In this episode of Two Voice Devs, Allen and Mark discuss the considerations and strategies for shutting down an Alexa skill. They explore various reasons why developers might choose to sunset their skills, including declining usage, deprecated features, and the evolving Alexa landscape. They also delve into the technical aspects of skill removal, highlighting the options of hiding or removing a skill and the implications of each choice, especially when dealing with in-skill purchases and subscriptions. Mark shares his own experiences with managing his six Alexa skills, offering insights into his decision-making process for each one.

Timestamps:

* 0:00:00 Introduction

* 0:00:12 Why shut down an Alexa skill?

* 0:01:11 Decreased promotions, uncertainty about Alexa's future, AWS costs

* 0:04:35 Alexa-hosted skills and AWS free tier

* 0:06:02 Considerations beyond cost: analytics, deprecated features, impact on users

* 0:06:56 Challenges with in-skill purchases and subscriptions

* 0:08:01 Skill hiding vs. skill removal

* 0:10:26 Case Study: "Serve More" skill and lack of organizational adoption

* 0:13:35 Case Study: "Snatch Word" game and handling subscriptions during sunset

* 0:17:46 Managing user communication during skill shutdown

* 0:17:58 Case Study: "Picture Guesser" skill and content challenges

* 0:19:46 Case Studies: "Show Widgets" and "Busy Timers" – skills with ongoing personal use

* 0:22:29 Building skills for personal use first

* 0:23:32 Importance of planning a sunset process for brand image and user experience

* 0:24:27 Call to action for audience sharing

Join the conversation and share your own experiences with shutting down Alexa skills!