Presentation at World IA Day 2017 in Chicago by Ara Berberian - Director of Experience Architecture at VSA Partners

1. World IA Day 2017 - Chicago
Merchandising in the Age
of Invisible UI
ARA BERBERIAN
Director of Experience Architecture
VSA Partners
Feb. 18, 2017
PRESENTED TO WORLD IA DAY

2. 2
2007 - 2015
Mobile First
I N T R O D U C T I O N

3. 3
2015 -
Mobile First
to A.I. First
I N T R O D U C T I O N

4. 4
IPAs = Intelligent
Personal Assistants
C U R R E N T S TAT E I PA L A N D S C A P E

5. 5
Multiple players
C U R R E N T S TAT E I PA L A N D S C A P E
Microsoft
Cortana
Google Home Facebook M
Apple Siri

6. 6
C U R R E N T S TAT E I PA L A N D S C A P E
Alexa!
Alexa!
Alexa!

7. 7
Mauris pretium nunc nec lorem molestie viverra.
Aliquam posuere odio in commodo rhoncus. Vivamus
id turpis justo. Quisque et ligula aliquam, auctor lacus
sit amet, euismod urna. Nunc ornare dui at neque
interdum, et ultrices lorem rhoncus. Vivamus tempor
nisl quis sem fermentum facilisis.
VSA Partners is a
design-driven branding
and marketing firm.
C U R R E N T S TAT E I PA L A N D S C A P E

8. 8
Alexa - current state
C U R R E N T S TAT E I PA L A N D S C A P E

9. 8
Alexa - current state
C U R R E N T S TAT E I PA L A N D S C A P E
Alexa, play
some music
“
”
Me

10. 8
Alexa - current state
C U R R E N T S TAT E I PA L A N D S C A P E
Alexa, play
some music
“
”
Here’s a station
you might like;
reggae
“
”
Me Alexa

11. 9
Alexa - current state
C U R R E N T S TAT E I PA L A N D S C A P E
1.
Thunderstorm
Sounds
2.
Jeopardy! J6
3.
The Magic Door
4.
Short Bedtime
Story
5.
Ask My Buddy

12. 1 0
Current State Digital
Merchandising Landscape

13. 1 1
C U R R E N T S TAT E D I G I TA L M E R C H A N D I S I N G L A N D S C A P E

14. 1 2
C U R R E N T S TAT E D I G I TA L M E R C H A N D I S I N G L A N D S C A P E

15. 1 3
C U R R E N T S TAT E D I G I TA L M E R C H A N D I S I N G L A N D S C A P E

16. 1 4
C U R R E N T S TAT E D I G I TA L M E R C H A N D I S I N G L A N D S C A P E

17. 1 5
Alexa - Current State
Merchandising

18. 1 6
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G

19. 1 7
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G
I have several exclusive deals today,
including: sterling silver diamond
three stone heart pendant necklace,
1 quarter total carat weight, 18 inches.
It’s temporarily out of stock and
will be delivered by Friday, February
17th. It’s 76 dollars and 20 cents
total, including tax, after a discount
of 30 dollars.
Would you like to buy it?
“
”
Say what again?!

20. 1 7
Let’s unpack that...
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G
I have several exclusive deals today,
including: sterling silver diamond
three stone heart pendant necklace,
1 quarter total carat weight, 18 inches.
It’s temporarily out of stock and
will be delivered by Friday, February
17th. It’s 76 dollars and 20 cents
total, including tax, after a discount
of 30 dollars.
Would you like to buy it?
“
”
Item
Material
Weight
Length
Stock Status
Possible Delivery Date
Price w/Tax
Discount
Say what again?!

21. 1 8
Is that a great experience?
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G

22. 1 8
Is that a great experience?
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G
...a good experience?

23. 1 8
Is that a great experience?
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G
...a good experience?
...an ok experience?

24. 1 8
Is that a great experience?
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G
Hmm...yeah.
I thought so
...a good experience?
...an ok experience?

25. 1 9
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G
but why?

26. 1 9
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G
but why?
missing context
missing personalization

27. 1 9
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G
but why?
missing context
missing personalization
and something else...

28. 2 0
Technology Tiller
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G

29. 2 1
Replicating a
conventional
eCommerce
approach for
conversational
commerce
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G
$

30. 2 2
To design the right
experience, we have
to start by asking
the right questions
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G

31. 2 3
What should the
marketing funnel look
like through the lens
of AI/VUI?
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G
Awareness
Engagement
Discovery
Purchase
Retention

32. 2 4
What information is
needed by the system?
And what personal
information are you
willing to give up to
get what you want?
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G
Age
Sex
DOB
Height
Weight
Shoe Size
Address
Ethnicity
Health Data
Hobbies
Personality Profile
Relationship Status
Style
Income
Purchase History
Spending Habits
Spending Goals

33. 2 5
What products or services
would conversational
commerce work best for?
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G
Repeat
Purchases
Easily
Visualizable
Items
Emotional
Purchases

34. 2 6
What do controls, filters
and sort options look like?
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G
Brand Filters Needs vs WantsPrice/Deal Filters
Needs
Wants
Needs and Wants

35. 2 7
What’s the minimal
amount of audible
information to
effectively “hook”
someone?
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G

36. 2 8
or more cynically...what
becomes the audible
version of clickbait?
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G

37. 2 9
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G

38. 3 0
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G

39. 3 1
Nielsen Catalina Solutions showed radio beating most of
the digital ROI numbers by a wide margin. In this study
that tracked a number of brands in a number of categories
that advertised on Clear Channel radio stations, brands
averaged a sales lift more than $6 for every dollar spent
on radio ads—an ROI double that of even the best results
from many recent studies of digital media.
(reported in AdAge March 25, 2014)
Merchandising
via radio
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G

40. 3 2
Theater of
the Mind
A L E X A - C U R R E N T S TAT E M E R C H A N D I S I N G

41. 3 3
Future State Hypothesis

42. 3 4
The pivot from
pull to push
F U T U R E S TAT E H Y P O T H E S I S
PULL
(Asking IPA)
PUSH
(IPA makes contextual recs)

43. 3 5
Contexts will
be the new
media buy
F U T U R E S TAT E H Y P O T H E S I S
Personal
Data
Moment
+ = $
Context
for Sale

44. 3 6
What moments?
F U T U R E S TAT E H Y P O T H E S I S
Walking to work Shaving in the bathroomPreparing a meal

45. 3 7
What are socially
acceptable prompts?
Put another way,
what “Bob skills” does
Alexa need to learn?
F U T U R E S TAT E H Y P O T H E S I S

46. 3 8
The push era -
possible prompts?
F U T U R E S TAT E H Y P O T H E S I S

47. 3 8
The push era -
possible prompts?
F U T U R E S TAT E H Y P O T H E S I S
“Knock
Knock”

48. 3 8
The push era -
possible prompts?
F U T U R E S TAT E H Y P O T H E S I S
“Knock
Knock”
Musical
Jingle

49. 3 8
The push era -
possible prompts?
F U T U R E S TAT E H Y P O T H E S I S
“Knock
Knock”
Musical
Jingle
Programmable

50. 3 9
VUI to UI to better
support journey
F U T U R E S TAT E H Y P O T H E S I S
I saw you were browsing
some jeans...I’m pretty
sure I found a great pair
with the same style at half
the price.
Shall I text you an image?
“
”

51. 4 0
Gamification
Alexa - playing 20
questions with you
F U T U R E S TAT E H Y P O T H E S I S

52. 4 0
Gamification
Alexa - playing 20
questions with you
F U T U R E S TAT E H Y P O T H E S I S
“I think I have the
perfect gift for your
wife’s birthday.
Wanna guess?
”

53. 4 1
AI without a need for human-provided
context is the Singularity
This is ludicrous!
C H A L L E N G E S

54. 4 2
Yes, the bots will
take over but...
C H A L L E N G E S

55. 4 3
Brands are struggling
to own the end-to-end
customer experience
C H A L L E N G E S

56. 4 4
A cacophony of AI-based
terms, frameworks and
form factors
C H A L L E N G E S
Bots
Chatbots
Textbots
Voice UI (VUI)
Invisible UI
No UI
Personal Digital Assistants
Intelligent Personal Assistants
Cognitive Computing
Intelligent Agents
Virtual Agents
Conversational Commerce

57. 4 5
Accessibility
C H A L L E N G E S

58. 4 6
In closing…

59. 4 7
The right experience including
the right information architecture
is still largely unknown
C O N C L U S I O N

60. 4 7
The right experience including
the right information architecture
is still largely unknown
C O N C L U S I O N
No experts yet

61. 4 7
The right experience including
the right information architecture
is still largely unknown
C O N C L U S I O N
No experts yet
User empathy of evermore
importance

62. 4 8
You will all
have jobs!
C O N C L U S I O N

63. 4 9
Alexa will become
your bestie
C O N C L U S I O N