2024 | voice user interface (VUI) case study
Busy Bites
Skill for Amazon Alexa that supports users in the kitchen by allowing them to navigate and interact with recipes primarily using voice commands.
Certified and published by Amazon, try it yourself, here
About Busy Bites
Busy Bites is an Alexa skill I developed as a voice-first solution to support users in the kitchen. This innovative project complements my health and wellness app, Liferise, by providing quick and healthy meal options tailored to users’ needs.
Designed to make cooking easier and more efficient, Busy Bites offers personalized recipes based on user preferences and available ingredients, allowing busy professionals to maintain a balanced diet even with a hectic schedule. The voice-first approach ensures hands-free convenience, enhancing the user experience in the kitchen.
Busy Bites is your ultimate kitchen companion
UX Design Framework
Double Diamond
Busy Bites was crafted as a user-centric, voice-first solution, enhancing the kitchen experience for busy individuals.
The development followed the Double Diamond framework
Alexa
User Persona
Creating a detailed user persona like Sarah, the Busy Bee, is crucial for Busy Bites to tailor its features and user experience to the specific needs of busy professionals seeking quick, healthy meals. This understanding ensures the skill is intuitive, relevant, and highly beneficial for its target audience.
Sarah - The Busy Bee
Age: 28
Occupation: Marketing Assistant
Location: City-center apartment
Technology Proficiency: Moderate
Devices: Smartphone, Smart speaker
Lifestyle: Busy, active, social
Goals and Needs
Sarah seeks quick and easy meal solutions that align with her health and nutrition goals. She desires recipes that are simple, require minimal ingredients, and can be prepared in a short amount of time. Convenience is essential for Sarah.
Frustrations
The lack of time and energy to prepare nutritious meals. She may also feel overwhelmed by the abundance of recipe options available online and struggle to find recipes that meet her specific taste preferences and dietary requirements.
“I`m spending hours browsing through endless options online and I`m ending up hungry and frustrated.”
System Persona
Designing Bea, the system persona, is essential for Busy Bites to establish a consistent and relatable voice for user interactions. This helps create a more engaging and user-friendly experience, making users feel understood and supported in their cooking endeavors.
Bea - The Recipe Helper
Function
Bea is the virtual assistant for the Busy Bee Bites Alexa skill, designed to help users find and prepare quick and easy recipes.
Portrait of Bea
Bea is depicted as a confident and knowledgeable culinary expert, always ready to assist users in their cooking endeavors. Her image reflects professionalism and reliability, embodying the essence of a trusted cooking companion.
Personality and Character Traits
Bea is highly knowledgeable about cooking techniques and ingredients, providing users with expert guidance and support. Her passion for cooking shines through in her interactions, inspiring confidence in users as they navigate the kitchen.
Typical Speaking Style:
Bea`s speaking style is clear, concise, and authoritative, with a touch of warmth and friendliness. She communicates with confidence and clarity, ensuring users feel supported and informed throughout the cooking process.
User Flows
Information Architecture
The user flows for Busy Bites are meticulously crafted to ensure a seamless, voice-first experience. By prioritizing intuitive interactions and efficient navigation, Busy Bites enhances the kitchen experience through simple voice commands. Below, outline of the key user flows that make Busy Bites an essential companion in the kitchen, click the image for the full version
Alexa
Script
Creating a script was crucial for designing Busy Bites as it ensured consistent, clear, and user-friendly voice interactions. By carefully scripting responses and instructions, we were able to refine the skill’s usability, anticipate user needs, and provide a seamless cooking assistant experience tailored to our target audience. Click here for the full version
U: Alexa, open Busy Bites.
S: Welcome to Busy Bites! Let’s whip up something delicious with Bea’s help! What type of recipe would you like to choose?
U: I`d like a quick breakfast reci pe.
S: Sure thing! I have a few options. How about scrambled eggs?
U: Sounds good!
S: Excellent choice! Here`s what you`ll need: two eggs, a tablespoon of butter, salt, and pepper. Are you ready to start cooking?
U: Yes, I am.
S: Fantastic! Let`s get cracking. Step one: Crack two eggs into a bowl and whisk until smooth. Let me know when you`re done.
Personalization
Designing different prompts for novice users, normal users, and power users catered to varying levels of familiarity with the skill, making it more accessible for beginners while offering efficiency and advanced features for experienced users.
Different prompts for novice and frequent users cater to their varying needs. Novices benefit from detailed guidance, while frequent users prefer streamlined prompts for efficiency. Tailoring prompts enhances user engagement and satisfaction.
Novice prompt
guidace
S: Welcome to Busy Bites! Quick reci pes in under 5 minutes. Choose breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack. Have an ingredient? Let me know. Not sure? I can suggest something too!
Tapered prompt
welcoming
S: Hey there, good to see you again! Let`s dive into some mouthwatering reci pes! What`s on your mind?
Power user prompt
efficient
S: Busy Bites is back! What`s on your mind?
Choice modelling
Proactive information and surface user data strategies are essential in VUI design because they anticipate user needs and provide relevant information without requiring explicit requests, enhancing the overall user experience and efficiency.
Proactive information strategy
When the user opens the skill ,it proactively suggests a recipe based on the associated meal type for that time of day.
Surface user data strategy
Based on user`s past recipe selections, the skill proactively suggests new reci pes that align with the user`s preferences.
Context-Based Recipe Suggestions
When the user interacts with the skill ,it can leverage this context to suggest relevant recipes.