Intro section

Alexa Hunches

Alexa Hunches

Collecting contextual user feedback for proactive actions' feature (Hunches)

Collecting contextual user feedback for proactive actions' feature (Hunches)

OVERVIEW

OVERVIEW

Redesigned the userflow for the Alexa app to discover Hunch feature and provide contextual feedback.

Redesigned the userflow for the Alexa app to discover Hunch feature and provide contextual feedback.

This was an Amazon-sponsored project under Monica Chan's (UX Researcher at Amazon) mentorship. Timeline - 16 weeks.

This was an Amazon-sponsored project under Monica Chan's (UX Researcher at Amazon) mentorship. Timeline - 16 weeks.

ROLE

ROLE

Product designer

Product designer

End-to-end experience, research, prototyping and testing

End-to-end experience, research, prototyping and testing

PLATFORM | INDUSTRY

PLATFORM | INDUSTRY

Mobile and Echo show displays | Consumer, Smart home IoT

Mobile and Echo show displays | Consumer, Smart home IoT

TEAM

TEAM

2 Product Designers | 3 UX Researchers | 1 Content Writer

2 Product Designers | 3 UX Researchers | 1 Content Writer

PROTOTYPE

PROTOTYPE

Let's go

Let's go

Home

About

Work

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CONTEXT

CONTEXT

Imagine this: You walk up to your front door in the morning only to notice it was unlocked the entire night. You were sure you locked it before going to bed. Confused, you're wondering how did this happen? The real culprit - Proactive actions

Imagine this: You walk up to your front door in the morning only to notice it was unlocked the entire night. You were sure you locked it before going to bed. Confused, you're wondering how did this happen? The real culprit - Proactive actions

So what are proactive actions?

So what are proactive actions?

Actions a smart device takes WITHOUT the user's input - by learning from your daily habits and predicting future needs.

Actions a smart device takes WITHOUT the user's input - by learning from your daily habits and predicting future needs.

In Alexa terms, these are called Hunches

In Alexa terms, these are called Hunches

CHALLENGES

CHALLENGES

Derived from research - 12 interviews, 6 Reddit analysis, 3 diary studies and Co-Design workshop with 4 users

Derived from research - 12 interviews, 6 Reddit analysis, 3 diary studies and Co-Design workshop with 4 users

01

01

No Hunch awareness: Users are not aware of the actions taken by Alexa on its own leading to confusion

No Hunch awareness: Users are not aware of the actions taken by Alexa on its own leading to confusion

02

02

Inefficient Feedback: Current method of a simple 'Yes or No' feedback is insufficient to improve future actions

Inefficient Feedback: Current method of a simple 'Yes or No' feedback is insufficient to improve future actions

03

03

Security concerns: Safety concerns can raise through such proactive actions (like door being unlocked)

Security concerns: Safety concerns can raise through such proactive actions (like door being unlocked)

GOAL

GOAL

Make users aware of Hunches and get contextual feedback from them

Make users aware of Hunches and get contextual feedback from them

But how does it help with all the challenges?

But how does it help with all the challenges?

Awareness - To inform users of proactive actions

Feedback - To identify wrong actions and improve in future

Awareness - To inform users of proactive actions

Feedback - To identify wrong actions and adapt correctly in future

SOLUTION

SOLUTION

End-to-end userflow from getting notified of the Hunches to providing feedback and retention over time

End-to-end userflow from getting notified of the Hunches to providing feedback and retention over time

Problem space 1 of 4

PROBLEM

Hunch visibility

In the current model, Hunches activities are buried within the settings, requiring users to navigate three levels deep in the hierarchy. This makes Hunches difficult to locate and the reason for lack of awareness within users.

IDEATION

Voice UI - Prompted by spinning rim lights | Users found it too intrusive

Hunch activity on the home screen | Consuming too much real-estate

These yellow lights are notifications for Hunch actions. Want me to walk you through them?

Actions I took based on your patterns to make it easier for you

Hey Alexa, what’s with the spinning rim lights?

What do you mean Hunch actions?

3

ITERATIONS

Added a Hunch tab in bottom nav bar | Not feasible, feature not prominent enough (pushback from Amazon)

Used scalable solution and add a Hunch pill | Pill could get lost (out of viewport) when they shuffle

FINAL SOLUTION

A new "Hunches" section now appears on the home screen to alert users of actions initiated by Alexa

A new tag introduced in the device tile will inform users of proactive actions performed on it

Rationale

Visible on the home screen draws users' attention. Used scalable design system for consistency and easy building.

Hunches

3 updates

MUSIC Led Strip Lights

Off | Automatically triggered by Hunches

Hunches

3 updates

MUSIC Led Strip Lights

Off | Automatically triggered by Hunches

*Similar ideations and iterations were made before reaching final solutions for other problem spaces. I've left them out to keep things simple here. Feel free to reach out to learn more :)

Problem space 2 of 4

Turned off by default

PROBLEM

Notifications

Currently, Hunch notifications are turned off by default. Turning on applies to all devices causing notification fatique.

Solution

Selective notification(Alexa app): During device setup or through 'Hunches' page

Echo Show notification:
Non-intrusive pulsating notifcation

Rationale

Users prefer notifications to be semi-proactive, except for critical situations (learnt from interviews and Co-design workshop)

OR

Device setup

Hunches page

Solution

Selective notification(Alexa app): During device setup or through 'Hunches' page

Echo Show notification:
Non-intrusive pulsating notifcation

Rationale

Users prefer notifications to be semi-proactive, except for critical situations (learnt from interviews and Co-design workshop)

OR

Device setup

Hunches page

Problem space 3 of 4

PROBLEM

Contextual feedback

The existing feedback page only collects a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No,’ which isn’t enough to improve future actions.

WHAT WE LEARNT

Voice and text input interactions were not preferrable by users.

Reviewed how Hunch actions work to define clear, predefined options that users can simply select.

FINAL SOLUTION

Introduced a two-step contextual feedback system (on hitting No) that makes Alexa’s assumptions, derived from studying Hunch anatomy, transparent and asks which one was incorrect.

This helps Alexa become more context-aware and refine future proactive actions.

Rationale

Users prefer agency - so gave them a 'choice' to provide additional feedback. Users also hate to type, so added predefined options by studying how Hunch works.

Problem space 4 of 4

Users

"Giving feedback a couple of times doesn’t sound so bad, but I honestly can’t see myself doing it for weeks or months"

PROBLEM

User retention

How can we encourage users to provide feedback for long?

Solution

Added a transparency page that shows how their previous feedback have improved Alexa's actions.

Rationale

Research suggest users were more likely to give feedback when the impact of feedback was transparent.

RECAP

Consistent end-to-end userflow across both devices

IMPACT

Accessing Hunches

Optimized: from 4 unintuitive clicks to 1 tap on the home screen

Interaction with Hunches

From 2 users to 9 users who expressed intuitive interactions with low frustration

User trust

9 out of 10 users showed confidence with Hunches and said they WOULD NOT disable the feature!

DESIGN SYSTEM

Consistent end-to-end userflow across both devices

Variables, tokens and modes

Component library

REFLECTIONS

Working in big teams

At first, poor communication in our large, unfamiliar team led to missed meetings and incomplete tasks. Assigning ownership based on individual interests changed that—everyone took charge of their area and engaged others. Within weeks, collaboration improved naturally, and I plan to use this approach in future teams.

Maintaining interest when things change

The project began with a focus on voice design, which excited me, but research proved it unfit, forcing a pivot. Limited app flexibility felt demotivating, but improving small details reignited my drive. It taught me that priorities shift quickly, and adapting to make the most of the scope is key.

MY CONTRIBUTIONS

UX/UI

Flow and final screens for collecting contextual feedback

Added Hunch updates on homescreen, improving feature visibility

Studied and recreated Alexa's design system

Research

Hosted a Co-Design workshop, uncovering new user pain points and preferences

Competitor analysis

TEAM :)

Best things come out of team collaborations

THANK YOU

Hope you liked it ;)

The mobile version of this case study is still WIP. Stay tuned :)

To view the full case study, please visit the web version.