Situational Design for Alexa Assistance

In once sense, its all about situations.   e.g. context.   So this is good.  Though its also about how the context is described (in storyboards)  and how it varies with more descriptive information.  The latter evolution is most important.    In our own experience maintaining usable knowledge for a non-trivial 'skill' is the most important part.   Not enough detail about that is included.    (More detail at the link)

New Alexa Design Guide: Create Engaging Alexa Skills Using Situational Design By Anna Van Brookhoven

We’re excited to announce the publication of the new Alexa Design Guide for skill builders, built around the principles of situational design so you can create more engaging and habitual skills. This new design methodology is rooted in voice-first design principles, versus screen-first design, ensuring that your skill can deliver compelling and delightful conversational experiences.

Whether you’re new to designing skills, or you need guidance on challenging skill use cases, this guide will help you:

Learn how to script engaging dialog
Create storyboards from your script
Discover voice design use cases and patterns for your skill
Get insight into special use cases for specific types of skills
Explore how to layer in complementary visuals using the Alexa Presentation Language (APL)
Check out the updated guide here.

What is Situational Design?  ... "

Location Aware Reminders and Intelligence

Always thought there should be better  intelligence based on location.  Here Google Home provides some  capabilities.   Now would like the detection to have multiple conditions, and have it able to do an implied search in between, something like:  "Find a place that sells product X, that will do Y, at a price less than Z, and remind me when I am nearby"  ... then take that yet farther, including my likes, dislikes and interests. 

Here is an example of what Google Home can do now:

 " ... Bring the power of your Google Assistant with you
anywhere. Now you can set a reminder at home and
get it when you arrive at a specific location.

Learn more .... 

Just start with, "Hey Google"

When I get to work, remind me to call Justin ... 

Set a reminder to buy more dog food at the grocery store 
Remind me to pay the bills when I arrive home  .... " 

Spotting Fake Info in Data

Would add to beyond 'fake', tags like,  'expired',  'contradictory', 'signals of bias', ' unstable metadata', 'evidence of value', 'risk of use (or non-use)' ... just a few I have had experience with .... there are more.   The thought is good though. Every piece of data should have metadata that flags its interpretation.   In this case its use for strategic espionage.   But for other contexts as well.

Can an app help spies spot phony info? Syracuse researchers, others get $11M to study
By Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com

on January 26, 2017 at 11:49 AM, updated January 26, 2017 at 12:17 PM
Syracuse, N.Y. -- A team that includes researchers from Syracuse University and SRC Inc. is developing digital tools that will use crowdsourcing and other techniques to help the nation's intelligence analysts do their jobs better.

Among the things the software would do is help intelligence analysts determine the credibility of the information they are receiving, researchers said. Another goal is to make the applications more like computer games, researchers said. ... " 

Space Time Insight

Brought to my attention .... Situational Intelligence

via Correspondent Paul Hofmann CTO

Breakthrough Off-The-Shelf Solutions

Space-Time Insight’s industry solutions include off-the-shelf applications that have already been proven to transform the way companies operate.  These applications take data from across an organization, correlate it, analyze it and present it to users in compelling visualizations that drive faster, more-informed decision-making.  By giving organizations a 360-degree operational view of historical, current and possible future performance, the applications excel at converting big data into actionable insight.  Our customers deploy our solutions in a matter of months with minimal IT resources, hastening time-to-value and reducing implementation and maintenance costs. ... "