Cafe Solstice detail page on Echo Spot: open now, book a table, phone, distance, and hours

Local search for a screen the size of an orange

Local Search on Echo Spot · Amazon Alexa · 2018

"Alexa, show me nearby coffee shops." Local search sounds simple until the device answering is an Echo Spot: a small, round screen, usually seen from across the room, backed by a voice interface. I designed local search for the Spot as an adaptive UI — one that reshapes the answer around what the user actually asked, instead of showing the same business page every time.

Problem

Optimize for the Echo Spot form factor.

A phone search result can be dense; a Spot cannot. The design had to be glanceable from a distance, concise and scannable, and it had to end in an action — call them, get directions, book a table, get a ride, or send the details to your phone. Same goals, very different needs depending on the question.

How might we…

Same goals, different needs

How might we…Prioritize info for different use cases to match user needs

Glanceable from a distance

How might we…Play with the density and hierarchy to make it more scannable

Integrate follow-on actions

How might we…Develop clear patterns for primary and secondary actions

Adaptive UI

The key move: the response is assembled from the intent. Every query type gets a primary piece of information, a secondary piece, and the most relevant action:

General ("tell me about Cafe Solstice") — open/closed status, category, book a table.
Where is it? — location and distance, get directions.
Phone number? — the number, open/closed, call them.
Hours? — open/closed and hours, book a table.

The local search flow: request type routes to a results list or a place detail, and each intent maps to primary info, secondary info, and a call to action

One place, four answers. The same Cafe Solstice, reshaped by the question that was asked — the screen, and the spoken line that goes with it:

Location answer for Cafe Solstice: 0.5 miles, 925 E Thomas St, Get a ride — Where is it? — Distance leads, the address supports, "Get a ride" is the action.

You“Alexa, where is Cafe Solstice?”

Alexa“I found a Cafe Solstice nearby. It’s half a mile away on E Thomas St in Seattle. It’s open now until midnight.”

Phone answer for Cafe Solstice: (206) 403-1916, Open Now, Make a call — Phone number? — The number leads, open/closed supports, "Make a call" is the action.

You“Alexa, what’s the phone number of Cafe Solstice?”

Alexa“The phone number of Cafe Solstice, located nearby on Thomas St, is (206) 403-1916.”

Hours answer for Cafe Solstice: Open Now, 6:00 am to 12:00 am, Book a table — Hours? — Open/closed and the hours lead.

You“Alexa, when is Cafe Solstice open till?”

Alexa“Cafe Solstice is open now until midnight.”

General answer for Cafe Solstice: Open Now, Cafes, Coffee & Tea, Book a table — A general question gets the status-led summary.

You“Alexa, tell me more about Cafe Solstice.”

Alexa“Here’s info about Cafe Solstice.”

The pattern held for any business — the same hours question, asked about Starbucks:

You“Alexa, when is Starbucks open till?”

Alexa“The Starbucks on Maury Ave is open now until 10pm.”

More actions screen: Make a call, View map, Book a table, Get a ride, Send to phone — "More actions" — the full verb list a detail page can end in.

Two page types

A listing page answers category searches ("coffee shops near me") with a tight, scrollable set of results. A detail page answers questions about one place — and it isn't fixed: condensed and scroll variants trade density against the maximum lines of text the little screen can show, and social proof (a review highlight — "Happy Hour, Acme Bread, Kumamoto") can lead when it's the most persuasive thing on the page.

Listing page on the Echo Spot in its device frame: Hog Island Oyster Co, third of 48 results — The listing page in the device: one result at a time, its rating, and where you are in the set — 3 of 48.

The Cafe Solstice detail page scrolled: phone, distance, address, hours, More actions — The same detail page, scrolled — the rest of the facts slide up under the header.

The full Cafe Solstice listing laid out in one column: every field the round screen rations — The same content unconstrained: everything the round screen has to ration.

Confidence, handled out loud

Voice results aren't always certain, so the wording carries the confidence. High confidence: "Cafe Solstice is half a mile away on E Thomas St in Seattle. It's open now until midnight." Medium confidence: "I found a Cafe Solstice nearby…" — same facts, honestly hedged, with follow-on actions offered either way.

Outcome

Local search launched on Echo Spot as one of the two features I headlined in my Amazon portfolio — an early proof that a voice answer and a screen answer should be designed as one thing, each doing what it's best at.