Post on 11-Jan-2017
Several bots are typing…Who are Slackbot, Alexa, and M? And why are we talking to them?
“A quick look at the rising interest in a surprisingly old type of user experience and a look at how we can use conversations to build useful, lovable products.”
Justin Threlkeld xD — User Experience Designer
Human interaction with complex systems
@justinthrelkeld justinthrelkeld.com 🍑 @_jt
Who are Slackbot, Alexa, and M?
this is Slackbot
“They are conversational interfaces”
“…what?”
“Glad you asked”
You talk to them
They’re reminiscent of command line interfaces
They’re all the rage right now
Conversation is the natural way to interact with things
Because it’s how we already interact
Howdy.ai Asks your team questions like “Taco or Burrito?”
Digit A text message bot for banking
Amy Schedules meetings via email
and exactly how do
“conversational interfaces”
matter to _____________?business people, product owners, UX pros, sales team, or end users
Conversation creates an emotional connection
Good UX is already a bit like a conversation
“Hello! I’d like to open a bank account.”
“Cool. I just need you to fill out these six forms.”
“Alrighty. Here’s forms one, two and three.
Can I have form four please?”
“Not yet. First you need to fill out this other form that I didn’t mention earlier…”
“…😑 ”
By designing good conversations
Bo how can we design great conversational interfaces?
What makes a good conversation?
A model for building “interactive conversational interfaces”
The Jack Principles
in three parts
Maintain Pacing
Give the user only one task to accomplish at a time
Limit the number of choices the user has at any one time
Give the user only meaningful choices
Make sure the user knows what to do at every moment
Focus the user’s attention on the task at hand
Use the most efficient manner of user input
Make the user aware that the program is waiting
Pause, quit, or move on without the user’s response if it doesn’t come soon enough
Create the Illusion of awareness
Respond to and refer to actions, inactions, past actions
Acknowledge the user’s actual time and space
Make comparisons of different users’ situations and actions
Maintain the Illusion of awareness
Use dialogue that conveys a sense of intimacy
Make sure characters act appropriately while the user is interacting
Make sure dialogue never seems to repeat
Be aware of the number of simultaneous users
Be aware of the gender of the users
Make sure the performance of dialogue is seamless
Avoid the presence of characters when user input cannot be evaluated
Constrain the conversation to clear goals
Harness the desire to be heard and understood
Acknowledge shared control of the conversation
Interactive Principals of Conversation
Every human utterance has an intent
Order matters
Breakdowns are repairable
design for errors, negotiate to shared understanding
Discovery in the invisible interface
“How do you know how to use an interface when you can’t see it?”
Clearly define the goal
split actions across various interfaces that each handle specific areas
Build relationships over time
reveal the interface over time and adapt to changes in relationship
We learn by watching others
expose human-machine interactions to third parties whenever appropriate
“The really unique feature about conversational UIs is that messaging is social. Introductions can be made. Bots can take part in group conversations; …”
Matt Webb, interconnected.org
Several bots are typing…
You ask a question
Three listening bots can provide their own answer
The four of you can interact freely
In fact, one of the bots asks another bot a question…
References and further reading Howdy, http://howdy.ai
Digit, http://digit.co
Amy, https://x.ai
Facebook Launches M, Its Bold Answer to Siri and Cortana, Wired, http://www.wired.com/2015/08/facebook-launches-m-new-kind-virtual-assistant/
Amazon Alexa and Amazon Echo, http://alexa.amazon.com
Google Analytics In Real Life - Online Checkout, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Sk7cOqB9Dk
Maxims of Communication, Grice (Logic and Conversation, 1970), https://edge.edx.org/asset-v1:Brown+CSCI2951-K+2015_T2+type@asset+block/grice75.pdf
The Jack Principles, Jellyvision, http://demos.jellyvisionlab.com/downloads/The_Jack_Principles.pdf
Siri Mehus, From Speech to Conversation: A UX Challenge, UXPA Seattle WUD 2015, https://vimeo.com/150852662
More on Conversational UIs, Matt Webb, http://interconnected.org/home/2015/06/28/more_on_conversational_uis
The Next Phase Of UX: Designing Chatbot Personalities, John Pavlus, http://www.fastcodesign.com/3054934/the-next-phase-of-ux-designing-chatbot-personalities
Tools for How We Work Today (with Steward Butterfield of Slack), a16z, http://a16z.com/2015/02/12/slack-1-year-later/
Slack is the Operating System, Ben Brown, https://medium.com/@benbrown/slack-is-the-operating-system-6bae1a6c0291