Build a Skill in 20 Minutes
Welcome to Module 3 of the beginner workshop about how to build an engaging Alexa skill. In this module, you'll learn how to build a skill named "Cake Time."
Time required: 15-20 minutes
What you'll learn:
- How to build a simple skill named "Cake Time" by following step-by-step instructions
- How to create an Alexa-Hosted skill and use the Alexa developer console
- How to modify the response that Alexa speaks to users
- How to test your skill
How users will interact with Cake Time
Your job as a skill builder is to make the interaction between your skill and the user simple and natural. One way to do this is to mimic human conversational patterns. Humans have memory, so your skill should too. You want your skill to adapt interactions based on the experience of the user. Otherwise, the user can become frustrated. For example, imagine how frustrating it would be if your best friend had to ask your name every time you meet.
About this module
In this module, you will build the Cake Time skill that performs the following tasks:
- Asks the user to guess celebrity birthdays
- Determines if they guessed right or wrong
- Tells them their score and remembers it
- Greets returning users differently than new ones
Features covered
- Utterances
- Intents
- Slots
- Dialog management
- Memory and persistence
- Customer profile settings
At the end of this module, your new Alexa skill will say, "Hello! Welcome to Cake Time. That was a piece of cake! Bye!"
About modules 3-6
You could build the complete Cake Time skill in a day. However, because of its complexity, the workshop splits the skill building part into four modules, Modules 3-6, that you can complete at your own pace.
When you complete Modules 3-6 in the workshop, you'll have built a skill that is useful, simple, and sticky. Useful skills provide value to users. The Cake Time skill is useful to users by providing entertainment and fun. The Cake Time skill is also a great example of a sticky skill, which inspires users to keep coming back to answer more questions.
Don't worry if you get stuck along the way or if your code breaks. At the end of each module, the workshop provides you with the complete working code solution under the "Code" heading.
Let's start building!