With the addition of new search and browse capabilities, users can now easier than ever discover new widgets to add to their Echo devices.
In the beginning of 2021, I began working on the Widget Gallery for a brand new un-released device, the Echo Show 15 which was to be the largest Echo device yet. I initially worked with one other UX Designer, but briefly after took full ownership of the product. The Gallery was included in the product launch in Fall of 2021 and I continued to own the evolution of the Gallery experience on the second generation of the Show 15 through 2023.
The Echo Show 15 features a persistent panel on the Home screen where a user can add their favorite Widgets via the Widget Gallery. Through the Gallery they can search and browse for their favorite experiences, many of which related to their favorite Skills and have the ability to pin them to Home.
The original 2021 launch featured a simple Gallery experience due to timeline and engineering constraints, however, 2022 saw a significant upgrade in features and capabilities. For the second iteration of the Gallery, customers needed to be able to more easily search and browse through the ever-growing list of widgets to not only find those they were seeking to find, but also discover new experiences they were not yet aware of. Through competitive analysis and user research I was able to develop an information architecture specific to widgets and the multimodal experiences they serve using an assortment of touch and voice search and browse interactions, and the addition of intuitive categories.
The new Widget Gallery was launched in Fall 2023 and provided customers with a much more intuitive way to discover and find the widgets they sought to add to their Home screen.
While we collect more feedback since launch this project has allowed for several new reflections. Some learnings I gained from this iteration was that projects often are threatened by tight timelines or band-aid fixes from cross-functional teams and it is okay to push back to ensure best experience is shipped.
There are many things I would like to update within the Gallery, but only so many features can be resourced at once. Learning how to best articulate design direction to stakeholders by highlighting our priorities based on customer needs and business impact has been a large part of this work stream.
And lastly, for features that have previously been put in the backlog, they can be brought back to attention when the timing is right and they are brought up to the proper stakeholders often.
