Explanation

Amazon Alexa is something I didn’t know I needed until I had it. When I saw that I could make skills for it as one of the Bloc projects I was incrediblly excited and I knew I had to do it. I had to make three skills; A fact skill, trivia skill, and a skill of my own design.

Problem

I had no experience with the Alexa SDK and would also have to learn how to use the Amazon developer portal as well as create Lambda functions using AWS.

Solution

Following Amazon’s awesome guide I was able to create three skills which are currently available on all Alexa enabled devices.

Results

The projects resulted in three skills finished and live skills. Amazon also has promotions for developers who certify skills during specific periods where they send you free swag! I got a free Amazon Alexa developer shirt for one skill, and awesome Alexa socks and a free Echo dot for another!! As I already have my house filled with Alexa devices I gave the Echo dot to a friend who is now in love with the Alexa products as well. Talk about good marketing!!

Conclusion

This project was a blast. I really enjoyed learning all about Amazons great features. They really give developers the tools, that are easy to learn and understand, to create truly amazing skills and apps. As this was the first thing I had ever created that could be used by other people it was an amazing thing to go on the Skills page and see something I had created, with my name next to it. It was highly motivating and to top it off I got some free stuff out of it. Win/Win!!