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What tech firms should do to improve chatbot user experience

By Amit Dua

  • 21 Dec 2017
What tech firms should do to improve chatbot user experience
Amit Dua

Chatbots are artificial intelligence-controlled helpers that clients can converse within a chat stream. Many chatbots operate through existing applications like Facebook Messenger, while others are independent mobile applications for your smartphone. Chatbots work in a conversational way, yet regularly incorporate customised responses for the client in order to prevent confounding data.

Bots are never exhausted or tired and do not waver from the customised script. So, it is essential that they convey the experience you need. Here are eight best practices to develop the ideal chatbot:

First impressions

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Most people are new to communicating with chatbots and require some direction when beginning. The initial association is vital to determine how the client will decipher the chatbot.

A successful bot will use a conversational, easygoing tone; will outline the fundamental services it can offer; and will suggest the next phase and step.

Pick a toolkit

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You probably have little control over the application's appearance and need not get worked up about typography, design or styling. If you are building a voice-controlled chatbot, it won’t have a visual side. Consequently, dump the vast majority of the standard tools and build your toolbox with new helpful ones.

Build the right conversation flow

One of the most difficult parts about designing a chatbot is to ensure the conversation flows as normally and productively as possible. Notwithstanding, human communication is normally chaotic and non-direct.

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Characterise the personality

Characterise the identity of the chatbot to ensure it looks bonafide and human-like. Many applications develop chatbots that are easy to understand, with comprehensive dialects to ensure that clients don’t feel like they are conversing with a machine.

Enhancing client experience

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Personalising chatbots can enhance the general user experience. Chatbots help brands interact with users in a way that implies the experience is not a ploy. For a few brands, this can be a bet. A chatbot that comes across as a contrivance can leave clients feeling frustrated.

Concentrate on the microcopy

A chatbot designer should have a similar outlook as that of a marketing specialist when building a bot. The substance and discourse will characterise the bot’s style. The best applications are generally those that have a fun conversational discourse. A designer should ensure that a bot doesn’t sound excessively smart and should utilise complex grammar or dialect structures. Designers must not use gender-specific pronouns as you never know who will use the chatbot. They must also prepare answers to make conversations more human-like and write clever responses for unsupported themes with the goal that the bot doesn't look stupid.

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Accessing chatbot features

Standard graphic user interfaces generally make all the chatbot features accessible at once. The client can move symbols, touch buttons and access the menu to understand what the application can do. Communicating with a chatbot can appear like a client is talking into a void. So, it is important to follow each stage and continuously feature new highlights.

Challenge of developing chatbots

Though speech commands are common thanks to Siri and Google Now, developing such bots is still challenging as it involves human and material assets. Indeed, even neural speech recognition systems are difficult to create. While small miscalculations are sufficiently straightforward to resolve, the larger recurring ones can be a problem.

Developing chatbots requires an absolute grasp of human conduct and knowledge as conversing with one is akin to speaking with an individual.

Amit Dua is co-founder and chief executive of IT consulting firm Signity Software Solutions and mobile app developer ValueAppz.

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