Speak Listen Learn

A kid's skill reminiscent of childhood learning devices, featuring an engaging cartoon voice and designed to grow.

Comment

When I first heard about the Alexa Skills Challenge Kids, I went through a lot of possible ideas. When dealing with children’s entertainment and education there are a lot of repeating concepts and focuses. The alphabet, spelling, numbers, math, animal sounds, nursery rhymes, music, character driven themes being the most obvious. Then came the realization that if I had come to this conclusion... so did many of the other very bright developers who would be submitting a skill for this contest. If we are all going to submit something along the same lines, the question then became, how to create something different. What could I do to stand out from the rest, where might many of those similar skills fall short?

Luckily the answer came to me due to the recent success of one of my other Amazon Alexa skills. I have nearly 40 skills available today, and something that has been frustrating to a lot of developers is getting folks to leave reviews for skills they have used (especially ones they enjoy a lot). Additionally, it seemed to be equally frustrating to Alexa users who enjoy a skill very much… for the skill to get old quickly due to a lack of updates.

So I decided to try something new. I made a deal with the folks who were using the skill. If they leave positive feedback for the skill, I would know that people were enjoying it and prioritize its development schedule accordingly. Well it has been just over a month, and the skill has over 100 five-star reviews and has received more than 15 updates. The skill is getting increasingly popular, and as a result larger and more engaging.

That’s exactly the same thing I decided to put into motion with Speak Listen Learn. I am not saying it will work again, but if it did, it would be a huge win for everyone. Since what will truly make a fantastic skill is not just one with a really good concept and implementation, but one that will mature over time and grow with its audience. A skill that you can go back to over and over again, and maybe even still be using years later. A skill that was once just a few well put together activities, but is now a fun zone loaded to the max with fun and educational things for you to do with your child. As of writing this, Speak Listen Learn has already received its first feedback supported update and is due to receive its second. You can now hear jokes directly from the main menu, whereas it was an Easter egg hidden in the alphabet menu. More jokes will be added with future updates. This is a good example of the kind of updates Speak Listen Learn should receive on a regular basis.

Lastly, the skill needed a cartoon voice. Every great children’s product has a cartoon voice, right?! I thought for the age group that this skill is working with, a higher pitched, more expressive voice might be more engaging than Alexa’s regular voice. This of course was, is and will be a lot of work to maintain. Furthermore, I feel the educational and entertainment benefits make it a worthwhile venture. I worked the voice for a while using some computer software, and reached out to world renowned artist Ed Seeman to draw Doodles into true existence. Ed also happens to be my Grandfather, so I kind of lucked out on that one. In the end, I was very happy with the results of everything. I'm really excited to see where this skill might go moving forward. I am confident that with user feedback and continued development, that Speak Listen Learn can be a stand out Alexa children’s skill for a long time to come.

Speak Listen Learn was designed to be very easy to use, and needs very little direction or explaining to operate. It doesn’t just respond to exact phrases, there is a lot of natural language programmed in there. I wanted people to be able to talk to the skill as they wanted to, and without having to be prompted for exact phrases at the end of every sentence. I feel this creates a more natural user experience when interacting with the skill, as well as avoiding a lot misunderstood responses. As you make your way through the skill do try to imagine a menu system loaded with activities, a menu that is being added to on a regular basis. For me, that is the most exciting part of this project… And I think it will go over very well with the folks who use it as time moves on.

It has been a lot of fun, and a fantastic learning experience to work on a skill this large. Thanks for the opportunity and consideration for the Alexa Skills Challenge Kids. Best to luck to all the other wonderful submissions, thanks for your time.

~Drew

Share this project:

Updates