5 tips to optimise your conversation designs
Want to delight your users with your conversational experiences? Here are 5 tips to remember:
Speak human
Conversational AI should feel like a genuine interaction with a company representative. Speaking in a human way enhances brand perception and creates meaningful interactions. Nobody feels connected to a message like: “No tickets available on that day. Choose another day.”
Instead, try this:
“Ah, crumbs! The last ticket for that day has already been snapped up.
But there are some tickets left on Friday 30th. I can show you those or if you have another date in mind, let me know.”
This phrasing feels more personal and helpful, and makes the interaction memorable.
Be careful with answering a question definitively
It's easy to get stuck in the linear paths we've designed for chatbots, but natural language processing (NLP) allows users to arrive at answers in various ways. Avoid starting responses with definitive answers that only fit one specific question.
Consider this Q&A pairing:
User: Can I give blood?
Bot: Yes, you can donate blood once a month at our centre on the first Thursday of the month. Drop in any time between 1pm and 6pm.
This response suits many intents:
Can I give blood?
What day do you take blood donations?
Do I need an appointment to give blood?
However, starting with ‘Yes,’ makes it work conversationally only for the first question in that bullet list. Removing ‘Yes’ makes the response universally applicable.
Provide complete answers
Service-oriented chatbots must consider that users often seek to complete an action, not just get an answer. Always ask, "What is the user really asking?"
For instance, if someone says, “I’m having a party for my 30th”, they’re not just asking for a reply. They possibly want to know if your business caters for parties, if they can book a function room, or to order balloons. It’s for you to figure out what they really mean and steer the conversation down the right path.
Incorporate a personality
Adding personality to a bot can be daunting, but it's essential. Bots with personality are memorable, delightful, and encourage repeat interactions. A consistent personality, that flexes for different scenarios, ensures the bot resonates with users no matter the situation. A fun personality can still be sympathetic and caring.
Take a pizza bot, keen to get feedback on the latest delivery, for example. This could be asked as the usual: “How was your delivery from 1 to 5 (5 being good)?”. Or you could inject some flamboyant, Italian chef personality with, “Was your delivery a slice of heaven or just plain dough? Give me the delicious details!”. Which one are you more engaged by?
Integrate into other systems
A bot's usefulness increases with the information it can access. Many businesses start with FAQ bots, but stopping there is a mistake. To provide real value, bots need to integrate with other systems via APIs, allowing them to offer more personalised and helpful interactions.
So begin with FAQs if that’s your plan. But learn from the usage insights quickly and enable your bot to become far more useful to the user in the long run by integrating with your wider systems.
