SiriusXM

Objective: Leverage voice interaction & AI to improve the search experience and reduce driver distraction.

Project Role: Lead Designer, SME of Search & Discovery

Content Audit & Synthesis

The first step to designing new ways to search for content was to examine the content itself. I translated data from programming into charts to visualize distribution across SiriusXM & Pandora, and analyze how categories break down into their contributing content types. The charts, or as I’m keen to call them, “content universes” show the hierarchical relationship of content, and explore new ways to slice and compare them based on attributes: like whether a clip was recorded live or whether it was generated by an algorithm.

Customer Journeys

Using past studies from in-vehicle testing labs and persona research, my team documented the current customer journeys for different areas of the SiriusXM product. Shown here is a journey I created for the search feature. This conveyed what users are thinking and feeling at each step of searching for content, and ultimately helped me define use cases for design improvements with product stakeholders.

Prototypes + Research

Next, my team and I iterated on a series of prototypes for user testing. This is a demo I put together for proposed voice search features. In the initial test, 16/37 participants said they had used voice search to find a channel on SXM, but their reports of whether it had met their expectations were mixed. We hypothesized that improvements to the conversational aspects of voice interaction would make them more likely to use it again. Users should be able to use natural language to communicate requests, and we can use AI to serve up relevant results & suggestions.

Results

Participants reacted positively to the conversational features presented in the concept. 29/37 participants preferred search results to be presented both visually and verbally, but expressed concern over having to combine touch with voice while driving. This speaks to a desire to be able to complete an entire task using voice for a totally hands-free experience, and the importance of voice interaction in the vehicle.

CES Video

Video Production & Editing by Tom Westerlin, BANG+MASH

This video was created for the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to showcase where the future of voice interaction at SiriusXM is headed. I created storyboards and provided art direction to the video team to bring the concept of ‘voice mode’ to life. Beyond searching for content, voice interaction & AI provide an enhanced e-commerce experience and make features more accessible.