We know about chat bots since 1992 in IRC chats, where they were used to automate activities for a few hundred users at time. Today, through social media and messengers, they can reach about 14% of the world population. We are still at the early stages, and many product teams working all around the globe are rediscovering independently the same foundations. This talk tries to present a simple high level model for designing chat bots, so we can start having a common language and a common approach to discuss and move the conversation forward. Talk done at IxDA Meetup London.

1. FOUNDATIONS
OF CHAT BOT DESIGN
Davide ‘Folletto’ Casali

2. NIGHT.EU
Manifesto Ibridi
F E L L O W
DESIGN DIRECTOR ADVISOR

3. @Folletto

4. THE VALLEY
PART I

5. Uncanny Valley
Masahiro Mori (1970) The Uncanny Valley
AffinityHIGH
Creepy when lifelike is close but not attained
Toy robot
Industrial robot
Healthy person
Prosthetic hand
0% 100%
LOWCREEPY
Human Likeness

6. Uncanny Valley
AffinityHIGH
Mapped to Dialogue Only
0% 100%
Healthy person
Command line
AI bot
Not good enough AI bot
Keyword bot
LOWCREEPY
Human Likeness

7. Uncanny Valley
AffinityHIGHLOW
Scoping for the right goal
0% 100%
CREEPY
Human Likeness
CONSUMER R&D

8. DESIGN
PART II

9. Expectations
Expectations
Expectations

10. “ask me anything”
The stupidest thing a bot could say.
AMA

11. Sensors
Context awareness

12. Sensors
user name
user data
previous discussions
time of day
last few user actions
originating page

13. Abilities
Actions it can take

14. Abilities
change user data
change settings
send emails
do a user command
operate service
navigate

15. Command Line Fallacy
“The user knows what to type”
?

16. Dialog
Understanding and replying

17. Dialog
understand language
show variation
answer properly
ask questions
short term memory
aware of discussion

18. Shallow
mode
Deep
mode

19. Shallow
mode {Direct questions
Various topics
Unrelated

20. Deep
mode}Ask question
Follow up
Troubleshooting

21. Sensors Abilities Dialog

22. SEMANTIC CONES
PART III

23. Discussion Flow Fallacy
“Design the flow”

24. Expert
Topic
Expert
Topic
Expert
Topic
Expert
Topic
Semantic Cones

25. Semantic Cones
WIDE
Try to accept the wider possible input
“How do I know the user is in this cone?”
DEEP
Keep context until the goal is reached
“How do I get the user to their goal?”

26. how do I return a parcel?
Packages have different prices
depending on location. What’s your
postcode?
not now, do you support normal mail?
Packages have different prices
depending on location. What’s your
postcode?
arggghh
Packages have different prices

27. START
How to open the
conversation.
SWITCH
How to change a
topic.

28. Semantic Cones
Expert
Topic
Wayfinding
Expert
Topic
Expert
Topic
Expert
Topic

29. Expert
Topic
Wayfinding
Expert
Topic
Expert
Topic
Expert
Topic
AbilitiesSensors

30. Be always aware
of the technical layer.

31. “
”
Bruno Munari
To complicate is easy, to simplify is hard.
To complicate, just add,
everyone is able to complicate.
Few are able to simplify.

32. Thanks.
@Folletto
INTENSEMINIMALISM.COM
Thanks to Carly Stambaugh for the technical review.