Lists

Updated: April 14, 2023

Key takeaways

Customers don’t have much time to listen to, understand, and respond to prompts that include a list of options. There are a few strategies you can follow to avoid overwhelming your listener with such information.

 

Need quick advice?

View the Checklist for designing lists for tips to help customers navigate your skill’s lists with ease.

 

In this section:

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Often your customer will need to hear a list of options, whether they’ve just launched your skill, performed a search, or are browsing a library of content. Listen to the following examples of lists customers might encounter on Alexa.

 

Navigating a menu:

Performing a search:  

Browsing content:

Playing trivia:

After they’ve heard a list, customers only have about 8 seconds to understand their options, make a decision, and state it clearly back to Alexa. Keep in mind that lists are written for customers to hear, rather than for customers to read. Follow a few best practices so the listener can make their selections quickly and with confidence.

 

Checklist for designing lists:

Will your skill surface lists to your customer? If so, check your script to see if it’s easy for your customers to understand their options and make quick decisions.

▢  Include a preamble that informs the customer of context such as number of items in the list, conveys understanding of what the customer said, or states an assumption that was made

▢  Surface options in order of contextual relevance wherever possible

▢  Paginate long lists. Indicate the pagination to the customer in some way verbally & visually

▢  Differentiate responses that include a list for devices with and without screens

▢  Create verbally distinct labels for list items

▢  Include a short (350-400ms) break between list items

▢  Support common commands like “next” “more” “go back” and “repeat”

▢  Allow customers to select options using ordinals (“1, 2, 3” or “A, B, C …”)

▢  Allow customers to select options using natural language, including synonyms and partial titles

▢  Prompt customers for their choice after reading their options

▢  Follow up to disambiguate if the customer makes a selection that could indicate more than one of the options

Dos & Don'ts

Do: Include a preamble to your list. The preamble may inform the customer of the number of items in the list, repeat what they asked for, or clearly state an assumption that was made. Do convey what the system understood as well as any constraints applied to the results.

Don’t: Just read out the options

Do: Surface options in order of contextual relevance and most imporant. What is your customer most likely to want at that time? Which is most important?

Don’t: Be tempted to include all possible options in one list. (See FAQs below for guidance on the optimal number of items in a voice list)

Do: Paginate long lists and indicate the pagination to the customer

Do: Differentiate your response for devices with and without screens. You do not need to read as much of, or even any of, the list when customers are using a device with a screen, and when their request includes “show me.”

This VUI read to the customer without a screen …

Could sound like this to the customer when the list and additional detail is being displayed on screen

Do: Create verbally distinct names for list items. Offer simple, brief options

Don’t: Create a tongue twister of options

See the FAQs below for tips on creating voice-friendly labels.

Do: Insert breaks between list items. Include comma and a 350-400ms break between list items

Don’t: Create a breathless response that leaves out commas and breaks

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Tip: Use SSML to change Alexa's speech

For more information on how to customize the way Alexa reads your dialog, including specifying breaks, rate of speech, and even enthusiasm, check out the SSML (Speech Synthesis Markup Language) reference.

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Do: Allow customers to browse your paginated list with commands like “next”, “more”, “go back”, and “repeat.” Allow them to select options using ordinals

Do: Prompt the customer to make a decision after reading the options so customers know it’s their turn to speak

Don’t: Prompt the customer to make a choice before listing the options

Do: Allow customers to select options from a list using natural language, including synonyms and partial titles

Don’t: Force customers to use a specific utterance or phrase to select options

Do: Follow up to disambiguate if the customer makes a selection that could indicate more than one of the options

Don’t: Make an assumption and select for them when there’s more than one plausible match for what the customer said

FAQs about lists

Q: Do the names of the options matter? Do I need to optimize them for voice?
A: Yes. To improve accuracy for the customer’s understanding (and Alexa’s), avoid list item names that are more than a few words long, rhyme, alliterate, or read like a tongue twister. Avoid naming list items with similar and shared terms. Names of items in a list should be verbally distinct.

 

Q: How many items should I include in a list"?
A: That depends on the number of items in your list, and how complex each item is. You may want to read out long, complex list items that have many elements one at a time, while you can read out up to 5 distinctive, one-word list items without confusing most listeners.

 

Q: Do I need to read out ordinals for customers? (“The first one is …” or “Number 1 is …” or “A … B…”)
A: That depends on the kind of experience you’re creating. If the names of the list items may be difficult to hear as distinct options, must be long, complex, or include multiple components, you may want to include ordinals. With a preamble that specifies the number of items in a more simple list, ordinals may slow down the conversation. And of course, if you’re creating a quiz/trivia-stye experience, you’ll want to make it easy and accurate for a player to select their answer with ordinals.

In this list, ordinals help the customer understand and select options:

In this list, the ordinals are unnecessary and tiresome to listen through

Q: How should I prompt customers a second time to choose from a list after they reach an error? Should I repeat the whole list again?

A: That depends on the number of items and complexity of your list, and how complicated or important the decision may be for the customers. For complex scenarios, you may want to include more information about your list before repeating it in full, or, for simple scenarios, you may not need to repeat any of the items and a simplified re-prompt will do.

This list repeats in its entirety after an error because the customer likely forgot their options (or didn’t understand them)

This list doesn’t need to repeat everything after the error. It’s awkward to repeat the whole greeting in this scenario.

 

Do:

Don't:

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Tip: Include a hint in your APL design

For devices with a screen, put a hint at the bottom of the display that gives the customer an example of what they can say to select an option in your list. Learn how to use the AlexaFooter responsive component. 

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