Some best practices for Conversational apps

Matthieu VaragnatJune 8, 2016

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 ?

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 ».

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

Choose the right platform• BtC (Messenger, Telegram, Kik)• BtB (Slack)• SMS• Web widget or in-app

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

Cognitive load• pull analytics graphs within a Slack conversation with

marketers.• press a « Request ride » button from within a conversation

with friends

Cognitive load• painfully explain what would have taken a click on a list of

pics

VSor

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)

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’

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

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?

OnboardingHi, I’m your new bot!

Hmmm… Hi?

I’m sorry, I didn’t understand

Alright, how do I uninstall this

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

Commands

Best practice n°5: support standard commands• Help• Menu• Feedback

• 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?

• Allow reaching a human

Provide escape routes

Talk to support

Change my location

Help

Say ‘Movies’ to know what’s playing in nearby theaters

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.

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)

Consider AI/NLP carefully

100%Human

Fluidify Rigidcommand

syntaxNLP

Example:

Automate

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

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