Lead Product Designer
Amazon Digital Devices Group, Seattle WA
Goals:
Increase Engagement & Feature Scalability
As new communication features such as Drop-In, Announcements, and Intercom were added to Alexa Communications, the mobile and multimodal experience became increasingly fragmented and difficult for users to understand.
Data science showed that most users interacted with a very small circle of people. For the majority of users, roughly six contacts accounted for most communication. These contacts were typically close friends, immediate family members, or people within the same household. We also found that nearly 80 percent of a user’s interactions occurred through a single communication type. However, users who engaged with more than one communication type had significantly lower long-term churn. Our highest-LTV customers were the most engaged with the Alexa app and used it in coordination with their far-field devices.
Based on these insights, we set out to design a new, scalable foundation that could support a growing portfolio of communication features while remaining intuitive and helping users discover how to use new capabilities. The experience was anchored around the small set of close contacts that drove most usage, enabling users to better understand available communication methods while increasing engagement and long-term retention.
As new communication features such as Drop-In, Announcements, and Intercom were added to Alexa Communications, the mobile and multimodal experience became increasingly fragmented and difficult for users to understand.
Data science showed that most users interacted with a very small circle of people. For the majority of users, roughly six contacts accounted for most communication. These contacts were typically close friends, immediate family members, or people within the same household. We also found that nearly 80 percent of a user’s interactions occurred through a single communication type. However, users who engaged with more than one communication type had significantly lower long-term churn. Our highest-LTV customers were the most engaged with the Alexa app and used it in coordination with their far-field devices.
Based on these insights, we set out to design a new, scalable foundation for the Alexa App that could support a growing portfolio of communication features while remaining intuitive and helping users discover how to use new capabilities. The experience was anchored around the small set of close contacts that drove most usage, enabling users to better understand available communication methods while increasing engagement and long-term retention.
Goals:
Increase Engagement & Feature Scalability
As new communication features such as Drop-In, Announcements, and Intercom were added to Alexa Communications, the mobile and multimodal experience became increasingly fragmented and difficult for users to understand.
Data science showed that most users interacted with a very small circle of people. For the majority of users, roughly six contacts accounted for most communication. These contacts were typically close friends, immediate family members, or people within the same household. We also found that nearly 80 percent of a user’s interactions occurred through a single communication type. However, users who engaged with more than one communication type had significantly lower long-term churn. Our highest-LTV customers were the most engaged with the Alexa app and used it in coordination with their far-field devices.
Based on these insights, we set out to design a new, scalable foundation that could support a growing portfolio of communication features while remaining intuitive and helping users discover how to use new capabilities. The experience was anchored around the small set of close contacts that drove most usage, enabling users to better understand available communication methods while increasing engagement and long-term retention.
Problem:
New Feature Evolution
Body text
Activity Driven Communication
The redesign allows users to see the current or recent activity of their close contacts, such as watching a particular show or listening to a specific band. By surfacing this information directly in the interface, the app creates context-driven opportunities to start conversations and engage more naturally.
This approach reduces the effort required to find relevant interactions and encourages more meaningful communication within the Alexa ecosystem. It also helps users discover features they may not have been aware of, creating a more dynamic and engaging experience while keeping interactions focused on the people and content that matter most.
Event Driven Communication
The app introduces event-driven communications for occasions like holidays, birthdays, and other special moments. By highlighting these events directly in the interface, users are prompted with relevant ways to connect, such as sending a card or announcement, making interactions timely and meaningful.
This approach creates context for communication, encourages engagement around shared experiences, and helps users discover features they might otherwise miss, all while keeping the focus on close contacts and relevant content.
Friends, Family, Home
Friends, Family, Home
Friends, Family, Home
The redesign centers on a bottom tray for quick access to home and close contacts, making communication faster and more intuitive. Recent activity from friends and family is surfaced to create context-driven opportunities, and features are accessible across Amazon properties.
A flexible card system allows the app to scale with new communication types while reducing cognitive load, increasing discoverability, and creating a cohesive, meaningful experience for users.
The redesign centers on a bottom tray for quick access to home and close contacts, making communication faster and more intuitive. Recent activity from friends and family is surfaced to create context-driven opportunities, and features are accessible across Amazon properties.
A flexible card system allows the app to scale with new communication types while reducing cognitive load, increasing discoverability, and creating a cohesive, meaningful experience for users.
Activity Driven Communication
The redesign allows users to see the current or recent activity of their close contacts, such as watching a particular show or listening to a specific band. By surfacing this information directly in the interface, the app creates context-driven opportunities to start conversations and engage more naturally.
This approach reduces the effort required to find relevant interactions and encourages more meaningful communication within the Alexa ecosystem. It also helps users discover features they may not have been aware of, creating a more dynamic and engaging experience while keeping interactions focused on the people and content that matter most.
Event Driven Communication
The app introduces event-driven communications for occasions like holidays, birthdays, and other special moments. By highlighting these events directly in the interface, users are prompted with relevant ways to connect, such as sending a card or announcement, making interactions timely and meaningful.
This approach creates context for communication, encourages engagement around shared experiences, and helps users discover features they might otherwise miss, all while keeping the focus on close contacts and relevant content.
First Time User Experience
The redesign introduced a guided first-time user experience that educated users on new features through contextual tool tips. As users interacted with these tips, actions were seamlessly added to their activity history feed, reinforcing learning and demonstrating how multiple parts of the app worked together. This approach allowed users to explore the app confidently, understand the relationships between features, and quickly gain proficiency across communications, notifications, and home device controls, all while keeping the experience intuitive and cohesive.
Comms
Everywhere
To make Alexa communications more accessible and contextually relevant, we introduced entry points to key features across different Amazon properties, such as shopping lists and Amazon Music. By surfacing communication options where users are already engaged, the app creates natural, context-driven opportunities for interaction, encouraging more frequent and meaningful connections with close contacts.
Comms
Everywhere
To make Alexa communications more accessible and contextually relevant, we introduced entry points to key features across different Amazon properties, such as shopping lists and Amazon Music. By surfacing communication options where users are already engaged, the app creates natural, context-driven opportunities for interaction, encouraging more frequent and meaningful connections with close contacts.
Design System
A scalable design system was developed to support the Alexa App’s notification framework. Smaller cards were used for repeat actions to keep the interface efficient, while larger, more illustrative cards highlighted new features and prompts. This system ensured consistency across the app, allowed for easy addition of new communication types, and maintained clarity and hierarchy, helping users quickly understand and act on notifications.
Design System
A scalable design system was developed to support the Alexa App’s notification framework. Smaller cards were used for repeat actions to keep the interface efficient, while larger, more illustrative cards highlighted new features and prompts. This system ensured consistency across the app, allowed for easy addition of new communication types, and maintained clarity and hierarchy, helping users quickly understand and act on notifications.
Design System
A scalable design system was developed to support the Alexa App’s notification framework. Smaller cards were used for repeat actions to keep the interface efficient, while larger, more illustrative cards highlighted new features and prompts. This system ensured consistency across the app, allowed for easy addition of new communication types, and maintained clarity and hierarchy, helping users quickly understand and act on notifications.
First Time User Experience
The redesign introduced a guided first-time user experience that educated users on new features through contextual tool tips. As users interacted with these tips, actions were seamlessly added to their activity history feed, reinforcing learning and demonstrating how multiple parts of the app worked together. This approach allowed users to explore the app confidently, understand the relationships between features, and quickly gain proficiency across communications, notifications, and home device controls, all while keeping the experience intuitive and cohesive.
Results & Impact
The redesign significantly improved engagement and discoverability across the Alexa App. Users interacted with a broader range of contacts and communication types, and contextual, activity-driven prompts encouraged more meaningful interactions. The bottom tray and flexible card system allowed the app to scale seamlessly as new features were added, while first-time user guidance helped users quickly understand the interface and explore its capabilities.
Overall, the redesign created a cohesive, intuitive, and scalable communication experience that supported frequent interactions, increased feature adoption, and aligned with Amazon’s goal of making Alexa a central hub for personal and home communications.
Results & Impact
The redesign significantly improved engagement and discoverability across the Alexa App. Users interacted with a broader range of contacts and communication types, and contextual, activity-driven prompts encouraged more meaningful interactions. The bottom tray and flexible card system allowed the app to scale seamlessly as new features were added, while first-time user guidance helped users quickly understand the interface and explore its capabilities.
Overall, the redesign created a cohesive, intuitive, and scalable communication experience that supported frequent interactions, increased feature adoption, and aligned with Amazon’s goal of making Alexa a central hub for personal and home communications.
Results & Impact
The redesign significantly improved engagement and discoverability across the Alexa App. Users interacted with a broader range of contacts and communication types, and contextual, activity-driven prompts encouraged more meaningful interactions. The bottom tray and flexible card system allowed the app to scale seamlessly as new features were added, while first-time user guidance helped users quickly understand the interface and explore its capabilities.
Overall, the redesign created a cohesive, intuitive, and scalable communication experience that supported frequent interactions, increased feature adoption, and aligned with Amazon’s goal of making Alexa a central hub for personal and home communications.
patfiori.design
© 2026