(2017-08-20) How To Make Your Chatbot A Huge Success Two Dimensions And A Tip

How to make your chatbot a huge success? Two dimensions and a tip!

Every researcher knows that the hardest part of writing a paper is making a killer introduction. Chatbots are no exception to this rule: everything is in the first sentence they say. In around 150 characters, their destiny is determined.

the opening defines the two dimensions of the conversation: width and depth.

Width: keep it narrow

the “functional coverage” of the chatbot.

keeping the width of the conversation narrow helps avoiding user frustration. From the very first sentence, as the chatbot engages the user, it should clearly state what it can to do, and more importantly, what it can’t.

Length: respect the Reward Principle

Users are impatient, therefore your bot should help them quickly get to their goal. Additionally, in long conversations, the probability of diverging and expressing an idea the chatbot doesn’t understand increases.

The Reward Principle states that the chatbot should give the user a “reward”, an added-value, after every 2–3 questions asked to keep the user’s interest. A reward is a piece of information that has value to the user at this point in the conversation. So even if he cuts the conversation short, the user leaves with something useful.

After three questions, the chatbot would give the user a range of sums of money, but not the exact amount he could get from the bank.