Google Assistant: Build Actions For Your Community in the Philippines
March 15, 2018 was the day Google launched a Google Assistant community event called Build Actions For Your Community. It is aimed for developers to build Actions or Applications for the Google Assistant.
Status of the Google Assistant in the Philippines
Upon asking the attendees if they know what a Google Assistant is, most of them or even almost all of them know it. They sometimes use it in their daily lives while sometimes it’s just right there in their pockets.
A smartphone is their primary device that has a Google Assistant built in. Other devices such as the Google Home family is not that available across the Philippines. Though, some stores do sell Google Homes and Google Home Minis but, as far as I know, not Google Home Max.
Hosting the event
Google Developer Group Philippines is one of the communities in the Philippines to host this kind of event.
Build Actions was hosted, first, independently last April 21, 2018 in Acceler8 Co-working, Ortigas, Metro Manila. Then, the event partnered with the Google I/O Extended Roadshow where it was hosted in different cities: Cavite, Manila, Pampanga, Palawan, Albay, and Naga.
A total of 719 attendees participated in Build Actions in 6 cities.
What they learned
Developing an app for the Google Assistant is very new here in the Philippines. It’s unlike designing & developing apps in other platforms such as Android and the Web.
Google Assistant uses VUI or Voice User Interface. And by designing the VUI of an app is a LOT different from GUI (Graphical User Interface).
In the event, I taught them different things such as: what a Google Assistant has to offer if you’re going to create an app with it like Transactions API, Smart Home Integration, Account Linking, etc; designing the VUI of an app; tips, guidelines, and best practices of VUI; how to develop an Action with Dialogflow; and even how to pass the App Review when you’re ready to publish your app in the Google Assistant Directory.
What I learned
It’s not just them who learned from the event, but even me. After the talks, they grouped themselves and I gave them 15 minutes to generate an idea of their app, an app where it will solve a problem in their communities. After that, they will get to present it in front and share it with the whole group and here’s what I learned. Most problems they want to solve is about Depression. Every Build Actions, I always hear something from them that they to solve it. It’s a bit concerning when I hear it but I guess happy since they want to solve it and that’s what matters.
Other major problems that were raised were enrollment in their university, power interruption in their city, crimes and accidents, and health of the user. Many interesting ideas were generated and I hope to see those apps soon.
Another thing I’m really excited about is that some students use Google Assistant for their thesis or research. I was surprised when I heard it from them and I always share it with my attendees that you can use Google Assistant for their research and make them inspired by it.
Lastly, I feel satisfied when I hear their feedback that they learned a lot from the event because I have fulfilled the mission of the event, for them to learn on how to build Actions for the Google Assistant and use it to solve problems in their community.