Jeopardy skill is a perfect example of this. You can play only 6 clues every day, that’s it.

Every day the set of questions changes and it creates a fear of missing out.

That’s why people are constantly checking Jeopardy skill on their Alexa, they don’t want to lose those questions because they probably not gonna hear them again.

“Each morning I look forward to playing Jeopardy. When I miss a day the days doesn’t feel complete.” “I’ve used the Jeopardy skill almost daily for about eight months with no issues until yesterday, when it just kept stopping during the 2nd question. Glad you were able to resolve the bug quickly!”

Use SSML to make Alexa’s voice more understandable

Here’s a #1 complain about every Alexa skill:

“She speaks WAY too quickly sometimes and I would like just 1–2 more seconds added to the timer. I miss about 25% of my answers because I am opening my mouth as time runs out.”

The way to avoid it is to use SSML when creating the content of the skill.

SSML is a markup language for text-to-speech systems. You can use it to set pauses in the conversation, increase/decrease prosody, and transform Alexa’s voice as you want.

Optimize for the use case

Based on 5000 reviews, here’s a list of most popular use cases that describes when & why people use Alexa skills:

Jeopardy:

Mornings — to get the brain moving before the workday, like a morning ritual

Evenings — family’s evening routine

Before going to bed — bedtime tradition

Before/after dinner — to spend waiting time, a great activity for the entire family while dinner is cooking or you’re just sitting around

After supper — to challenge the brain

While doing dishes — to unwind during the process

Fox News:

Mornings — to start a day with while making coffee

Evenings — to catch up all the top headlines for the day

Song Quiz:

Family time — to engage all family members in one activity, memory workout

Bedtime — to get a quick respite after the day

Mornings — to have fun before starting your day

Before/after dinner — to spend waiting time

While cleaning the house — “You want to clean? I hate cleaning my house. But if i play the song quiz at the same time I will be cleaning for 5 hrs!”

Before going to bed — great family activity, people usually play in pairs

People are using Alexa skills mostly to have fun with their family or to unwind while doing some unpleasant job (dishes, cleaning, waiting for something).

What optimization means is that you have to figure out the right use case why people are going to use your skill.

You can use any framework for that (I like JTBD the most, thanks Intercom). When you understand the use case, it becomes much easier to design the right experience and make important decisions like:

How long should one session be?

Do I need to make it sound funnier or more official?

Do I need to bring multiple players into the skill?

Don’t forget about timing, people love skills that don’t take a lot of time to interact with.

We are playing the game of attention here and you should care about user’s time.

Deliver useful and educational content through your skill

Most people like content that helps them feel better. And it doesn’t have to be a game, you can provide useful tips & tricks about your products, explain different how-to’s, provide them with the information they missed and much more.

“My husband and I start our morning with this skill. It’s a fun way to start the day and get those neurons firing.”

Choose premium features based on value

In Sleep and Relaxation Sounds example, people buy premium version for more sounds, higher quality, and sound combinations.