Webby Judges Spotlight: Cathy Pearl

Judges Spotlight January 9, 2019

5 Things You Should Know About Cathy Pearl

Cathy Pearl wears many hats: She is a Voice technology veteran, Author, and Head of Conversation Design Outreach at Google. She is also a member of The Webby Judging Academy!

As a Voice technology expert of more than 20 years and Head of Conversation Design Outreach at Google, Cathy Pearl knows great Voice design when she hears it. With the proliferation of voice recognition apps and assistants, Cathy is lending her expertise to The Webby Awards across this year’s Voice categories.

Here are 5 Things to Know about Webby Judge Cathy Pearl.

5 Things You Should Know About Cathy Pearl

Cathy Pearl wears many hats: She is a Voice technology veteran, Author, and Head of Conversation Design Outreach at Google. She is also a member of The Webby Judging Academy!

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Cathy Is a Voice Veteran 🗣

That fact can’t be overstated. For more than 20 years, Cathy has been—as she put it in this blog post—teaching computers how to talk.

From programming automated phone systems to leading the user experience design of a virtual-nurse avatar, Cathy is well versed in creating great Voice experiences.

She Wrote a Book About Voice UX

In 2016, Cathy released her first book, Designing Voice User Interfaces: Principals of Conversational Experiences. It’s a guide to building well-designed voice applications that let users converse with it.

Her book, published through O’Reilly Media, is available on Amazon.

And She's a Bookworm 🤓

Speaking of books… consider Cathy your go-to for good reading recommendations. Last year alone, she read 57 books. Luckily for us, she rounded up her favorite books of 2018 on Twitter.

Craving more? Check out this running list of every book she’s read since 2013. Happy reading, and follow her on Twitter: @cpearl42.

She Embodies "Each One, Teach One"

It’s no secret that Cathy loves to spread her extensive Voice technology knowledge—through writing, volunteering, and teaching seminars.

Check out her Conversation Design & Voice UX webinar, in partnership with CloudApp, for a crash course in conversation UI.

An Advocate for a "Year of Yes"

For Cathy doing a “Year of Yes” (also a phenomenal Shonda Rhimes book) changed everything.

In 2014, she said “yes” to as many experiences and opportunities as she could. That leap led her to amazing places, including speaking at conferences in Berlin—and even writing her hit book!