I am a Computer Engineer by training and an Manager by profession. While my current area of focus is Backend Systems, Data Analytics, I have developed multiple Skills in last one year. Engineering Alexa In retrospect, I wonder — how did I get hooked into it? It feels this process was so analogous to an e-commerce product funnel: Awareness -> Interest -> Desire -> Action I never realized that I was a part of this conversion optimization funnel put together by Amazon Alexa team and I ended up becoming a . Here is my effort to draw that comparison in parallel: repeat customer Looking one level deeper, here are 8 specific steps which contribute to attract and convert right people into Alexa development and build its largest community. 1. Personalized marketing: Publish Alexa Skill ad for US developers Publish Alexa Skill ad for University Students 2. Freebies for everyone Publish Alexa Skill and everyone get’s a T-Shit 3. New creative swags every month Sock + Echo swag Echo Spot and bottle swag 4. Spot on CTA’s (Develop an Alexa Skill in under 5 minutes) CAT — Build a Skill in 5 mins 5. Kick ass documentation When I first developed it, I referred to a step by step documentation to template skill. It had all a newbie could ask for: Step by step guide Screenshots Documentation links Github sources Customize with minimal changes Docs: link Documentation screenshot These documentations are even better currently. 6. All Infrastructure is Free Free AWS account: Alexa skills hosting free on AWS Test Simulator Beta (No device needed) Initially, I thought there would be a need of owning an Echo device to test and deploy the skill I build. Ecosystem provides a test simulator which replaces that need. Just input via voice or text, and you can validate Alexa’s understanding and see how the skill responds. https://developer.amazon.com/docs/devconsole/test-your-skill.html 7. Great customer service with prompt feedback: Customer feedback e-mail And my first skill was Live: DMV Trivia Skill Followed by: Swag, I received :) Not bad, few hours of work — a new skill, swags and a new tool in the pocket. 8. New Skill Emails: And there were weekly emails about new skills people are creating and also how top skills are getting incentivised. I used to mostly ignore them. A few months later, It was time for my company’s semi-annual hackathon. No wonder, a voice app idea came to my mind. It felt something doable in <24hrs, potentially cool to demo. And I ended up building another Alexa skill — . EchoMonkey: Taking Surveys over Voice While I was nowhere close to thinking about Alexa development; I have developed multiple, hackathon winning Alexa skills. I would give kudos to for doing an excellent job funneling engineers to develop skills and building a great community around it. Alexa’s Marketing Team No wonder, the outcome is: All in all, I can see a more enticing future ahead when I read things like: Make Money with Amazon Pay for Alexa Skills Make Money with Your Alexa Skills through In-Skill Purchasing Earn Money with Alexa Developer Rewards Alexa will soon gain a memory, converse more naturally Such efforts would keep the community captivated and more engaged.
