The challenges we face creating human-like conversations

The basic?structure of a conversation?between humans is simple right? We know instinctively how it works and dependent on how well execute all the conversational elements dictates how good we are as a conversationalist. We've all had those really challenging conversations where we feel like we are pulling teeth. We've also all experienced fascinating conversations that could go on all evening. No one wants a conversation with a Chatbot to go on all night but we do want it to help our customers get their questions answered.

Let's take a look at some of the key elements of a conversation and how a Chatbot must, should or shouldn't manage them.

• Turn-taking - Long conversations with other humans can be an absolute joy. However, Chatbot dialogue has to be focused and have a pre-planned point of closure. The turn-taking needs to minimal and to the point. We are just not there yet with free-form conversation. Although, projects such as Kuki created by the very talented Steve Worswick show us what the future could look like. Turn-taking is important but should be managed or the Chatbot/customer conversation will suffer.
• Active listening - How well we listen has a major impact on the quality of a conversation. Chatbots don't listen. They interpret data and respond. They can't detect feeling in a conversation. To learn more about Active Listening try this superb article. Chatbots replace active listening with tools to help them understand and comprehend the customer intent.
• Understanding & comprehension - Our human brains have evolved over millennia to be the understanding and comprehension machines they are now. For Chatbots, that is replaced with NLP/NLU (Natural Language Processing/Natural Language Understanding). A Chatbot looks for keywords and keyphrases and uses some Machine learning to better understand the conversation and provide the most likely response. They are nowhere near as good at this as we humans are and this will be the case for years to come.
• Reaction & action - This one is a real challenge for Chatbot developers. Yes, you can pick up on intent, for example 'I would like to make a complaint' and start your response with 'sorry to hear that' but that's really the limit to what is possible today. There are so many ways to react to a question but depending on how that question is asked, the reaction can be very different.

How do I find your complaints policy?

Is very different to...

I'm not happy with how slow you have been to provide my refund. This is just not good enough. Who do I complain too?

In both cases, the customer needs to know how complaints should be raised and how and when you will respond. Creating a single response that works for both cases here is going to be a real challenge. This is why I love Conversational Design.

• Reassurance - The action of removing someone's doubts or fears. Noticing when someone needs reassurance is simple for humans. We can see it in the face, in the body movement and the tone of their voice. As chatbot developers, we need to make some assumptions. Depending on the conversation, we need to understand the likely feeling of the customer and provide that reassurance if we think it's required. Not always easy, but possible. We have found that where we feel reassurance may be needed that the conversation can be followed up by either a human or using email.
• Follow-up questions - These keep the conversation moving forward and allow for clarification and elaboration of details. A Chatbot is perfectly suited to asking follow-up questions and where possible they should in most cases to be sure confident the customer has been serviced. For example; 'I'm glad I could help. Is there anything else I can help you with?'
• Body language - Let's face it. Chatbots are some way away from being able to read body language. To be fair, some humans struggle with it too. The best conversationalists are masters at reading body language. For now, as a Chatbot developer accept that this is out of our reach.
• A balanced tone and pace - When designing conversations you should be looking pre-empt rather than match the tone and pace. If a customer turns up pissed that you didn't deliver the service they expected, matching their tone is a sure way to get their blood boiling. Try to be overly cheery and you risk the same. This is where a balanced tone can really help the conversation succeed. The pace of the conversation is equally as important. Too wordy or too pithy and you risk the conversation deteriorating quickly.

Whether you're designing conversation for your website, messaging app or voice app, conversational design is a critical element beyond just the technical. You have a chance to service customers in a way they often now prefer and this opportunity should not be wasted. Spending time creating effective and customer-focused conversations is critical to the success of your Chatbot project. Need help? Just reach out.

Jim Rowe-Bot - Conversational Commerce development & Design, Campaign management, Chatbot agency, chatbots, chatbot development, chatbot design. Chatbot project management.