Are there UX criteria for chatbot dialogs?

Yes, they do exist. When writing dialogs for the chatbot, there are some important UX criteria that should definitely be taken into account.

Below is a list of the most important UX factors that you should consider when writing chatbot dialogs:

1. no text blocks that are too long

Remember, many users use your chatbot via their smartphone. Consequently, the screen is small and the number of characters that can fit on one screen is limited. Therefore, make sure that you do not overwhelm your users with too long blocks of text.
If you absolutely want to give a long and detailed answer, then at least divide it into short consecutive blocks.
As a rule of thumb, a text block should not be much longer than 2-3 lines. If you have blocks that are too long, there is a risk that users will quickly drop out of the conversation because they don’t want to read text that is too long. If you have several blocks below each other, the amount of text is the same, but it has less of a psychological effect.

2. find the right start

First impressions count. This also applies to chatbots. The start or welcome message is one of the most important messages of the entire chatbot. It influences whether the user continues to use the bot and what expectations they have of the chatbot.
Start with a friendly, inviting message that matches the personality of your chatbot and your target group persona.
As a rule, the chatbot is developed for a specific purpose. So make it clear right at the start what the chatbot can do and what it was developed for. The user must have the right expectations of the chatbot right from the start.
An open question such as “How can I help you?” is usually wrong. Then users think the chatbot can do everything, even though it was actually only developed for a very limited area.
You often have to mention the data protection rules at the beginning. But be sure to follow the first tip. Do not write too much text at once, but rather several small blocks. The wording of the privacy policy should also match your chatbot personality. Depending on the situation, you can also introduce them in a humorous way, such as “I know it’s annoying, but unfortunately it is… before we can chat with each other, you have to approve the privacy policy”.

3. use of various media

Whether text, images, videos or voice, different media formats can be linked together in a conversation with the chatbot. To ensure that the conversation with the bot does not become boring but remains vivid, it is worth integrating images or even videos in many cases.
If you want to explain something, it makes sense to insert a short how-to video.
If you want to show your products, you should definitely include pictures or even videos.
Media also belong to the dialogs and should be defined in the tree diagram or in the intent responses.
However, do not regard this point as a must. If there is no point in using images or videos, then leave them out.
It is also possible for the user to send a picture, video or file to the bot. Depending on the use case, this may even be mandatory if, for example, the user has to “show” their ID for identification purposes. Or it can be used in marketing campaigns to interact with the target group.

4. consistency

Your chatbot must be consistent. This starts with the name of your bot, continues with the image and ends with the entire dialog design. No matter what content you develop for the chatbot, everything must match the story of your bot or match the personality of your defined chatbot and the personas of your target group. If the bot does not always have the same personality, your target group will be confused and this will reduce the success of your chatbot.

5. plan fall backs from the start

This is only important if your chatbot works with free text. As soon as this is the case, the following will occur:
– Users insult your chatbot
– Users ask questions that the bot cannot answer
– The bot does not understand the user’s request

You must have defined a suitable answer for all three cases in advance.
If users insult your bot or perhaps even the exact opposite “fall in love with the bot”, then you must have defined an answer in advance as to how the bot should react here. Depending on the personality of the chatbot, the answer is either serious and direct or more fun.

If users ask a question that is definitely outside the capabilities of the chatbot, for example a chatbot for cooking recipes is asked about the weather, an answer must be defined as to how the bot should respond here. For example, “I’m sorry, but I can only provide information on recipes.”.

It is different if the bot has not understood the user correctly. Then it might make more sense for the bot to reply something along these lines “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand that, can you put it in other words”. However, the bot should only give this answer once or twice at most. The chatbot or your company must then honestly admit that the bot did not understand the request and must offer alternative options. For example, forwarding to a customer service employee or the bot asks the user for their contact details so that your employees can contact the user again later.

If you do not work with free text, but only with fixed answer buttons, you do not need fall-backs. Here, it may only make sense to integrate a button for further questions so that users can also place requests outside the bot’s area of expertise. However, the chatbot will then always respond in the same way, for example with a generic answer such as “Thank you for your question, I will pass this on…”. Ideally, your chatbot will ask for the user’s contact details directly so that you can contact them to reply. These open questions also offer opportunities to further develop your chatbot. You find out what else users would have liked to talk about in the chatbot and can even expand your dialogs if necessary.

Do you want to write your first chatbot dialog and still have a few questions? Or you have already written the dialogs and are unsure whether they are appropriate.

Do you already know the template “Let your Chatbot Talk”? Take a look here…