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First Conversations

GDG NYC

6 Feb 2017

Allen Firstenberg

Software developer / Consultant

Google Developer Expert

Author: Designing and Developing for Google Glass

http://spiders.com/

http://prisoner.com/

What are we talking about?

• Google Home
• Google Assistant
• Conversations with computers
• Designing and Developing Actions

Developing

We have several approaches to developing with the Google Assistant:

• Direct Actions
• IFTTT
• Conversations
  • API.AI
  • Actions API

Pros

• Weave support built-in
• Streaming support and controls

Cons

• Requires working directly with Google to integrate additional features

Direct Actions

Pros

• Very simple for simple customization

Cons

• Very very limited response options
• Difficult to share and make generic

IFTTT

Pros

• NLP support with API.AI or roll your own
• Allows for distinctive branding

Cons

• No streaming or notifications
• More mechanical voices

Conversation Actions

VUI Design Principles

(from Google)

• Create a persona
• Design around conversations and dialogs
• Context
• There are no "errors"
• Think Big

• Create a persona
• Design around conversations and dialogs
• Context
• There are no "errors"
• Think Big

• Build for people
• Design for Glass (or Wear... or...)
• Be relevant
• Avoid the unexpected
• Don't get in the way

VUI Principles

Glass Principles

Development Process

• Design Conversation
  
• Build VUI
• Build back-end
• Distribute

Design Conversation

• Create a persona
• Design around conversations and dialogs
• Context
• There are no "errors"
• Think Big

Design Conversation

Persona

• People give their Assistants a personality

• Tone and Style
• Casual? Formal?

Design Conversation

Dialogs

• Talk out loud
• Create scripts rather than flowcharts
• Don't just think about best path
• Keep responses short

Design Conversation

Context

• Consider partial information or response
• Prompts to build up the response
• References
• What will you remember about the user?

Design Conversation

Errors

• Use as opportunity to clarify
• Consider mindset of user

Remember - the goal is for your user and your program to come to an agreement.

Design Conversation

Think Big

• Where do VUIs make more sense than GUIs?
• What else is the user thinking about?
• What else might the user say or ask?
• Contextual help
• Do you need more than just voice or audio?

Build VUI

with API.AI

• Create a persona
• Design around conversations and dialogs
• Context
• There are no "errors"
• Think Big

Build VUI

Dialogs

Build VUI

Dialogs

Build VUI

Context

Build VUI

Errors

Build VUI

Test

Build your Back-End

with webhooks

• Create a persona
• Design around conversations and dialogs
• Context
• There are no "errors"
• Think Big

Back-End

Dialogs

• Called with Action and Parameters
• Respond with phrases and new contexts

You have 5 seconds!

Back-End

Context

• Unique session and user ID
• Request name and location
• Ask user to log in to our service using mobile app

Deploy

• Create a persona
• Design around conversations and dialogs
• Context
• There are no "errors"
• Think Big

Deploy

Persona

• Icon
• Voice

Deploy

Dialogs

• Default triggers
• Other phrases

Deploy

Context

• Deep Linking

Deploy

Think Big

• There is no app store
• What new relationships can you create?

We are just beginning to explore and understand how to use VUIs.

Any questions?

https://prisoner.com/ubi/

https://developers.google.com/actions/