Voice App
WAKEU
Services
-
User experience
-
User interface
-
ALEXA Skill Development
-
In-Skill Purchasing
About the client
Mike Dowdy is a professional Wake Boarder. He is a World Tour Champion and Red Bull athlete. Mike wanted to bring his expertise of WakeBoarding to everyone especially those who could not be with him in person. He realized he could only spend so much time teaching, and as we have all learned there is only so much you can do over zoom or over the phone to really help someone grasp a concept or master a new skill. Mike wanted to find a way for people to train in their homes or on the water at their convenience and whenever fit their busy lifestyle.
The product: Wake boarding voice skill
Bluefin and Mike worked together to create an Alexa Skill designed to teach people Wake Boarding. The challenge was accepted as we needed people to be able to use the Voice Skill on a boat so it was a unique challenge for Alexa bit one well worth it. What is amazing is you can take Alexa anywhere as you can utilize the app on your phone. This made it a no brainer learning skill where we could easily send the user an sms video message of the trick. If the user is at home, using an Echo Show or Fire TV, the user sees the video of Mike pulling the trick off and explaining every step he takes in order to successfully do that trick.
“Bluefin gave our company the opportunity to be on the forefront of progression. Athletes around the world can now access our content and teachings at the sound of their voice. Thank you to the Bluefin team for helping us turn this into a reality.”
The process
The first thing we do is listen. At Bluefin we rely heavily on a strategic system that helps us really understand our clients target audience and their overall vision. Mike is the expert, so we take the time as a team to listen in and learn all we need to about the skill we are to create. That means we dive into the market that Mike is entering. We watched wake boarding videos of Mike’s experience so we could really grab a hold of his message to help bring the skill to life. Mike’s ultimate goal with the skill is to take the beginner wakeboarder and help them to progress from learning the basics all the way up to professional level tricks. In creation of the skill, we plotted out tricks from easiest to hardest. This progression in the skill can then match the rider as they level up in their journey through the skill. The other unique thing is that Mike wanted to only use his voice. Phrases like, “toeside backroll to revert” sounds best from Pro Tour Champ Coach Mike Dowdy, than it does from Alexa, “your robot assistant”. So we collaborated with Mike to record all the dialog that is in the skill directly from his voice. This further personalizes the skill as well as creates a more authentic connection with the riders.
