Overview
A successful Alexa integration makes it easy for a customer to interact with a product using natural voice control. The AVS UX Design Guidelines outline requirements and recommendations to achieve a seamless Alexa experience.
Use the AVS UX Design Guidelines as you design your customer’s product experience and follow all guidelines before submitting your product for review.
Setup and Authentication
The Setup and Authentication process teaches customers what Alexa is, how to use it and allows them to connect the device to their Amazon account. This typically lives within the setup or first run experience on a partner device.
Detailed design guidelines for AVS Setup & Authentication screens can be downloaded below.
Step 1: Splash Screen
The Splash Screen informs customers about what Alexa is and what it does, highlighting the benefits of voice control. Partners are provided with assets to recreate this exact screen, but have the freedom to create their own version.
The Splash Screen must include:
- Alexa logo
- Mention of Amazon
- Description of what Alexa is
- Description of what Alexa does
- Link to initiate authentication flow
Step 2: Login with Amazon
Login with Amazon (LWA) screens must be implemented to Amazon specifications. See the Login with Amazon implementation guides for detailed specifications:
- Authorizing from a Companion Site
- Authorizing from a Companion App (Android/iOS)
- Authorizing Your Alexa-enabled Mobile Product
Step 3: Things to Try
The final Setup and Authentication screen is Things to Try. This confirms a successful login and provides example utterances to try with Alexa. Partners are provided with assets to recreate this exact screen, but have the freedom to create their own version.
Example utterances must always be included on this screen. If your application has a distinct log out screen within settings, consider including Things to Try content so that customers know the benefits of staying signed in.
The Things to Try screen must include:
- Alexa logo
- Mention of Amazon
- Description of how to wake Alexa
- Example utterances
- A link to download or open the Amazon Alexa app
Example utterance recommendations:
- The utterances should be appropriate for the device’s use cases. A speaker may emphasize audio controls, while a kitchen device may emphasize timers and alarms
- If the device is voice-initiated, the example utterances should start with wake word “Alexa”
- If the device is touch-initiated, the example utterances should not start with “Alexa”
- The utterances should not reference third-party devices the customer must purchase in addition to your device
- The utterances should not reference third-party skills that the customer must enable, however, examples of how to enable your own skills are appropriate to include
Understanding Alexa
When building a device, remember that using Alexa should feel conversational. This means that waking Alexa should be easy, interrupting Alexa should be supported and the customer should be able to easily understand Alexa’s non-verbal states, like Listening and Thinking.
Alexa States
| Idle | When Alexa is idle, customers can use the Alexa wake word or a physical control to wake Alexa, which starts her listening state. |
| Listening | When Alexa’s microphone(s) have been activated, she is in a listening state and is waiting for voice input. |
| Active Listening | When a customer is making a request, Alexa changes from a listening state to an active listening state, which denotes that the customer’s request is actively being captured. |
| Thinking | When a customer has completed a request, Alexa enters a thinking state, which lets the customer know the microphone is no longer active and Alexa will respond shortly. During the thinking state, no additional voice input is accepted from the customer. |
| Speaking | When Alexa is responding to a request with speech. |
| Microphone Off | On a voice-initiated implementation, the customer can block Alexa from activating by turning on microphone off mode, which physically powers down the microphones and (if available) camera. |
| System Error | When errors that prevent Alexa from functioning, e.g. Wi-Fi not available, occur, they are presented visually to the customer through Alexa’s attention system. |
Attention System
Alexa’s Attention System is comprised of non-verbal audio and visual components that work together to communicate Alexa’s states to the customer. These audio and visual cues should be synced so that Alexa’s state change indicators occur simultaneously as the customer wakes, speaks to and listens to Alexa. The Attention System aims to make the interactions feel fluid.
| Voice Chrome | LED | Sounds | |
| Idle to Activated | ● | ||
| Listening | ● | ● | |
| Active Listening | ● | ● | |
| End Listening | ● | ||
| Thinking | ● | ● | |
| Speaking | ● | ● | |
| Microphone On to Off | ● | ||
| Microphone Off to On | ● | ||
| Microphone Off | ● | ● | |
| System Error | ● | ● |
The following video demonstrates showing the Alexa attention states using the sound and voice chrome together.
Attention System - Voice Chrome
Devices with screens are required to show Alexa’s Voice Chrome—the GUI attention system. The following images demonstrate each state individually.
| Listening |  |
| Active Listening |  |
| Thinking |  |
| Speaking |  |
| Microphone Off |  |
| System Error |  |
Attention System - LEDs
| 1 LED Display, Multicolor | 1 LED Display, Single Color | |
| Listening and Active Listening |  |
 |
| Cyan 100% opacity | 100% opacity | |
| Thinking |  |
 |
| Cyan, blue alternating | Flashing on and off | |
| Speaking | |
|
| Cyan, blue pulsing | Pulsing | |
| Microphones Off |  |
|
| Red 100% opacity | ||
| System Error |  |
|
| Continually flashing |
Attention System - Sounds
Alexa audio cues are short sounds that play to indicate an Alexa state change. They are used in concert with voice chrome or LEDs, reinforcing the visual cues that the device provides. The fewer visual cues your device has, the more important the sound cues are. Even if your device has strong visual cues, if there is a strong likelihood the customer will not be looking at your device when activating or while speaking to Alexa, the audio cues are equally important as if your device had no visual feedback. In all cases, the audio cues should clarify rather than confuse.
Depending upon your device design and whether your device is voice-initiated, how audio cues are used may vary. The key variable is whether your device is voice-initiated or not.
Start and Stop Listening
All devices need to use audio cues to indicate when Alexa has started and stopped listening. Voice-initiated devices use a different set of sounds than touch-initiated devices, even if the customer uses touch to initiate an Alexa interaction on the device.
Voice-Initiated
| Preview | |
| Start listening | |
| Stop listening |
Touch-Initiated
| Preview | |
| Start listening | |
| Stop listening |
Microphones Off and On
Voice-initiated devices also need to use audio cues when the user turns microphones on and off. Touch-initiated devices do not need these sounds as their microphones are always off until the user initiates an interaction.
| Preview | |
| Microphone Off to On | |
| Microphone On to Off |
Timers and Alarms
The following sounds should be used on voice-initiated and touch-initiated devices in the same way. When a timer or alarm goes off, the alert sounds should be played on a loop until the customer stops the alert.
If Alexa is responding (e.g. reading a Flash Briefing, or giving the 10-day weather forecast) while a timer or alarm sound should be played, the short versions of the sounds should be played once. Once the Alexa response is complete, the full length versions should be played on a loop.
| Preview | |
| Timer, default | |
| Timer, short | |
| Alarm, default | |
| Alarm, short |
Error and Setup
Device error sounds should be used if there is an issue with connectivity. For scenarios where Alexa returns with a low- or medium-confidence response, error sounds should not be used. In the case of a low-confidence response, no sound should be played, and Alexa should return to the Idle state. AVS provides a specific sound to play in medium-confidence scenarios.
Downloads
The following are made available as “Alexa Materials”. Your use of these materials is subject to, and you agree to be bound by, the Alexa Voice Service Terms and Agreements.
Contact Us
We are excited to work with you on the commercial release of your product with Amazon Alexa. If you have any questions, concerns or comments related to these design guidelines, or are interested in obtaining the resources referenced in the design guidelines, please contact us.
