It’s also important to know your target audience before starting development—what languages they speak, if they have accents, where they are located, and if there are any cultural differences that should be considered. All of these factors will influence what data your voice assistant should be trained on, as well as your voice assistant’s personality and tone. 

A voice assistant is not a one-and-done process, and your voice AI strategy should account for many iterations at every stage of development that is improved upon by user testing and research. Once your voice assistant is being used by consumers, data will show what elements need to be updated for the best user experience possible. 

When embarking on a voice AI roadmap, it’s also vital to consider whether to build your own voice assistant, partner with a third-party provider, or adopt an advanced voice AI platform solution. However, if you don’t build your own or adopt an independent platform, there will be long-term costs of not owning your voice assistant, including the inability to access data or control privacy. 

Know the ethics of voice assistant design

As voice assistants, like most new technologies, gain popularity and acceptance, there comes a point when certain aspects of the technology must answer to greater ethical concerns. This happened most widely with early practices of voice assistants resulting in privacy issues surrounding data collection. These questions evolved into a discussion around privacy as a core component of a positive user experience, allowing consumers to opt in or out and being transparent about how data is used. There are also several other ethics in voice assistant design to consider, including suggestive language, children’s interactions, and cultural biases. 

The concern about suggestive language can be as basic as whether or not your users tell their voice assistant “please” or “thank you” to people using inappropriate, rude, or abusive language with voice assistants—specifically those that sound female. During design, brands will want to evaluate how their voice assistant responds to such comments.

Voice-enabled children’s toys can have many benefits for both children and parents, making it easier to access devices, providing endless entertainment, and promoting independence. However, brands designing for children need to be aware of enabling parental controls, specifically for devices that have access to the internet, and that they are following the list of regulations regarding the privacy of children under 13. 

Choose the right connectivity for your voice assistant

Making the right connectivity solution for your voice assistant can result in a greater ROI, deeper connections with your users, and enhanced product functionality. Each connectivity option has its selection of benefits, and they each have their own unique fit for different audiences, products, and brand needs. 

What are the connectivity options to be carefully considered? First, there is cloud-only connectivity, grown in popularity through smart speakers, and has access to the internet. Cloud-only works best for voice assistants that don’t require any embedded functions, such as mobile apps, websites, and voice-enabled TVs. 

The next option is edge connectivity with or without access to the cloud but can increase product functionality of voice assistants in children’s toys, manufacturing, healthcare, and more without the high cloud-based subscription-based fees and privacy concerns. 

Finally, there is Edge+Cloud, which combines the best of both worlds for both cloud-based and embedded connectivity. In-car voice assistants function especially well with Edge+Cloud, allowing users to roll up and down the windows while also streaming music hands-free. Hotels, QSRs, and smart home technology are also widely implementing this connectivity option in their in-room voice assistants, self-service kiosks, and at-home devices. 

Which connectivity option is best for your voice assistant? Here are some questions to ask: 

• What device will be voice-enabled? 
• How much processing power does it need? 
• Does it need access to the internet? 
• Does it need embedded functionality?
• Are there cost limitations? 
• Are there privacy concerns? 

For more information on edge voice assistants, check out our guide, “Voice Assistants on The Edge” or our webinar, “How and Why Voice Assistants are Moving to the Edge.” 

Find your brand’s voice

A voice assistant’s personality is just as important as how accurate and fast it is. Accuracy and speed may get the job done, but it is through the voice persona that users form deep bonds with the voice assistant. How they feel about the voice assistant will transfer over to how they feel about your brand. Therefore, it’s essential that your voice assistant is more than just precise and efficient—it should also endeavor to be likable and relatable to your customers. 

How do you make your voice assistant likable and relatable? Start with knowing your target audience. If it’s for healthcare, business, or education, humor could be more of a distraction and irritant than a joy. If it’s for users in certain cultures, casual language or greetings might not be appropriate. If it’s for a call center, users will likely grow frustrated at lengthy responses and will want to get responses quickly and factually. 

Once your users’ needs are determined, then you’ll want to infuse personality into your voice assistant by selecting the voice, tone, word choice, and level of humor that best matches their expectations. When in doubt, turn to user testing. Double-checking that your audience is responding to your voice assistant at every step of the process is essential.