Best practices for conversation design for AI agents


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Building replies can be intimidating at first, but fret not - we have got you covered with some general recommendations when it comes to designing your replies.

Confirm Intent
Keep it Short and Sweet
One Action per Message
Buttons
Bullet Point Lists
Don’t Overpromise

Confirm Intent
Acknowledge your customer's query by mirroring their question as the first message. This highlights the topic of the following replies and reassures the customer that the AI agent understands them.
Customer: How do I update my address?


Do's
Don'ts


“I can help you update your address.”
“Got it! Log into your account from here to get started.”

NOTE: As the dialogue flow progresses, when the AI agent needs to ask the customer to select their specific scenario to access a specific service path, it is ok to use more generic language like "Great!" or "Understood!" as the scenario options will reaffirm the customer they’ve been understood.

Keep it Short and Sweet
Avoid copy-and-pasting FAQs directly. Instead, modify the content into a hand-holding conversational format and provide only what helps answer your customer’s query.
When sending more than three messages in a row, your customers will need to scroll up to read them all, making this less effective.


Do's
Don'ts


“Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Please rephrase your question using clear and complete sentences.”
“Apologies but I didn’t quite understand that message. Can you please try again by rephrasing your question. I’m able to understand best when you type clear and complete sentences.”



“I’m sorry, this question is out of my expertise, but our tech support department will be able to help you.”

“Would you like me to connect you with them?”

“Unfortunately I’m not able to assist you with this inquiry. However, if you’d like, I can transfer you to one of my human colleagues in our technology department for further assistance. Would you like me to do that?”


One Action per Message
Separate the text inside messages according to their content rather than lumping everything together in one message.
Customer: How do I update my address?


Do's
Don'ts



“To update your address, log into My Account”

“Select Personal Details from the right side menu.”

“Then click Update address.”


“First, log into My Account. To update your address, select Personal Details from the right side menu. Then click Update address.”




Buttons
Try to keep the button texts short and simple. This can be done by removing articles (a, an, the). In addition, combining a verb (action word) followed by a noun (thing, place, etc.) helps as well.



Do's
Don'ts


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Change personal details
I’d like to change my personal information


Schedule visit
Schedule a visit here



Bullet Point lists
When giving instructions or lists, use bullet points. This will make it easier for the customer to follow and digest the information provided by the AI assistant.


Do's
Don'ts



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Don’t Overpromise
Your customer service agents don't overpromise, and the same applies to your AI agent as this can lead to unsatisfied customers. Manage customer expectations by clearly communicating the AI agent's limits.


Do's
Don'ts


Let’s try and solve this.
I’ll help you solve this.


This can take up to 24hrs.
This won’t take long.


Human-Centric Conversations
Remember that there is a human on the other end of these communications, likely who is frustrated, confused, or upset, and as such, conversations should be built with the flexibility and understanding of the emotions a certain scenario can present and that sometimes we need to give multiple ways for a customer to navigate the conversation.
As humans, we are not binary characters that are only answered in yes's or no's. We need to predict as many situations a particular intent can lead to, some of which may be diverting to another dialogue. Below are our tips for human-centric conversations.

If you ask for something - make it an instruction, not a question that can be answered with just a yes or no.
Consider empathy in your replies - when you ask for something - say please, when it is provided - say thank you, and if someone is upset/angry with something - say sorry.
Consider the different scenarios a situation presents, but also the different ways a customer can respond - Would they type a certain type of answer? Can you include buttons to guide them?
Make it a conversation, so the person feels like there is a human touch, and it’s not just an AI agent, but that their request is being looked after.
Understand that people may say something but might not be saying it in the clearest way - to avoid assumptions or going down the wrong path - give them options.


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