Role: Lead Designer
Credits: Amazon - Alexa Identity Services 2021

Overview

Opportunity

The 65+ population is the fastest growing demographic in the US, and it is projected to reach 1.5 billion people worldwide by 2050. We estimated that Alexa Together would bring $254MM of subscription and license revenue by 2023 and will reach $1.3B revenue by 2030 in the US alone - the second largest Device org subscription product behind FreeTime.

Success Criteria

Launch the Alexa Together subscription service. As of Feb-21, the MLP under consideration for the paid subscription includes access to a professional Emergency Helpline, the ability for a caregiver to remotely manage Alexa settings for their care recipient, the ability to connect a 3P Fall detection device and/or the extension of the Care Hub relationship to several caregivers per care recipient as a first phase.

Invent and Simplify

Orginally, the mental model outlined for this product required the user to ingress into individual domains for an active remote session and the egress out. The problems I saw with this were that the Care dashboard then becomes cluttered with a unknown number of domains looking to add this feature, but more importantly it disables users from completeing one or many tasks during a single session. So, I simplified the experience.

Active Session Egress

Completing a user task during an active session should be easy, closing that session and getting back to your Care dashboard should also feel effortless. Originally, the cx was mapped for a 'log out' type of interaction. However, I was able to convey the importance of where in the stack the user should be during a temorary task and how to easily 'dismiss' the session. This allowed us to navigate away from an account mirroring perception from the consumer and simplify the experience. 

FTUE & Notices

First-time user experiences are the first impresssion and discovery of a new feature - setting expectations and intrigue for the consumer. When adding a new quick action to the Care dashboard, it was crucial to understand how and where our customers will discover the new Assist feature. Adding tips and an FTUE dialog help to capture and educate the customer during their first remote session.

The Results

Alexa Together launched in winter of 2021, debuing with the remote assist feature. The new service has seen an increase in profitability when it comes to revenue generated by Alexa services. The product has also gained national attention and has been touted as the new "Life Alert" product according to sources like the Verge. Today, we are seeing a 56% YoY increase in WAU. Although Shy of our WAU goal, the slow rise in sign ups has been attributed to the original Care Hub setup and invite process. This is currently being explored by our partner team. Although we are less than a year into gathereing quantitative data, the numbers are strong. Positive reviews and additional budgets for fast-follows tells me we are on to something. Check out the commercial for Alexa Together.

The Future of Family Care

As we think about family and personalization going into 2022 and 2023, it raises the question of how features and services like this fit into an even larger eco-system of premises, devices, families and profiles. Ideally these types of customer experiences will be more seamlessly integrated in your Alexa family and profile views – bringing family even closer together.