conversational apps ux best practices
TRANSCRIPT
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Some best practices for Conversational apps
Matthieu VaragnatJune 8, 2016
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Does your business need it?Don’t get caught in the hype
Best practice n°1:Understand what are conv apps can and cannot (shouldn’t) do
August 2015
Now ?
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Does your business need it?Why choosing a conversational app?• Great at early stage (cheaper and faster than mobile app)• Awesome format for pre-sales or support• Emotional link through conversation• Can reduce « cognitive load ».
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Choose the right type of appRanked by increasing technical complexity• Notifications (FROM external service)• Commands (TO external service)• Onboarder / Form bot (then operator takes over)• Hybrid bot/human (operator takes over if needed)• 1-1 chatbot (personal assistant)• Chatbot within group/teams
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Choose the right platform• BtC (Messenger, Telegram, Kik)• BtB (Slack)• SMS• Web widget or in-app
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Cognitive loadBest practice n°2: improve cognitive ergonomics• Friction: number of clicks, apps switching, copy paste, …• Reduce cognitive load = great conversation app
Cognitive Efficiency is a measure of how much cognitive effort is saved through the interface.
For example, compare alternatives to getting calendar information for something 2 weeks away. In the first, a user has to exit a messaging platform, open a calendar, scroll to the right day, and find the event on the calendar. In the second example, a user can ask, right from a
messaging platform, a question about the day, or the event, thus saving several steps.
—Rob May
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Cognitive load• pull analytics graphs within a Slack conversation with
marketers.• press a « Request ride » button from within a conversation
with friends
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Cognitive load• painfully explain what would have taken a click on a list of
pics
VSor
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Cognitive load
Image & gesture based apps
+ UX can be more fluid
- Need to switch apps
- Need to download app
Text-based bots
+ Embedded in conversations
+ Existing apps
- No visual cues (affordance)
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How to reduce cognitive load?
Some ideas• Best: Use images, buttons or structured inputs• Better: Provide clear choices (Say ‘Black’ or ‘White’ please)• Good: Provide clear indication on how to input information
Book tickets for tomorrow
Can you tell me which show? You can say things like ‘The Avengers at 8pm’
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Limit scope
Best practice n°3: focus on a well-defined problem• For now, the best bots are dumb, ultra-focused bots• Simplification reduces confusion for users• Focus helps the bot deliver value
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Limit scopeHelps answering critical design questions:• What can I ask about? • What options do I have?
Avoid complicated design of conversation paths & NLP parsing
Book room at 4pm vs Can you help me organize the meeting?
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OnboardingHi, I’m your new bot!
Hmmm… Hi?
I’m sorry, I didn’t understand
Alright, how do I uninstall this
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OnboardingBest practice n°4: Great onboarding is crucial
• Suggest commands• Brief configuration steps• Go quickly to value-delivering step
Do not leave user with a « hi » and a white page
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Commands
Best practice n°5: support standard commands• Help• Menu• Feedback
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• Validate input
Hi, I’m your new bot!Hmmm… Hi?
Change destination
Book Flight
Provide escape routesWhere do you want to go?
Paris
I got Paris, Texas. Should I book a flight?
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• Allow reaching a human
Provide escape routes
Talk to support
Change my location
Help
Say ‘Movies’ to know what’s playing in nearby theaters
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ContentBest practice n°6: The content is the UI. Craft it with care• Find a tone. Robotic or friendly? • BASAAP: Be as Smart as a Puppy
Making smart things that don’t try to be too smart and fail, and indeed, by design, make endearing failures in their attempts to learn and improve. Like puppies.
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Attention to content
Good writing skills will be sought after• Avoid almost-human ‘uncanney valley’• Avoid walls of text• Limit notification frequency (high relevance ratio)
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Consider AI/NLP carefully
100%Human
Fluidify Rigidcommand
syntaxNLP
Example:
Automate
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Summary1. Understand what are conv apps can and cannot (shouldn’t)
do
2. Improve cognitive ergonomics
3. Focus on a well-defined problem
4. Great onboarding is crucial
5. Support standard commands
6. The content is the UI. Craft it with care
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Reading material• http://venturebeat.com/2016/05/21/the-5-branches-of-conversational-commerce-a-guide-
for-the-bot-curious/• http://www.technicallysentient.com/blog/2016/4/1/cognitive-ergonomics-and-chatbots• https://blog.intercom.io/principles-bot-design/• http://berglondon.com/blog/2010/09/04/b-a-s-a-a-p/• https://medium.com/truth-labs/where-does-conversational-ui-leave-design-7044c395be9f
#.j65g36hqb• http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/29/why-do-chatbots-suck/• https://pilot.co/blog/chatbot-dilemma/• https://chatbotsmagazine.com/designing-messenger-bots-f016a2c842cd#.ndslww93i