A major part of the success of the Amazon Echo products are the numerous skills that are to the smart speakers what an app is to a smartphone. They offer an experience for the user as well as useful information.
Now it is possible to create your own personalised skills and responses for Alexa within minutes and without the need to know anything about coding.
Until now, Alexa has responded to our questions and requests for information based on skills created by companies and developers.
With the introduction of Alexa Skill Blueprints you can create your own personalised skills and responses for Alexa.
“Alexa Skill Blueprints is an entirely new way for you to create personalised Alexa skills just for you and your family,” said Kate Burleigh, Australia and New Zealand Country Manager, Alexa Skills.
“You don’t need experience building skills or coding to get started—my family created our own jokes skill in a matter of minutes, and it’s been fun to interact with Alexa in this new and personal way.”
Alexa Skill Blueprints opens up numerous possibilities for customers who already own an Amazon Echo product.
You can do everything from creating a quiz, leaving instructions for a house guest, creating instructions for care of your pet and even working out whose turn it is to unpack the dishwasher.
Users can select their template by visiting the Alexa Skill Blueprints website – blueprints.amazon.com.au.
Here they can browse more than 30 skill blueprints across for different categories including Fun & Games, At Home, Storyteller and Learning & Knowledge.
Each template allows you to fill in the blanks and unleash your creativity.
Some include pre-populated content that can be updated and customised for your skill.
Some skills also allow you to add sound effects and to also choose Alexa’s responses.
Everything that is typed into the templates will be spoken by Alexa through the Echo speaker when your personal skill is launched.
When you’ve finished creating your skill it will become available on all Alexa-enabled devices which are associated with your Amazon account.
Of course, you could also create a name for your skill and see the list of your blueprints in the Private Skills section of the Alexa app.
There is no limit to the number of skills you can create and you can also go in and update your existing skills with new content.
There are 34 skill blueprints available now which will no doubt increase in the future.
And just like the apps for your smartphone, we are sure see numerous new ideas for skills emerge.
Alexa Skill Blueprints available at launch include:
At Home
– Custom Q&A: Customise responses to your questions
– House Guest: Make your guests feel at home with quick access to important info. Great for AirBNB hosts.
– Babysitter: Help your sitter find things, remember steps and get important info
– Pet Sitter: Help your pet sitter care for your favourite animal
– Whose Turn: Figure out whose turn it is to do something by having Alexa choose for you. No more arguments – let Alexa decide.
– Flatmate: Help your roommates by providing them with all the important information they should know. Great for house rules – could have been used by Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory.
Fun & Games
– Family Jokes: Create a list of your favourite jokes for when you need a laugh
– Dad Jokes: Create a list of your favourite dad jokes. This is one of our favourites.
– Trivia: Create your own multiple choice trivia game on any topic
– Inspirations: Curate a list of your favourite inspirational quotes
– Family Trivia: Play together and brush up on family history
– Birthday Trivia: Play to see who knows the birthday girl or boy best
– Sledges: Roast your friends and family with light-hearted sledges.
– Compliments: Flatter your favourites with a list of custom compliments
– First Letter: Play a game of categories starting with a certain letter
– World’s Best Mum: Celebrate mum with a list of customised compliments
– World’s Best Dad: Celebrate dad with a list of customised compliments
– Five Item Rush: Score your friends in this wacky categories game
– Sidekick: Alexa always has your back with these supportive and funny responses
– What To Do: Make choices fun and easy by having Alexa randomly choose an item from your list
– Three Word Sort: Train your brain in this topsy-turvy sorting game
Storyteller
– Adventure: Write an adventure story where your child is the hero
– Fairy Tale: Customise an interactive prince and princess-themed tale
– Sci-Fi: Create an interactive story with a far-out theme
– Fable: Create a short narrative with a moral of the story
– Spooky Story: Create an interactive spooky story with your child as the main character
– All About Mum: Surprise mum with a personalised story
– All About Dad: Surprise dad with a personalised story
– Story Quiz: Create a story and test your memory
Learning & Knowledge
– Flash Cards: Study, test yourself, and master any subject by voice
– Facts: Keep a list of facts on your favourite topic, all in one place
– Quiz: Challenge yourself and others with a customizable quiz
– Listening Quiz: Listen and recall what you’ve learnt with this listening quiz skill.