How Conversation Design Can Make or Break Chatbots

Conversation design plays a critical role in making chatbots work for humans. Here
is what you should know about the practice and the key writing techniques to keep
in mind when designing conversational AI systems.

Designing a conversational AI is more than just building the best AI models that
deliver the most factually accurate response to user queries. It requires a sound
understanding of how humans communicate and the skill to be able to replicate that
in conversations with bots.

A good conversational AI will not only be efficient in providing accurate responses

but it will also have a helpful, empathetic personality that makes humans want to
interact with it. To design a chatbot that can effectively converse with humans, it is
ideal to tap into expertise in technology, psychology, copywriting and even
linguistics. This is essentially the scope of conversation design.

What is Conversation Design?

Conversation design is the process of designing interfaces and interactions between

humans and machines that mirror our real world conversations. It is a broad subject
that is applicable to websites, mobile apps, chatbots or indeed any interface between
humans and machines.

In the context of chatbots, it involves considerations around the personality of the

chatbot, the user experience it provides, multiple scenarios in a conversation and the
end user’s goal among other factors.

Psychology of Conversations

The task of designing good conversations can often be taken for granted, since our
day to day conversations are often effortless, especially if we speak a common
language with others around us. But language is one of the most complex aspects of
human evolution. And designing bots that can converse with humans is even more
difficult.

To get anywhere close to an effective conversational AI, one needs to turn to

psychology for insights, especially the work of philosopher Paul Grice.

The Cooperative Principle

Paul Grice was a British philosopher of language, whose work influenced the study
of semantics in a big way. He developed the Cooperative Principle to describe how
people interact with each other. He stated the principle as follows:

"Make your contribution such as it is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by

the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged”.

The principle is called so because listeners and speakers must speak cooperatively
and mutually accept one another to be understood in a particular way. It is not meant
as a prescriptive command but rather as a description of people’s normal behaviour
in conversations. It essentially outlines the underlying principle that what we say in
conversations furthers the purposes of these conversations.
 PRO TIP: When designing chatbots, keep the cooperative principle in mind.
Have it work together with the human, find common ground and move the
conversation forward towards a goal.

The cooperative principle can be broken down into four points, known as maxims,
which serve as guidelines to follow in developing good conversations that get
meaning across.
The 4 Maxims of Conversations

The cooperative principle comprises of four maxims which explain the link
between utterances and what is understood from them. These are the Maxims of
Quality, Quantity, Relevance and Manner.

Maxim of Quality
The maxim of quality refers to provide information that is true. Being truthful in a
conversation means avoiding falsehoods and saying things without adequate
evidence.
In the case of chatbots, this means ensuring that the bot only provides responses that
are based on facts and truth.

Maxim of Quantity

The maxim of quantity means that we provide as much information as needed to

achieve a goal, no more and no less. Think of the difference between having a
conversation with someone who replies in just Yes or No statements and another one
with someone who goes on a long monologue with unnecessary detail. This is a
critical principle that chatbots must follow in order to continue the conversation with
a user and keep them engaged.

Consider the following two examples of a chatbot BankPal on a bank’s website.

 User: When does the nearest branch User: When does the nearest branch
open? open?

BankPal : 9 am. BankPal: There are 4 branches for

XYZ bank located within a radius of 5
kilometres. The nearest branch for XYZ
bank is 250 meters away at 23 High
Street and it opens at 9:00 am.

Neither of these responses are ideal. A better version that provides just the right
amount of info would be something like “The nearest branch is at 23 High Street and
it opens at 9:00 am.

Maxim of Relevance

The maxim of relevance suggests that we engage in conversations that are relevant
to others. For chatbots, this would mean replying to queries with information that
help the user with their goal. A response that is not relevant to the user can break the
natural flow of conversation and turn the user away.

Consider the following example of an insurance chatbot InsurPal, helping a customer

with a query.

InsurPal: Would you like to book an
appointment with our agent?
User: When is he available this week?
InsurPal: Please answer yes or no.
InsurPal: Would you like to book an
appointment with our agent?
User: When is he available this week?
InsurPal: Your agent is available 9 am
to 12 noon on Wednesday and Friday.

The example on the right is more helpful for the user while the one on the left did
not have the bot respond with a relevant response.
Maxim of Manner

When designing conversations, it is also important to follow the maxim of manner.

This means being clear, brief and orderly while avoiding obscurity or ambiguity.

For example, when an insurance bot responds to a customer completing a purchase,

it could respond in either of the two ways.

InsurPal: Your transaction has been InsurPal: Great, you’re all set!
completed.

Clearly, the response on the right is a better and more natural way of closing the
conversation. It is clear, brief and easy to understand. This maxim is also what
contributes to the “personality” of the chatbot in a big way.

Two Main Types of Conversations

Chatbots and conversational AI systems have multiple use cases across industries.
But no matter what the conversation is, it usually follows a standard pattern.

There is a traditional three-act structure that has been effective in storytelling from
the time of ancient Greek philosophers, whether it be in books, plays or movies.
It comprises the start (where the backstory is set up), the middle (where the conflict
and obstacles to overcome are established) and the end (where the hero of the story
comes to resolve the conflict).

Dialogues and conversations also follow a similar three-act structure and it is useful
for designing good chatbots as well. Broadly speaking though, the types of
conversations that chatbots are required to engage in can be categorised into two.

1. Service Conversations

This is where user comes to the bot asking for help with a query or problem. The
copywriting techniques to adopt for this type of conversation should be aimed at
addressing the query or problem. The structure here involves beginning by
recognising the intent, asking questions and confirming the solution. The bot should
be able to introduce itself, manage expectations and show empathy. You also want
to avoid falling into a loop trying to recognise the intent if it was not obvious at the
first attempt.

2. Sales or Persuasive Conversation

This type of conversation is applicable when the bot is used to conduct a transaction,
monetary or otherwise. In this case, it is the bot that often initiates the conversation
and tries to persuade the user. For example, the bot may be tasked to persuade the
user to fill in a form to capture them as leads, leave a review or make a purchase.

Here the three-act structure should start with the first task of sparking interest. For
example, it may be in the form of a simple question to get their attention or catch
their curiosity by presenting them with a unique benefit. This should be followed
by attempts to persuade the user to make small commitments like clicking a Like or
Upvote button and other soft calls to action.

Key Aspects of Conversation Design

With the four maxims of the cooperative principle, we have a set of basic guidelines
to follow to design good conversations. For chatbots specifically, there are a few
best practices that conversation designers follow.

Prompts and Bot Introductions

In introducing the bot to a user, you need to keep in mind the maxims of manner and
quantity. A pleasant introductory question is good but it also makes a big
difference if you can make it clear to the user what purpose the bot serves.

“Hi there, what can I do for you?" Pleasant but it is still vague what the
bot can do

"Hi there, I can help you with queries
about our insurance products, compare
our various policies, make a purchase,
book an appointment with an agent and
file for claims. What can I do for you?
Pleasant and informative but there is
too much information which can cause
cognitive overload for the user.

"Hi there, I can help you understand Pleasant, informative and leaving open
our insurance products, purchase a the option of “and more”. Users can
 policy and more. What can I do for then ask about these other options if
you? they wish.

In the event that the bot is unfamiliar with the user’s choice or it fails to understand
the intent, fall back messages can help avoid confusion. A simple “I’m afraid I don’t
know about that. Let me transfer you to a live person” can help close the
conversation in a polite way in this instance.

It is also important to design for frequency when writing dialogues for chatbots. This
means allowing the bot to adjust the introductions for repeat visitors. Think of how
as a user you would respond to hearing “Hi there, what can I do for you?” again and
again multiple times over the course of a week if you frequent the website or app
with the bot. This can turn off the user due to the seeming detachment and coldness.
A good workaround for this is to have the bot detect visitors who return within the
space of a month and adjust the intro to a more familiar “Hi there again, what can I
do for you today?"

Natural Multi-turn Conversations

If you think about the conversations we have with other humans everyday, you will
find that there are a number of quirks at play aside from the words and sounds we
utter. The vocal tone, tilt of the head and body language are important non-verbal
cues that supplement the words we speak and provide extra context.

The idea of turn-taking is a good example of this. When we engage in conversations,

we often adjust our pitch or turn our head to let others know that it is their turn to
speak. Think of the tone you use to end a question and wait for an answer. How do
we apply this trait to bots when there is no visual or other non-verbal queues
available from the user?

This is where ending prompts with a question makes a big difference in moving the
conversation forward. Consider the following exchange.

User: What life insurance policies do you sell?

InsurPal: We have the ABC Basic, ABC Premium and ABC Savings schemes.

The conversation seems to end abruptly and depends on the user to ask the next
question. Ending the reply with “Would you like to choose one to learn more?” will
prompt the user to continue the conversation.
Acknowledgements, Explicit and Implicit Confirmations

Acknowledgments assure chatbot users that their input was received.

“Sure”, “Okay”, “Alright”, “Excellent”, “I see” are all various ways that the bot can
acknowledge the user input and make them feel that they are being heard. These also
add a touch of humanity to the bot and builds trust with the user.

An explicit confirmation is when a bot asks the user to confirm by repeating parts of
the query explicitly. It is useful for situations when the bot’s confidence in
recognising the intent is not high enough or when the stakes are high. For example,
if the tasks involve transferring large sums of money, or sending a message to a
number of contacts it helps for the bot to check again to make sure there isn’t any
confusion.

An implicit confirmation is one that does not require a confirmation from the user,
but which also leaves the option open for the user to confirm or deny. It makes the
conversation a lot more natural, closer to how humans talk with each other.

Type Example When

Explicit confirmation User: Can you book an The engine’s confidence
appointment with is low, say below 65%
the Cardiologist?
High stakes situation,
Medbot: You would like such as when money is
to book an appointment involved (financial
with the Cardiologist, is transactions)
that correct?

Implicit confirmation User: I want to file a The engine’s confidence

claim. is high, say above 65%
InsurPal: Sure, I can help
you file a claim. What is The user can correct if
your insurance number? there is a mistake while
proceeding
Prompt Clarifications With More Explanation
Yet another technique that humans use in communication which can be adopted to
improve chatbot conversations is prompt clarifications. This involves repeating the
question with more words to ease the user’s comprehension of the
prompt. Let’s imagine a virtual assistant introducing itself.

 It might begin with “Hi there, what can I do for you today?"

If there is no response from the user, it makes no sense to repeat the intro over and
over again.

 Instead the bot can add words to improve and clarify the prompt like so: “I can
help you find the right insurance product, file a claim or transfer you to your
agent."

 If there is still no response, more words can be added to help the user decide as
such: “For questions about insurance products, press 1. To file a claim, press 2.
To talk to your agent, press 3."
Empathy
It’s not easy to predict a user’s emotional state when they are interacting with a
chatbot. They could be casually looking for information or frantically trying to make
a transaction or get in touch with someone. Bots should keep this in mind and go
beyond merely providing factually accurate responses. In customer service
especially, half the job is done if the bot can empathise with the user.

Empathy is about showing that you understand the user’s situation. Bots can never
be as empathetic as humans but their conversations can be designed in such a way
that users feel that they are heard and empathised with. Words and phrases that show
apology and gratitude are useful ways to display empathy.

User: I want to update my phone number connected to my insurance policy

provider. I tried doing it in the app but the 2FA code was sent to my old number.
This is frustrating!

InsurPal: I am sorry you are unable to update your phone number through the
app. Would you like to reach out to our call centre?
The above response includes an apology and a confirmation. Note that it does not
repeat what the user is feeling by saying “I am sorry. That must be frustrating”. This
might appear as if the bot was trying too hard and could backfire.

User: Ok I would like to renew my policy for another year.

InsurPal: Excellent. Thank you for continuing to choose our policies. Let me
help you with the renewal contract.

These are just some of the ways in which bot conversations can be designed to show
empathy. It is also important not to create responses by assuming too much about a
user’s situation. Consider the following example.

User: I want to change my address to my new home at #12-21, 23 High Street.

InsurPal: Congratulations on moving house. Let me update your address in our

records.

The change of address could have been due to many reasons, including personal and
family issues, maintenance and repair problems or even disasters. A response like
the above from the bot can appear tone deaf and ruin the relationship.

Usually, the most common aspects of a chatbot people talk about are the technology
and language recognition, efficiency in automation and how factually accurate the
responses are. But these attributes alone are not enough to make a chatbot
great. Good conversation design is essential to ensuring that users keep interacting
with the bot, find the experience useful and engaging enough to come back to it
without bypassing it to speak to a live agent straight away.

To find out how KeyReply can help you design engaging and useful chatbots for
your organisation, talk to our experts today.