JBL Authentics

Two competing voice assistants,
living on the same speaker.

Design

Michael Lang

Year

2024

Industry

Consumer AI App

Services

Conversational AI, App Design, Rapid Prototyping

The JBL Authentics speaker at home, in a record-lined living room.

The Authentics speaker at home, two assistants listening at once.

How do you introduce customers to two competing voice assistants living on the same speaker?

For the JBL Authentics line, I collaborated with Harman/JBL and Google to design an onboarding flow that made Alexa + Google Assistant feel seamless, balanced, and easy to trust.

Two onboarding screens: enabling services, then selecting a preferred voice assistant.

Onboarding. Customers enable both assistants, then decide how they want to listen.

Seamless, balanced, and easy to trust.

True choice, without confusion.

The launch film for the Authentics line.

From visual attention system states to multi-agent privacy rules, the experience gives customers true choice without confusion. Adoption reached 80% in the first month, and the product went on to win a CES Innovation Award in 2024.

The Authentics speaker answering a Google Assistant request in a living room.

Google Assistant, answering in the living room.

From visual attention system states to multi-agent privacy rules.

Per-assistant settings and music playback screens in the JBL companion app.

Each assistant keeps its own settings and playback, legible and separate.

In Context

One speaker, either assistant, on request. The choice belongs to the room it sits in.

Asking Alexa to add an item to a shopping list, in the kitchen.

Asking Google Assistant to turn on the lights, in the living room.

Adoption reached 80% in the first month, and the product won a CES Innovation Award in 2024.