Alexa+ Ticket Search

THE CHALLENGE

Deliver on promises to track and alert

Since 2014, Alexa has helped customers find quick answers—but only in the moment. If you asked, “Alexa, are there tickets under $100 for Taylor Swift in Seattle?” the conversation would end with “Sorry, I don’t see any events.”

Our challenge was to transform these dead-end interactions into ongoing, proactive experiences, enabling Alexa to monitor evolving event data and alert customers when their preferred artists, prices, or locations became available through Scout-for-X.A

THE OPPORTUNITY
Turn dead-end queries into automatic tracking
Make setup effortless through natural conversation
Deliver reliable & transparent alerts

THE APPROACH

GOOD FAST CHEAP

To accelerate Scout's launch, we built within Alexa's existing design system and conversation architecture, utilizing the discover, converse, alert model.

While this approach leveraged familiar customer interactions and existing infrastructure, it also constrained how we could design the experience.

THE FRAMEWORK

HOW WE GOT THERE

Collaborating closely with engineering, I helped transform Alexa’s dead-end response—“Sorry, I don’t see any events”—into a chance to keep helping. We designed a conversational framework that let Alexa naturally transition from “no results” to “Would you like me to keep an eye out?”

Through dialogue, Alexa gathered user preferences (when, where, price) and clearly confirmed what would be monitored, building trust in this new asynchronous, proactive behavior.

VOICE-FIRST DESIGN

When designing Scout’s visual elements, I focused on supporting the voice experience; not overshadowing it. We explored a range of concepts, from lightweight transcript confirmations to rich, AI-driven artist suggestions and even full-screen takeovers.

Because Scout spanned multiple surfaces and stakeholders, including design leadership and the multi-modal platform team, it became essential to show the spectrum of possibilities and weigh trade-offs together. Presenting each option side by side helped align the team on the right balance between simplicty, visual clarity, and customer trust.

ALIGNING ON A DESIGN

We aligned on a streamlined visual card paired with lightweight suggestions like "Follow Artist" or "Search Other Locations." This design confirmed that tracking had been set up successfully while preserving focus on the conversational experience.
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This card also became a reusable pattern within Alexa+, later extending to ticket purchases. Reinforcing a consistent visual language across devices and surfaces.

THE CONTROVERSIAL ALERT

The notification copy was one of the most controversial design decisions for our team. The challenge was crafting concise yet informative alerts that would communicate urgency clearly within character limits, maintain consistency across Echo Show, mobile, and web, and guide customers from notification to action.

The three areas that were most debated related to:

• What it said: how to convey urgency within tight character limits
• What it looked like: adapting visual hierarchy across Alexa's ecosystem and devices
• What it did: defining the most intuitive path from notification to action.

VALIDATION

TESTING OUR ASSUMPTIONS

My design process for Scout moved from initial concepts to high-fidelity prototypes quickly by leveraging existing Alexa Design patterns. In beta testing, customers loved the hands-off convenience but wanted more control, especially to edit or cancel active Scouts.

We responded by adding suggestion pills and prompts that made Scout management more transparent and accessible.

COMMUNICATING DESIGN

DETAILED SPECS

I owned and maintained comprehensive documentation across three platforms (multi-modal, mobile, and web), including CX requirements, customer journeys, and visual design specs.

While essential for engineering and QA teams, keeping these documents updated across multiple platforms required significant effort and frequent revisions.

THE IMPACT

IMPACT & RESULTS

While Scout-for-X is in its early stages, strong customer engagement and repeat usage suggest it's laying the groundwork for Alexa's future proactive features. Early adoption metrics show promising growth in both new setups and returning customers.

~976

Scouts created per week

+31

Week-over-week growth

708

Unique customers

“I LOVE how easy it is to find tickets on Alexa+”

“Easy to work with. Natural back and forth gave me confidence Alexa understood.”

When tickets weren’t available and Scout kicked in: “Yes I would love that”; Yeah that would be wonderful Alexa, because I would love to do things in advance”

Karen Utley