Knowledge Skill Case Study
The following is a fictional case study on how Doe's Bookstore & Cafe created a knowledge skill to answer questions about their business.
Problem
Doe's Bookstore & Cafe aims to delight customers through its wide book selection, cafe menu, and weekly events. The shop spans three stories of a downtown building, but customers currently can only ask questions to team members on the first floor.
To assist customers who are shopping on floors two or three, the staff decided to build an Alexa skill.
The skill should be able to answer questions such as the following:
- "Where can I find biographies?"
- "What's the next Live Poetry Night?"
- "What's the wifi password?"
- "What floor are mystery books on?"
- "What are some vegetarian options for lunch?"
Getting the data
The bookshop staff then went to work collecting data to answer these types of questions. The team sorted the data into four categories:
- General bookshop information – wifi password, bathroom code, hours of operation, loyalty club membership details
- Upcoming event schedule – book club meetings, author readings, open mic nights
- Book navigation – locations for each genre by floor and aisle
- Cafe menu – menu items, vegetarian options
Mapping the data to templates
Based on the previous categories of data and question types, the team then determined which knowledge skill templates to use. They mapped their data to the following templates.
| Data Category | Template | Why | Sample Questions |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Upcoming Event Schedule |
This template provides time, location, and other information about events. This data helps users find information about the bookstore's recurring events. |
"When is the next book club meeting?" |
|
|
Book Details |
This template helps users answer questions about book locations and prices. |
"Where can I find Capitalism and Freedom?" |
|
|
Cafe Menu Items |
This template helps users answer questions about individual menu items (for example, price, calories, and ingredients) and about item categories (for example, hot foods, gluten-free foods, and drinks). |
"What's the price of coffee?" |
|
|
Enrollment Information |
This template is used to answer questions about processes and procedures. Thus, we're using it to answer questions about how to enroll in the loyalty program and request out of stock books. |
"How do I join the loyalty program?" |
|
|
General Bookshop Information |
This template, in addition to providing definitions, can be used to answer description questions about any subject you'd like. Thus, it's useful for general information that may not be covered by another template. |
"What's the wifi password?" |
Example data
After the team determined which templates to use, they downloaded the templates from the Alexa Skills Kit developer console and began to fill in the rows using their data.
Events
Click the following figure to see data that the team added to the Events template.
Products
Click the following figure to see data that the team added to the Products template.
Menu Items
Click the following figure to see data that the team added to the Menu Items template.
How To
Click the following figure to see data that the team added to the How To template.
Glossary
Click the following figure to see data that the team added to the Glossary template.
