Best practices for creating use cases for AI agents

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<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">Use cases are the mechanism by whichzero-training AI agentsandAI agents that use agentic AIunderstand what a customer is asking about and connect them with the rightdialogueorprocedure.</p>
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<p class="p">Use cases are the mechanism by which <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357749447194" target="_blank">zero-training AI agents</a> and <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8966284087066" target="_blank">AI agents that use agentic AI</a> understand what a customer is
asking about and connect them with the right <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357749494810" target="_blank">dialogue</a> or <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8979864563610" target="_blank">procedure</a>.</p>
<p class="p">A use case’s name and description provide the necessary context for an AI agent to
understand the customer’s messages and connect them with the right dialogues to help
them. As such, it’s important to write clear and specific use case names and
descriptions in order to get the best performance possible from your AI agent.</p>
<p class="p">This article contains the following topics:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="use_cases_best_practices__ul_j1r_4d4_s2c">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_t1g_sd4_s2c">Best practices for use case descriptions</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_bvf_k2r_mdc">Best practices for use case names</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_hhc_n2r_mdc">Use case examples for different industries</a></li>
</ul>
<p class="p">Related articles:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="use_cases_best_practices__ul_erf_ld4_s2c">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9041901679130" target="_blank">Creating use cases for AI agents to identify what
customers are asking about</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9041911005850" target="_blank">Managing use cases for AI agents</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_t1g_sd4_s2c">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Best practices for use case descriptions</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">When creating use case descriptions, keep the following best practices in mind: </p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_t1g_sd4_s2c__ul_js5_wgr_mdc">
<li class="li">Write use case descriptions in English. </li>
<li class="li">Start all of your use cases in a consistent way (for example, “Customer wants
to…”). </li>
<li class="li">Avoid including keywords in the description. <ul class="ul" id="topic_t1g_sd4_s2c__ul_yc4_xgr_mdc">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Do this:</strong> Customer wants to schedule a collection for their return </li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Don’t do this:</strong> Customer wants to schedule a collection for their
return. Keywords: pick-up, collection </li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">Write descriptions that are concise (around 120 characters, including spaces)
yet detailed enough to connect the customer to the right dialogue. </li>
<li class="li">Avoid acronyms, or write the acronyms to provide additional context. <ul class="ul" id="topic_t1g_sd4_s2c__ul_avc_ygr_mdc">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Do this:</strong> Customer requests do it yourself instructions </li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Don’t do this:</strong> Customer requests DIY instructions </li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">Create distinct use cases and ensure they don’t overlap. Overlapping use cases
cause confusion and worse results in the AI model. </li>
<li class="li">Don’t create use cases for small talk or for recognizing a specific
language.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_bvf_k2r_mdc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3"><strong class="ph b">Best practices for use case names</strong></h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">When creating use case names, keep the following best practices in mind: </p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_bvf_k2r_mdc__ul_v3v_qgr_mdc">
<li class="li">Write use case names in English. </li>
<li class="li">Keep names short, ideally 3-5 words. <ul class="ul" id="topic_bvf_k2r_mdc__ul_jlh_sgr_mdc">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Do this:</strong> Username or password change </li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Don’t do this:</strong> How do I change my username or password? </li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">Choose names that are as clear as possible. </li>
<li class="li">Avoid any punctuation except commas. <ul class="ul" id="topic_bvf_k2r_mdc__ul_t1k_sgr_mdc">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Do this:</strong> Issues with Klarna </li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Don’t do this:</strong> Issues - Klarna</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_hhc_n2r_mdc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4"><strong class="ph b">Use case examples for different industries</strong></h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">The tables below collect well-performing use case names and descriptions for various
industries. Feel free to use these in your own AI agent.</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_hhc_n2r_mdc__table_vpz_q2r_mdc" rules="all" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;"><strong class="ph b">Use case name</strong></td>
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;"><strong class="ph b">Description</strong></td>
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;"><strong class="ph b">Insights and tips</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" colspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"><strong class="ph b">General industry</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Refund status</td>
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer asks for an update on the status of their
refund</td>
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;"> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Login issues</td>
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer can’t log in due to incorrect password or
username</td>
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">In this use case, “login issues” and “password reset” have
been merged together due to semantic similarities with customers
having trouble logging in. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Update account information</td>
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer asks how to update personal or account
information</td>
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Most often, customers want to update either their personal
details (name, phone) or account information (delivery, billing
address). Due to semantic similarities, these topics have been
merged. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Payment methods</td>
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer wants to know what payment methods are supported </td>
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;"> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Email confirmation</td>
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer didn’t receive an email confirmation for their
order</td>
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">This use case can be adjusted according to your use case (for
example, order, booking, etc.).</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" colspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"><strong class="ph b">E-commerce
industry</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Order status</td>
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer wants to know the status of their order</td>
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;"> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Lost order</td>
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer hasn’t received their order despite delivery</td>
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;"> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Sizing enquiries</td>
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer asks about product sizing</td>
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">This can be further iterated to be more
product-category-specific, like shoe or clothing sizing.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Incorrect item received</td>
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer claims they received an item they did not
order</td>
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;"> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Return request</td>
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer wants to return their order, or part of their
order</td>
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;"> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" colspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"><strong class="ph b">Travel industry</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Cancel booking</td>
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer requests to cancel their booking</td>
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">The use case name and description are unified and not overly
lengthy. It clearly expresses the user's desire to cancel their
booking. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Changes to booking</td>
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer wants to change the date, destination or departure
for their booking. </td>
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">This use case covers three different changes: arrival,
departure, and date for travel. Customers can change these
details themselves depending on their ticket type, whereas a
name change would require agent attention, which is why that’s
covered in a different use case (below). </td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Change the name on booking</td>
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer needs to change the name on their booking</td>
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">As mentioned above, this use case has been excluded from the
more general “Changes to booking” use case as they’re
semantically different enough, and we were able to write clear
names and descriptions without strong confusion. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Recommendations for activities</td>
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer wants to know what activities are available at their
location</td>
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;"> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" colspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"><strong class="ph b">Financial services
industry</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Status of transfer</td>
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer needs information on the status of their money
transfer</td>
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer has concerns about whether the recipient has
received a money transfer, and wants to check the status of it.
This use case doesn't cover lost or unsuccessful transfers, as
these are covered in a separate use case (below). </td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Unsuccessful transfer</td>
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer is concerned about a money transfer that didn’t
reach the recipient</td>
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">As mentioned above, this use case covers instances where a
money transfer has been made but never arrived at the
recipient account. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Card activation issues</td>
<td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer expresses issues with credit card activation</td>
<td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;"> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry row-nocellborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Failed payment</td>
<td class="entry row-nocellborder" style="vertical-align:top;">Customer wants to understand why their card payment
failed</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;"> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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