Chatbot Canvas | Verbal Design System Series Part 9
Niaw de Leon
Solving mission-critical business problems with language, design, and systems
"Conversation is not a new interface. It’s the oldest interface."—Erika Hall, Conversational Design
Despite the current hype over large language models like GPT-4, the conversation is actually one of the oldest forms of interaction we have as human beings.
In her book Conversational Design, Erika Hall explains how we've used conversations for thousands of years as a means of getting information, performing transactions, and cooperating to get things done.
Chatbots are a consequence of human-centered design, which tells us that we should adapt our systems to humans and how humans naturally interact.
The template
I've had the privilege of working on a number of chatbot projects in the past, from brand campaign chatbots to more functional ones that handled the brand's transactions.
I created the chatbot canvas as a way to gain clarity on what the chatbot is for and to summarize important details of a chatbot's design to ensure shared understanding among the project stakeholders.
The content of the canvas is a result of the patterns I've noted in my on projects, so feel free to customize it based on your needs.
Chatbot name
Does the chatbot have its own name that’s separate from the company’s brand? What does it call itself? For example, Siri has a name and identity separate from Apple while Google's voice assistant simply calls itself the Google Assistant.
POV
Does the chatbot use 1st person singular “I” or plural “We”?
Time scale
Is it tactical (seasonal or campaign chatbot) or sustaining (permanent chatbot)?
Chunk size
How long should each chat text be? For example, the chat on the left includes the specifications in the initial product description on the right. On the left, the responses are bite-sized at fewer than 30 words but need an additional interaction to show the specifications. On the right, the initial product description is longer but requires less navigation.
Languages
What languages will your chatbot support? Just English or English and Spanish?
Exit
How would that chatbot end the conversation? Is it just "Bye, see you next time!" or will you ask some customer experience satisfaction questions?
Variations and personalization
What kind of variations can you introduce to make the chatbot less robotic? e.g. randomized greetings, understanding time of day, asking customers about their last purchase.
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Greetings
How would that chatbot greet a new and returning customer?
Fallback
What should the chatbot do when the user says something that isn’t part of the buttons, quick replies, or recognized keywords?
Example: Gaming peripherals brand chatbot
Let's pretend that we're designing a chatbot for a fictional gaming peripherals brand called Logitwerk. It's going to be a permanent chatbot on their Facebook page that helps users discover products, find retailers, and get after sales support.
In this scenario, the chatbot name is the same as the brand (Logitwerk). The chatbot will use a second person singular point-of-view, which means using "we", "our", "us" rather than "I", "my", or "me".
To make it less robotic, we'll use variants of greetings and acknowledgments, e.g. "Great choice", "Got it!", "Alright."
Example: Canned tuna campaign chatbot
Next, let's have another example. In this scenario, a canned tuna brand called Tunamore (fictional) has asked us to design a chatbot for a summer fitness campaign they're launching. Participants can interact with the chatbot to play games and submit photos for the campaign's various contests.
As part of the strategy, we've decided to give the chatbot an identity separate from the main brand and first person singular POV, which means phrases like, "I didn't quite get that", "I'm Tuna, Tunamore's chatbot.", and "Can I get your contact details so I can send you your prize?"
Conclusion
Chatbots reflect our desire to translate the conversational model of interaction into a digital setting.
Use the Chatbot Canvas to clarify the intent and purpose of your chatbot and create shared understanding across the project.
Related articles
This is part 9 of the Verbal Design System series. Check out the other articles in this series on Linkedin.
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UX Design & Research
1 年This is so cool! ??