Designing Bots: Creating Conversational Experiences

From Facebook Messenger to Kik, and from Slack bots to Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and email bots, the new conversational apps are revolutionizing the way we interact with software. This practical guide shows you how to design and build great conversational experiences and delightful bots that help people be more productive, whether it’s for a new consumer service or an enterprise efficiency product.

Ideal for designers, product managers, and entrepreneurs, this book explores what works and what doesn’t in real-world bot examples, and provides practical design patterns for your bot-building toolbox. You’ll learn how to use an effective onboarding process, outline different flows, define a bot personality, and choose the right balance of rich control and text.

• Explore different bot use-cases and design best practices
• Understand bot anatomy—such as brand and personality, conversations, advanced UI controls—and their associated design patterns
• Learn steps for building a Facebook Messenger consumer bot and a Slack business bot
• Explore the lessons learned and shared experiences of designers and entrepreneurs who have built bots
• Design and prototype your first bot, and experiment with user feedback

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 What Are Bots?
Chapter 2 Bot Types
Chapter 3 Major Platforms
Chapter 4 Major Use Cases
Chapter 5 Bot Anatomy
Chapter 6 Branding, Personality, and Human Involvement
Chapter 7 Artificial Intelligence
Chapter 8 The Conversation
Chapter 9 Rich Interactions
Chapter 10 Context and Memory
Chapter 11 Bot Discovery and Installation
Chapter 12 Engagement Methods
Chapter 13 Monetization
Chapter 14 Design Process Overview
Chapter 15 Use Case Definition and Exploration
Chapter 16 Conversation Scripting
Chapter 17 Designing and Testing
Chapter 18 Bot Building Overview
Chapter 19 Analytics and Continuous Improvement
Chapter 20 To Infinity and Beyond—The Future of Bots