The Bot Playbook š¤
How to build a successful chatbot that will enhance usersā lives.
Organizations create style guides to capture the rationale of their design decisions and help other teams build great experiences. You might have read gov.UKās service manual or the U.S. Digital Services Playbook. I wanted to do the same for chatbots build on the Facebookās messenger platform.
At Sure, we are creating an online assistant that helps you find food and drinks that are better for yourself and the planet. It is still very early days for bots, so I wanted to take the opportunity to share some of our early learnings.
Chatbots Should Make Life Easier š®
Computers should know things. With a minimal amount of input from the user, the bot should be able to provide value by leveraging stored information. The bot should be aware, even anticipate the needs of its users and meet those needs with minimal friction. It should automate the kinds of tasks users would normally do on their own like make a dinner reservation, add it to the calendar and share it with friends. A bot should save time and relieve stress by reducing friction and effort. āOtherwise it is not much better than the website or app that came before it. Integrations and contextual relevancy are key elements to the experience.
The Bot Should Introduce Itself š
A bot should always introduce itself and explain what it can do. As with any other experience, there is a slight learning curve so you will need to onboard new users. You cannot expect your users to figure it out themselves. Use the first message to tell the users what they can do and suggest a first task.
