Teaching a Set-Top Box to Talk (And Actually Listen)

Conversational Design/Product Thinking

Helping Jio create a voice assistant experience for their smart TV users , one that didn’t feel robotic, frustrating, or like yelling into the void.

Helping Jio create a voice assistant experience for their smart TV users , one that didn’t feel robotic, frustrating, or like yelling into the void.

Client:

Reliance JIO

Role:

Product Designer

Year:

2021

  • Built it. Backed it. Here’s the full drop.

  • Built it. Backed it. Here’s the full drop.

Challenge

Can a smart TV really be smart without a voice that works? Jio wanted their new set-top box to feel futuristic. But the existing voice assistant? Let’s just say it struggled with basic commands. My challenge was to design a conversational experience that actually understood India’s multilingual users, without turning their living room into a shouting match.

Approach

  • Conducted contextual research across 4 regions in India

  • Collected real voice queries, mapped failure points, and built key use cases

  • Created a voice interaction model to sync design, product & NLP teams

  • Designed feedback flows, fallback commands, and tone of voice for all JIO apps

  • Aligned voice assistant's interactions across multiple device teams for consistency

Results

📉 ~37% reduction in failed commands post-launch (internal testing)
📺 Voice assistant shipped across 2M+ STB devices in Phase 1
📱 Supported voice UX across multiple devices with unified patterns
🤝 Improved internal coordination between voice tech, UX, and product teams

Learnings

Voice is messy. Designing for it means designing for misunderstanding, repetition, and impatience. But it also means creating empathy-driven systems that adapt. This project taught me to zoom out and think about conversations as an interface.

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