We are currently witnessing a revolution. A revolution that dramatically changes the way we design interactive experiences—and the content we deliver to prospects and customers via new channels like conversational user interfaces. Without knowledge and years of experience, most teams that attempt to tackle adding conversational user interfaces discover it’s not as easy as they might have thought. Mistakes are made. Time is squandered. Money is wasted. But it doesn’t have to be this way. You can learn from the mistakes made by those before you. Attend this session with Stacey Seronick to discover some of the biggest mistakes to avoid and learn tactical, concrete tips for creating and testing conversational UIs based on non-generalized AI. Find out how to keep conversational user interface design projects on track—and on budget—by discovering how to overcome common challenges. November 29, 2017

1. WRITING FOR A
CONVERSATIONAL UI
Lessons Learned

2. Outline
■ Know what you’re writing for:
– Chatbot (what is its intent?)
– AI with NLP (entities, intents?)
– Non-generalized AI without NLP (better ask how the dev is structured)
■ Know who you’re writing for:
– No need to go find *exactly* who is a target customer; guerilla research works great, but
be sure to define parameters clearly for team (for research and presentation purposes)
– Language barriers - do you include and iterate or exclude and ignore?
■ Depends on who your customer base is, but for future-proofing, better to err on side of include and
iterate if money and time permit
■ When to introduce the actual constraints
– Don’t begin knowing all the business and technical constraints
– Layer them in, between the diamonds of the double-diamond design framework
Stacey Seronick | @esteeayceeeewhy | sseronick@gmail.com 211/29/17

3. IT’S ALL ABOUT
CONSTRAINTS
Stacey Seronick | @esteeayceeeewhy | sseronick@gmail.com 311/29/17

4. As the
writer/creator
Which constraints do you need to know at
the beginning?
Can ALL of the requirements really be
thrown out?!
Stacey Seronick | @esteeayceeeewhy | sseronick@gmail.com 4NO!NO!11/29/17

5. The basics
■ Who are we creating this for?
■ What are we creating?
■ Why are we doing this now?
■ When do you hope to go live?
■ Where will this be accessible from?
■ How are you doing it?
Stacey Seronick | @esteeayceeeewhy | sseronick@gmail.com 511/29/17

6. As the
client/SME
Which constraints do you withhold at the
beginning?
When do you introduce them?
Stacey Seronick | @esteeayceeeewhy | sseronick@gmail.com 6
‘Double diamond design’
Introducesomerealconstraints
11/29/17

7. OPPORTUNITIES &
PITFALLS
TO KNOWING IT ALL
Stacey Seronick | @esteeayceeeewhy | sseronick@gmail.com 711/29/17

8. (Or so I’ve read)
Opportunities
■ The fastest way to get exactly what
you/the client think you need
■ You may end up building something
else, which is a very tiny component
of what you should be working on,
which ends up being useful
elsewhere/to someone else
Pitfalls
■ Not innovative
■ Exactly what people ask for (a faster
horse)
■ May not be “the right thing” in the
first place
Stacey Seronick | @esteeayceeeewhy | sseronick@gmail.com 811/29/17

9. OPPORTUNITIES &
PITFALLS
TO BAD INTEL
Stacey Seronick | @esteeayceeeewhy | sseronick@gmail.com 911/29/17

10. (Or lack of)
Opportunities
■ Likelihood increases that you/team
will design something truly unique
and innovative
■ Chance to experiment with new
techniques
■ Talk to (too) many people about
(too) many topics, ending up with
research which may be valuable
elsewhere
Pitfalls
■ Fidelity level of prototype delivered
may not meet expectations
– Your solution will require even more
(unanticipated) work
■ The right thing, designed the right
way, may be so radically different than
what exists today, that hardware
changes are required
■ The answer to the “Why?” question
may have left too much open to
interpretation on the part of design
team
Stacey Seronick | @esteeayceeeewhy | sseronick@gmail.com 1011/29/17

11. THANK YOU
Connect with me:
@esteeayceeeewhy | sseronick@gmail.com
Stacey Seronick | @esteeayceeeewhy | sseronick@gmail.com 1111/29/17