Engaging with the Google Assistant

GDG Bronx DevFest

1 Dec 2018

Audio and Photo Credit: CBS Studios

Allen Firstenberg

Software developer / Consultant

Google Developer Expert for Assistant, IoT, Wearables, Identity

http://spiders.com/

http://prisoner.com/

http://prisoner.com/ubi/

Tell me about you

Mobile or web?
Alexa or Assistant?
Mac vs Windows?
JavaScript?

Kirk? Picard? Sisko? Janeway? Archer?

What are we talking about?

Photo Credit: CBS Studios / Paramount

What is the Google Assistant?

A conversation

between you and Google that helps you get things done

in your world.

What are Actions on Google?

Actions on Google is the API

that lets you engage in conversations

with other services

through the Google Assistant.

Where Actions Run

Photo Credit: CBS Studios

Who can use Actions?

en-US	es-US	es-409	de-DE	ja-JP
en-UK	es-EU	es-MX	da-DK	ko-KR
en-AU	fr-FR	pt-BR	no-NO	zh-TW
en-CA	fr-CA	it-IT	nl-NL
en-SG	th-TH	id-ID	sv-SE
en-IN	hi-IN		ru-RU

Photo Credit: CBS Studios

How do we build an Action?

Design
Develop
Deploy

Photo Credit: CBS Studios

What can Actions do?

Query databases based on what the user is asking.
Collect information for some reason, such as a form.
Fun things: Quizzes, personality tests, RPGs, quotes.

Can you express it as a conversation?

Photo Credit: CBS Studios

Increased focus on Design

https://actions.google.com/design/

Conversation Design

You're doing it wrong

Figure out what you want your code to do.
Decide how you're going to present those results.
"Build a screen" to get inputs.

Photo Credit: CBS Studios

Conversation Design

Personality

Photo Credit: CBS Studios

Conversation Design

Scripting

Photo Credit: CBS Studios

Keep in mind how people talk - not how they write.
Don't make "audible buttons".
Users may not respond for many reasons.
There are no errors.
Users have intent - help them get there.

Test it with developers back to back - one of them acting as the Assistant.

Simple Conversation

User: Talk to Color Magic
Action: Welcome to Color Magic, what's your favorite color?

User: Green
Action: Your magic number is 5. Goodbye.

Simple Conversation

Deep Linking

User: Ask Color Magic about green
Action: Your magic number is 5. Goodbye.

Simple Conversation

"Happy Path"

User: Talk to Color Magic
Action: Hi there, to get to know your better, I'll just need to get your name from Google. Is that ok?
User: Yes
Action: Hi <name>. What is your favorite color?
User: Blue
Action: Your magic number is four. Would you like to hear some fake colors?
User: Yes
Action: Which color: Pink unicorn, indigo taco, or blue grey coffee?
User: indigo taco
Action: Here is what indigo taco looks like. <display color>

Simple Conversation

"Unhappy Path"

User: Talk to Color Magic
Action: Hi there, to get to know your better, I'll just need to get your name from Google. Is that ok?
User: Yes
Action: Hi <name>. What is your favorite color?
User: Blue
Action: Your magic number is four. Would you like to hear some fake colors?
User: Yes
Action: Which color do you want to see: Pink unicorn, indigo taco, or blue grey coffee?
User: indigo taco
Action: Here is what indigo taco looks like. <display color>

Building Intents

Fulfillment

app.intent('tell.greeting', (conv, { color, num }) => {
  conv.ask(`Dialogflow likes ${color}`, new Suggestions('Ok', 'Cool'))
  conv.ask(new BasicCard({
    title: 'Card Title',
    image: { // Mostly, provide anonymous Objects
      url: 'https://www.google.com/images/branding/googlelogo/2x/googlelogo_color_272x92dp.png',
      accessibilityText: 'Google Logo',
    },
    buttons: new Button({ // Wrapper for complex sub Objects, but can also use Objects when needed
      title: 'Button Title',
      url: 'https://www.google.com',
    }),
    display: 'WHITE',
  }))
})

Photo Credit: CBS Studios

Other Surfaces

Photo Credit: CBS Studios

Discovery

Photo Credit: CBS Studios

https://spiders.com/

https ://prisoner.com/ubi/

Photo Credit: CBS Studios / Paramount

https://actions.google.com/design

https://developers.google.com/actions

Stack Overflow: actions-on-google

https://codelabs.developers.google.com/

(Category: Assistant)