Question and Answer Guidelines

Writing for Answer Groups

When you contribute to Answer Groups, your knowledge has the potential to reach and help a lot of people. To be the most helpful with your content, it’s important to consider how Answer Groups is different than other question and answer sites you may be familiar with. Here, the people that are helped most are those that will hear your answer spoken by Alexa. What sounds good written down does not always translate well to voice. These guidelines are meant to provide tips for what makes a great question or answer for Alexa.

Tips for Writing Good Questions

While you can ask a question via your Alexa device, some users may choose to ask a question to their group directly on the website. Some Group Admins may also choose to create questions and answer pairs to get their group started. When asking a question, we recommend you keep the following tips in mind:

1. 1. Keep it focused. Focus on one topic in each question.
2. 2. Keep it natural. Phrase questions in your own words.
3. 3. Ensure it’s factual. Questions should be able to be answered factually (eg. is not subjective “what is the best...”).
4. 4. Keep it short. Try to keep question text as short and concise as possible.
5. 5. Make it relevant. Only ask questions relevant to the group.
6. 6. Ask yourself the question out loud. Hearing the question out loud will give you an indication if this is a good question.
7. 7. Use good grammar and proper spelling. This will increase the chance that others will ask the same question.
8. 8. Keep it appropriate for all ages and backgrounds. All questions are subject to the Answer Groups Content Policy.

Some examples of well-formed questions:

• What is the capital of New Zealand?
• Where are the Chatham islands?
• How does cryptocurrency work?

Anatomy of a good answer

A good answer contains the following pieces:

• Confirm the Question. Rephrase at least part of the question to demonstrate understanding and reinforce the answer.
• The Actual Answer - Provide the facts or explanation that answers the question.
• Bonus Content - If applicable, provide additional information that gives more context to the answer.

For example:

This answer rephrases the question:“The first super bowl was won by…”

This answer provides the fact that answers the question:“…the Green Bay Packers…”

This answer provides relevant bonus content and context:“…who defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 35 to 10 on January 15, 1967…”

Good Answer Tips

Good answers are a complete, direct response.

Good answers respond directly to the question, rephrasing the question back in a grammatically correct and complete sentence.

Good answers make sense when read out loud.

Alexa will speak your answer to users that ask the same question. The answer should make sense when read out loud.

Good answers provide bonus content and context when it is helpful.

Sometimes additional context is helpful especially for questions that might have more than one right answer or require additional information to make sense.

Good answers are appropriate for all ages and backgrounds

Good answers do not include adult language or sensitive subjects. Additionally, good answers do not include divisive language or biased messages that maybe inappropriate for an Alexa customer audience. Refer to the Answer Groups Content Policy for more information.

What to Avoid in Questions and Answers

Content that is too short.

Questions or answers that are too short may make it difficult for users to understand.

Content that is too long.

Alexa users don’t typically ask long questions, and a long answer may make an Alexa user ask Alexa to stop speaking before the answer is finished.

Content that is too opinionated.

Content that unnecessarily invites or includes opinions may not be helpful to Alexa users in search of factual content.

Content that contains unhelpful attribution or additions.

Content that contains unhelpful attribution such as URLs may confuse Alexa users.

Answers that use too much jargon.

Alexa’s answers should be understandable by all users, not just experts. Avoid using jargon or overly technical language in your answers.

Content that uses abbreviations and parentheses.

Abbreviations and parentheses may make sense in written language, but not when shared out loud by Alexa.

Content that uses ALL CAPS.

Using ALL CAPS can be perceived as yelling at another user reading the content.

When to Report Content

Some types of content is considered inappropriate and should be reported using the flag action next to the answer. Content can be reported the following reasons:

It’s unsuitable for the site.

Content that violates our Community Guidelines or Amazon's Conditions of Use is prohibited and should be flagged. Refer to the Answer Groups Content Policy for more information.

It’s offensive.

The content is vulgar, insulting, or offensive.

It contains or seeks medical advice.

The content seeks or offers medical or dieting advice.

It contains or seeks personal information.

The content contains or seeks phone numbers, email addresses, mailing addresses, or other personal information.

It’s subjective.

The content contains or seeks opinions, recommendations, or advice. While this content is not considered prohibited, it is up to the discretion of a Group Admin to allow or remove such content from their group.

It’s incorrect.

This pertains to answers that are incorrect or irrelevant to the question asked.

It’s incomprehensible.

The content is completely incomprehensible or unintelligible.

It’s outdated.

This pertains to answers that are no longer correct and need to be updated.

It’s spam.

The content consists of advertising, promotion, or solicitation.

It’s a duplicate.

This pertains to answers that are too similar to a previously submitted answer.