Alexa for Smartwatches
objective
Support the initial launch of the Alexa App for smart watches
my role
Design exploration
Design definition
Overview
In 2022, the Alexa WearOS app was launched on Fossil watches. This was the first design-supported integration of Alexa onto a smartwatch.
Customers can talk to Alexa by tapping a button onscreen or by setting up a hardware button shortcut. Alexa will answer questions on the watch with a combination of voice and onscreen visuals.
What I Delivered
I was part of a team with a design manager and two other designers. These are the features that I specifically delivered:
Design System
Setup on Device
Fossil Tile
Alexa Responses Onscreen
Music Deeplinking
Alexa Lists
Error States
Research Insights
Before the start of the design process, our team's user researcher ran a diary study with several participants. This was a qualitative study designed to uncover user attitudes about voice assistants on smartwatch.
User needs:
Source: Dscout Wearables Diary Study, 2021
Constraints
Designing for the watch means working within the watch constraints.
Battery life → black background, minimal graphics
Small screen size → minimal content, shallow navigation
On body → privacy, options to silence Alexa
Design Styles
I created the initial design styles for the Alexa smartwatch app, using existing styles for Alexa but adapting them for the watch. This included using the Amazon brand font face, Alexa's brand colors applied minimally onscreen, and spacing and sizing defined using density-independent pixels that can scale to any watch screen size and pixel density.
Amazon font
Limited, Alexa-branded color palette
Density-independent pixels
Design Components
I also created initial components, including button types and states, as well as tap target sizing based on smart watch best practices.
Buttons
Tap targets
Fossil Watch Surfaces
The Alexa app is a third-party application, rather than a native voice assistant like Siri on the Apple watch. I worked to make sure that accessing Alexa was as easy as possible by designing for multiple access points.
Fossil Watch Surfaces
Alexa App Home
To talk to Alexa, users open the app menu, open the Alexa app, then tap a button onscreen to open the microphone.
Fossil watch surfaces
Alexa Tile
Tiles are user-customized screens that can be accessed by swiping left from the home screen. Users who add an Alexa tile can access Alexa with one less tap.
Fossil watch surfaces
Hardware Shortcut
Users can customize the top or bottom button on the side of their watch to open an app of their choice. I worked with engineering to make sure that the Alexa hardware shortcut would open directly to the microphone.
Setup
In the setup happy path, users open the app, grant a few permissions, then switch to their phone to complete setup before returning to the app.
Setup
Handoff to Phone
To help users easily switch between devices, I worked with engineering to create a button on the watch home screen that, when tapped, would open the Alexa app on the user's mobile phone or prompt them to download it from the app store.
setup
Shortcut Configuration
Next, I helped encourage users to set up a hardware button shortcut for Alexa. This is by far the easiest way to talk to Alexa on the watch, so I wanted to give them this option directly as part of the setup process.
Alexa Responses
Talking to Alexa has the same three states on any device. Listening, when the mic is open for user input, thinking while the request is processed, and speaking, when Alexa gives a response. Another designer handled listening and thinking, I was responsible for Alexa responses.
Alexa Responses
Text Size Adjustment
This was an early feature that I explored, giving users the option to resize the text of Alexa’s response. Ultimately, however, I decided against this to minimize the number of tap targets onscreen, err on the side of better accessibility with larger text sizes by default.
Alexa responses
Re-Invoke Button
This feature I created helps users easily re-engage regardless of how they initially spoke to Alexa. Users can tap a button at the bottom of the response screen to re-open the mic and ask a new question. This was included for launch.
Alexa responses
Informational Responses
Most Alexa responses are text-only. Text aligns to the left side of the screen, and long responses can scroll to read the whole thing.
Alexa Responses
Graphic Responses
Two types of graphic responses were supported for initial launch: lists and weather. I created the lists experience. Since this is an existing Alexa feature, I adapted the designs from Alexa on other devices while optimizing for the watch with simplified content and colors.
User Testing
I led one round of user testing. I recruited five internal participants from within Amazon and worked with one of the team's engineers to create an on-device prototype. The testing focused specifically on the Alexa attention system and its responses.
Insights
✅ 100% comprehension of the listening state
✅ Overall satisfaction with responses
✅ Slight preference for voice response
🔴 No one understood Alexa is tap-to-talk
🔴 Mixed comprehension for re-invoking Alexa
Our team attempted to address this with updates to the Alexa app homescreen. Setup changes were out of scope in this release, but in later releases, we added a screen nudging users to try talking to Alexa right away.
Results and Improvements
The app received low initial ratings on the Google Play Store. Based on user reviews, this was primarily due to it being pre-installed and prompting users to complete setup, something that we addressed quickly in an over-the-air update.
Over the course of two subsequent releases, I worked on design improvements and additional features, including fitness support. Our team worked to reduce overall latency and error rates. As a result of these improvements, we hit an average rating of five stars on Google Play by the next year.
