What Skill Sets Do I Need To Be in a “Voice Team”?

• Design Thinking

Design thinking is all about problem-solving.

According to Tim Brown, CEO OF IDEO –
“Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.”

Design thinking is a strategic method of planning and brainstorming that pushes designers of all fields to think outside of the box while creating an optimal user experience. The design thinking methodology allows the designers to answer some basic questions like ‘how to develop a unique business concept?’, ‘what solution is the best for my customers?’, ‘how to develop a design in the shortest terms?’, ‘how to cut on the estimation time?’, ‘how to accelerate the development process?’ and many, many others. That’s why the teams involved in the design thinking process must be multidisciplinary. It enables them to acquire different and diverse viewpoints from as many different perspectives as possible.

To do the job effectively, the VUI designers must understand what their audiences want and how they view the world. This means mastering the ability to plan, conduct, and analyze findings from a variety of research methods. Aptitudes in user testing and analytical research will be highly helpful.

• Prototyping

A prototype is a simple tentative model of a proposed solution used to test or validate ideas, design assumptions, and conceptualization so that the designers involved can make appropriate refinements or possible changes in the required direction. Prototypes can take many forms. They allow voice designers to test functionality. It helps the designers to ensure there is a match between an app design and its users before building the final product begins. These allow designers to test both page functionality and usability. As problems are identified, the VUI designer may go through a set of several iterations before landing on a design that meets the requirements of both the business and user goals.

Basic coding skills
VUI is about using design to improve communication between a product and its user. The best design is clear and effective, making the end user’s experience so smooth they don’t even think of it as having an “experience.” Whether you’re already a VUI professional or starting, coding is an essential skill set for distinguishing yourself in this field.

• Communication

The ability to communicate demonstrates aptitude. And when the designers can articulate their decisions assures stakeholders they can be trusted and have the expertise necessary to complete the required job. It also proves purpose, validating that they have thought about their solutions and that there is a logic to their approach.

Oral and written communication proficiencies are consistently ranked in the top ten desirable skills by employer surveys year after year. Great communicators are the ones who bring solutions, drive change, motivate and inspire their colleagues. Developing strong communication skills is essential when it comes to building a successful VUI career.

Check out these resources below:
Why UX professionals must be good communicators

• Learn more by doing

You can go on reading about VUI but you’ll only get the hang of VUI Design when you start building something, on your own. Here are a few resources to help you get started:

• VUI 
• Voicebot 
• Google

There’s a greater need for VUI designers in the voice tech field. From my experience, if you are enthusiastic and can reach out to people who are already working in this space, they will love to talk to you and share what they can to help you add voice design skills to your skillset.

• Sending the LinkedIn request to communicate with the voice tech thought leaders might be a good place to start.
• Prepare a list of questions. Ask questions to understand the industry landscape. Learn what skills they are looking for in a new hire. Inquire about more resources to read. Request to recommend more people that you can connect with or introduce you to them. See if they’d be interested in giving you feedback on the VUI experiences you built. Don’t forget to send them a thank you note after the interview and stay in touch with them.
• Another great resource to find professionals in this field is Women in Voice. It’s a community of women and diverse people in the voice technology field. I’ve attended their webinars and meetups. I always left with fresh ideas and found their talks to be very informative and helpful!
• Keep yourself informed and up to date by reading about voice technology. Be visible in the VUI community by building VUI experiences and sharing your knowledge. Gain new perspectives, career advice, and support by networking with people in this field.

To all the designers wanting to start their career in VUI Design, remember that we are still solving the same human-voice assistant interaction problems.