The new Echo Show experience launched on the 5, 8, & 10 devices debuts a new way for users to interact with Widgets straight from the Home screen.
From early 2023 I worked alongside another UX designer to bring Widget Shortcuts to life. Midway through this project, I took sole ownership to take the product to launch.
Widgets were first introduced on the Echo Show 15 where they are persistent on-screen. Due to much smaller screen sizes, widgets were unable to be persistent on home and instead resided in a swipe-able panel hidden just off-screen, which in turn affected engagement. This led us to ask, for the next generation of these smaller devices how might we make widgets more persistent and accessible to our users?
Through several Figjam brainstorm sessions, multiple rounds of iterations, design reviews, and two full rounds of user-testing Widget Shortcuts was born and launched in Fall of 2023.
With the release of Widget Shortcuts which can be accessed straight from the device's Home screen, Echo devices active with widgets increased by 145% and total widget interactions saw a jump by 50%. Our 1P and 3P developers also showed more willingness to build new widget experiences on our device lineup now that their designs could be more efficiently scaled across all of the Echo family.
The launch on Echo Show 8 (the first of the smaller devices to debut with Widget Shortcuts) was welcomed to a host of positive feedback from The Verge, PC Magazine and CNET. Jennifer Pattison Tuohy from the Verge wrote "My favorite new feature on the third-generation Echo Show 8 is the widgets. They turn the smart display into a more effective touchscreen controller, making it easier to get to the info you want without having to use your voice, with the advantage of being a device anyone in my household can use."
