was a positive experience to make decisions to progress and investigate through testing shortly after.
