UX Design for Chatbots

If you look at the market and business trends, Chatbots are available on almost every list. All the big businesses and brands are leveraging chatbots. On the other hand, small brands are planning to have one for their business.

Experts say that chatbots are going to cover about 85% of customer service related interactions in the coming years. However, the popularity has also increased the demand for a quality experience. Hence, businesses can’t compromise the UX design of their bots in any manner.

Sure the functionality of the bots matters a lot, but it is the user experience of the design that brings customers again and again.

Here, in this article, you will find the most valuable UX guidelines to create an impressive chatbot for your business.

1. Make it easy to understand

The initial impression matters the most in your chatbot design. The users should be able to understand the functions and the processes of the chatbot very easily. Only then, you can expect them to come back for further interactions.

So, make sure you include exciting and helpful elements in the onboarding process of the chatbot. This will make the design more impressive for the users.

2. Add elements to maintain the conversational flow

Many times, the users don’t realize that they are interacting with a chatbot. So, if the bot does not maintain a conversational flow, the users might leave and never come back.

To avoid this, it is important to add elements that can help you maintain a conversational flow. A chatbot can ask pre-defined questions or present suggestions to the user. These elements in the design help out the user throughout the conversation. Some of the advanced chat platforms such as Facebook Messenger and Kik leverage such elements in their chat methods. These platforms offer regular response suggestions during an ongoing conversation, which helps the users.

3. Give it a consistent personality

The personality of the chatbot is probably the most important UX design component. The goals should be to attain consistency. Plus, the bot should sound friendly during the conversation.

To achieve that, you need to focus on providing clear diction capacity and simple language to the chatbot. Use a vocabulary that is generally used in the common language. This will make the conversations more smooth and friendly.

4. Prepare chatbot for anticipated issues

A conversation between a human and a chatbot presents some difficulties. Sometimes, a user might ask an invalid question or a query, which won’t allow the Chabot to answer. However, that should not stop the conversation. Your design should get the user on the right track for the conversations to flow. For that, you can include polite reminders of the purpose of the bot. The bot can provide suggestions and tips to help the user ask the right questions and queries. This way, the conversation won’t end in the middle.

So, in this way a good UX can help you create an impressive chatbot and also create immersive user experiences for your customers.

The importance of UI and UX for Business

“88% of online customers are less likely to return to a website after a poor experience”

“94% of a website’s first impressions are design related”

These statistics demonstrate how UX drives the ROI of any business in today’s time.

UI and UX are undoubtedly the essential components of a website and it is crucial that businesses invest in good UI and UX so that their services can be easily accessible to the end user.

With an ever-increasing number of websites, the need for UI and UX is more than ever, because the competition is very high. Today, website owners prefer to hire people who have both UI and UX design experience, as knowing both provides the person better insights and facilitates more creativity.

But most often, people think UI and UX are similar. Through this post, we aim to change this notion and dive in deep into the differences.

UX and UI are Different

User experience and user interaction are two very different components of the design. The user experience of a site involves scooping out the general logical flow of a website, while UI  deals with the visual designs and graphics that go into design.

For example, when you access Gmail, it asks for your id and password, and only then it allows you to log in. This is the flow that Gmail follows or the UX of Gmail.

UI, on the other hand, is the website layout and visual designs that a user sees. This includes things such as interactions, themes, text areas, fonts, color schemes etc.

For example, in Gmail components such as the login button, your photo beside the mail id, text box, etc. are components which fall under UI design.

UX and UI roles on a website

The job of a UX designer is to basically study the market, analyze the competition and design a game plan that finally puts together a functional and cost-effective website. A user must be able to easily navigate through the website.

A UX designer concerns himself with the macro concepts of the site and makes sure that it is not cluttered or distracts the user from performing the main call-to-action such as: signing up for a service, downloading a guide, sending an inquiry etc.

UI designers, on the other hand, are more inclined towards creating an attractive and beautifully designed website for users. Also, UI design requires that you help users navigate by designing buttons in different sizes to show priority. Basically, UI designers concern themselves with the micro concepts of the website, like minute visual details to make the site look attractive.

Dropbox is an excellent example of UI/UX experience. The strong graphics and visuals on the website provoke the user to explore the website longer and browse through. The UX design of Dropbox was spot-on and it focused on encouraging the user to make just one action – to use dropbox’s cloud service for photo and document sharing.

However, in late 2017, Dropbox went through a major re-branding exercise where they moved away from the neat clean iconography and embraced a more retro-themed design which got a lot of mixed reviews. But, that is what it all boils down to – Design is not a software, it is more people-centric and hence it is important to have empathy for people when you design.

Which comes first? UX or UI?

The primary objective of any website is to showcase the products and services of any business in the most direct and innovative way. There are millions of websites that get published on the internet every hour. Hence it is necessary to create a website that is on par with the current design trends, competition and has a logical flow of the whole process.

For this purpose, UX is the first thing that designers dive into. They do a competitive analysis of the market and come up with insights which improve site functionality. UI design comes much later after all the wireframes are in place. Here is where the creative spirit of designers is put to test.

Thus, UI and UX are important components of design but play a completely different role. They are essential to drive user engagement and enable conversions.

UX Design Trends in 2018

Did you know that a whopping 79% of individuals abandon a particular site if they don’t like the content? Also, with marketers placing utmost importance to content, it is only imperative that design layouts, both mobile and desktop incorporate the content experience as a crucial factor of UX design.

If you are planning to create a website with unique design ideas and are letting customers be effective with their time on the site, then UX will emerge as the key success driver.

Here’s a quick look at the eight major design trends that will rule the world in 2018!

8 UX Design Trends to look out for in 2018

Building an exciting website in 2018 can be tough if you don’t know the latest trends on board. The following pointers will surely help you create a stunning, unique, and fully functional website:

• Use the power of  ‘negative space’ for Content Experiences

Minimalist design is the most widely accepted design trend and the whole purpose is to remove distractions and help the reader focus on the main thing – Content.

Negative space also known as white space is a crucial aspect while designing a web page. It offers room for creativity and also acts as the breathing space for the important elements in your website. This white space design also helps readers to navigate easily on the website without creating any visual obstacles.

However, the concept of ‘white space’ isn’t new. Crucial changes in reading habits have compelled  UX designers to incorporate this particular element. Open layouts and white space will increase readers’ focus, and it greatly improves the user experience.

The best example of using white space for a content centered experience is Medium – the single and utmost focus is to enable readers read long form blog posts without any visual distractions.

• Conversational bots

Facebook popularized Chat Bots to a great extent. The messenger app helped numerous individuals create operational bots, and the number has increased significantly. The initial figures were 30,000 and that has gone up to a whopping 100,000 today. With some of the leading companies embracing the idea of Chat Bots, effective marketing communications and customer service has become easier than ever!

Some brands have also seen a spike in orders because of the ease and convenience of conversational bots. Hence, it is safe to assume that 2018 shall see more of such interactive design features on their websites.

• Omnichannel UX

It is time we change focus from a mobile-first design. The number of connected devices are increasing and especially with Internet of Things (IoT) gaining more popularity, it is just natural that designers thing of an omnichannle user experience now. Today’s users are more goal oriented and are more concerned with completion of that goal irrespective of the devices they interact with.

While creating an omnichannel UX, a designer should be mindful of creating a seamless flow of user journey and make it easy for a customer to transit from one device to another without any hiccups in the user experience.

• Moving closer to Virtual Reality

Although there’s a lot to improve, VR will still make significant impacts this year. Companies will incorporate VR strategies while showcasing products. Also, designing gestures for a VR environment that are similar to the natural environment will bey a key focus to help the VR market grow. More and more brands are opting VR technology for their marketing strategies only to create a different ‘user experience’.

Hence, VR is definitely going to be a subset of the greater picture of UX design in 2018.

• Micro-interactions are common

If you wish to accomplish or complete a single-dimensional task, micro interactions will give you the perfect opportunity to do so. Here are some of the use cases of micro interactions:

• Feedback communication or the consequence of a particular action
• Accomplishing individual and isolated tasks, connecting one post to the other
• Manipulation of a particular setting
• Prevention of user error

The flexibility to add reactions to a particular post on Facebook is the greatest example of Micro-interactions.

• Voice User Interfaces

Technology is constantly evolving to make daily tasks of human life easy and 2018 is definitely the year where Voice User Interfaces (VUIs) are going to gain more popularity. Design is bound to slowly move focus from clicks on websites to screenless experiences.

We already have a range of VUIs such as Siri for Apple, OK Google for Google, Alex for Amazon and Cortana for Microsoft, and a Gartner survey also suggests that 30% of our interactions with technology will happen in a more conversational style.

Hence, designing fro VUIs is going to gain momentum in 2018 however there is still time for this technology to mature and replace graphic user interfaces as these AI systems still need to become more efficient at understanding ‘how’ people talk about topics and the conversational flows.

• Card-based designs are going a long way

Web designers and marketers are quite familiar with the ‘card-style’ design. The trend isn’t new and will continue to rule the design world. With Google implementing it into the material design, the trend seems to have a bright future.

The card design layout helps to showcase a lot of content in a clutter-free way on smaller screens. Also, the card layout helps to maintain design consistency across different devices such as mobiles, desktop and tablets.

A good example of the card-based design is again Medium where tons of content is displayed in a neat layout and it also makes it easier for the user to find what he is looking for click.

• Smart and Personalized designs

Brands are moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach to a creating custom tailor-made experiences for each individual user. Also, with advancements in AI and Machine Learning, today companies have enough and ample data about user behavior, buying patters, interests etc.

Design also will now cater towards creating more personalized user experiences to enhance interactions with the brand. This is bound to take personalization and brand experience to the next level.

Conclusion

We looked at some of the key UX design trends that are going to take dominate 2018, but like they say, trends come and go, but what matters is that we continue to design and build products that touch people’s life. If you think there is an upcoming design trend that needs attention, let us know 🙂

Designing an intuitive dashboard for IoT Products

Smart homes are soon becoming a more acceptable norm of society now with devices such as Amazon Echo, Google home, Alexa etc. But it is not just the technology that makes these products a massive hit among customers. A lot of thought has gone into designing such user-friendly IoT products.

As a product engineer or a UX designer who is working on an IoT project, your main focus is centered on creating and designing a product that brings immense value addition to your client.

One of the most crucial designs in IoT products involves the look and feel of an IoT dashboard which serves as the touch point for the user to interact with the device.

In this blog post, we are going to talk about the 4 steps involved in designing an intuitive dashboard for IoT products.

1. Break down the User Journey:

Take this a thumb rule – before you even get to the stage of picking up your pencil and sketch pad, spend some time to research and understand what kind of IoT product are you designing for?

It could be anything ranging from a smart system that controls the lighting of the house to a smart refrigerator that sends updates on the grocery list or a super efficient home locking system.

For better understanding, let us take the example of designing an IoT dashboard for a smart refrigerator that allows the user to track the details of grocery items and to set up reminders in the user’s mobile to stock up items.

Now, before we get down to designing this dashboard, as a product designer you first need to understand the underlying technology that will be used by the refrigerator such as, what kind of sensors would be triggered, what kind of data will be recorded, how will the data be analyzed etc.

Your job is to represent this underlying data in an intuitive manner. This is where your creative mind kicks in and is expected to think about the user journey and different use case scenarios. Also, while designing it is very necessary to be mindful about the target audience who is bound to use the product.

In the above example, the smart fridge is going to be used by a household which would include:

• a family of 4-5 members
• the users could be aged between 24 to 55 years
• the user could be either male or female
• pet-friendly house

Now based on the above user scenarios, you will be able to sketch out different user journeys.

2. Create the Skeleton with Wireframes

This is the fun part because here is where you actually visualize each and every action of the user. Some people call the wireframe stage as setting up the blueprint of the design and functionality of the product.

Now, when you are designing the dashboard of an IoT product, it is necessary that you visualize each and every step of the user and jot them down into squares, circles, and triangles. The key here is attention to detail. Step into the shoes of the user and think of the ways he/she will use the product on a real-time basis. Document scenarios that are not so obvious but have a probability to pop up.

In this stage, you also get to logically test the flow of user actions. Yes, ‘Logic’ is the word here. Don’t just go by your gut or instinct, you need to think if the steps in your wireframe make logical sense in the bigger picture. Sketch out as many possible scenarios here. Do not restrict your mind to – ‘this is it’! Explore different options and also be conscious to capture different user emotions while sketching the wireframes.

Don’t just put a button because it has to be there. Think of how you expect the user to navigate to a particular page such as – to check the grocery stock, to get alerts on food items that are running low on storage, setting timers for bakery products etc.

Once you have a gamut of ideas, sit down and evaluate the best possible user flows to create an unparalleled user experience (UX). This is the most important part of the whole designing process and so it is imperative that you get it right. The UX is the make or break deal for the success of your IoT product.

3. Bring your Product to life with Visual Designs

For all those creative artists out there, this is the stage where you need to find the Picasso inside you and splash those colors into the wireframes. But don’t just add any color – keep in mind factors such as color psychology and branding guidelines (if any) while choosing the colors.

Let us go back to our example of the refrigerator dashboard and see the kind of colors we could use.

It would be advisable to use a lot of white space in the design to give it a neat and easy user interface (UI). Also, depending on the USP of the overall IoT product, either blue or green could be a great choice of color for a dashboard.

If the highlight is more on the technology, then blue would be an ideal choice as it showcases intelligence and is a color that is most commonly used with electronics. But let’s say if the USP of the IoT product is to highlight health or any environmental benefits, then green would be an excellent choice to complement the messaging. Also, colors such as red, yellow and green can be used to indicate any functionality features to the user.

So, in a nutshell, while you are creating the visual designs keep the end user in mind and choose colors that are able to communicate instantly with the user.

4. Test your Designs – Time to Prototype:

This is the last and final stage of the design process where your designs are put to the ultimate test. With the help of many online tools such as Adobe XD or Invision, you can test your designs in real time and showcase the functionality to your clients.

This real-time feedback helps you to iterate designs on-the-go and incorporate all feedback at one point. It is important that all designers prototype their designs since quick and responsive designs translate into happy clients.

Thus, designing for IoT products can be slightly different from creating mobile apps and websites as User Experience is the key here. But with the above-guided approach, you can be assured of designing a vibrant and intuitive dashboard for IoT products

The UX Glossary

If you are into UX designing, you will surely know its significance for a site or application. In case you aren’t aware, here are some stats for reference. According to market reports, a whopping 88% of online consumers will abandon a site if their navigation experiences aren’t impressive. That speaks a thousand words about the significance of the value provided by a UX designer and why budding design enthusiasts are choosing it as their career choice. In case, you have planned to take the same route, here’s a list of the most popular terms related to the UX design arena.

Get knowledgeable of the terms for UX Designer

1. Affinity diagrams: Plan your site layout with the concept of affinity diagramming. Data organization is imperative in creating layout designs, and that’s where this concept helps.
2. A/B Testing: Testing is an integral part of the UX design process and what other than A/B Testing can help you do that.
3. Beta Launch: Let the UX designer develop an idea of the viability of his creation. Beta launch is the best way to do so, as you will have the chance to interact and see the site live!
4. Analysis: Data collection and analysis helps the designer to work on his ideas thus adopting the best design approach.
5. Color Theory: Colors have a significant impact on human mind. If you are building a website, try doing some research on color psychology.
6. Card Planning: Designers always segregate tasks into various pockets. With systematic and organized digital cards for content creation, site navigation, link addition, and others, you can develop innovative designs within a few hours!
7. Competitor analysis: Comparing your designs with competitors which give a profound idea of the merits and demerits of your creation.
8. Comparative analysis: Effective and specific comparison of granular site elements.
9. Content strategy: From development and creation to publication of site content, every task comes under content strategies.
10. Content audit: Performing assessment and review of site contents, where designers can create a catalogue of important content

Some more important terms for a UX Designer to know

1. Experience architecture: Prepare a roadmap for the users, where they can get the hang of how to navigate through the site.
2. Contextual questions: Know what your consumers feel while checking out your website. That’s crucial to reach the desired goals.
3. Diary study: Studying user behaviors for a long time helps a lot in the design process. You won’t get instant, real-time reactions, but it is useful.
4. Interaction design: Interaction design refers to the process of creating comprehensible, meaningful, and relatable site designs.
5. Iterative designing: Refers to the perfect camaraderie between planning, prototyping, review, and implementation.
6. Heuristic or Usability reviews: The designer can check the usability of the designs and what they add to the website.
7. Persona creation: Make sure site designs are meaningful, and they help you target different consumer groups. That is what persona creation does for you!
8. Mood board: A unique and eye-catching collage of images, text chunks, content, and colors.
9. Prototyping: The process of creating design outlines.
10. Entry field: Users might need to fill in information, and that’s where an entry field is required.

Related terms

When it comes to unleashing your creativity for UX designing, you should develop crystal clear understanding of the crucial terms and concepts. Here are some more terms that happen to be integral parts of this process.

1. Qualitative research
2. Progressive disclosure
3. Scenario
4. Storyboard
5. UI elements
6. Quantitative Research
7. User Journey
8. Usability
9. User centered designs
10. Error analysis

A knowledge of these concepts and terms will help you devise creative UX strategies and incorporate them in the right channels

Debusting UX Myths

You have a stunning website out there to promote your services and products. You design it in a unique manner and wish to attract visitors thus converting them into leads. However, even with these efforts your site isn’t able to do so. One reason may be the UX design behind it. Unimpressive and ineffective UX designs can hit you hard! If your visitors don’t like he appearance of your site and don’t get the desired experience, they will simply move on. Here’s a stat to prove it!

A whopping 79% of visitors will abandon a site and move on to another if they don’t like its content or fail to find the desired information. UX design is of paramount significance, and there are no ways site owners can ignore it.

The ambiguity and misconceptions in UX Design

In spite of its widespread usage, the term ‘UX or User Experience Design’ often gives rise to confusion. Don Norman was the man behind the invention of this term, and he introduced ‘UX’ during the mid-90s. Although User Experience Design is at the core of numerous design processes today, some companies still haven’t opened up to it.

A lot of confusion and misconceptions have come up, which is challenging the true nature of the term. Here’s a small effort to demystify User Experience Design:

1.     Myth 1: UI and UX are identical

The complete process that determines the experience of a user is known as UX. While User Experience is the entire process, UI is just a part of it. User Interface design is a crucial element in UX which plays a major role in enhancing User Experience. Right from strategizing to design production, UX involves quite a few steps, and interface design happens to be one of them.

2.     Myth 2: UX is all about designing and not analysis

Although the term UX Design talks about ‘Designing,’ there’s a different side to it. UX designing involves critical analysis which is the reason why site owners need UX specialists. These specialists will perform market research and find out what makes user-centric designs.

3.     Myth 3: UX embraces fancy components

UX is not about how much you decorate and design your site. You might keep on adding fancy elements which will enhance the appearance of your website. However, if the operations aren’t smooth and functionalities aren’t streamlined, there’s simply no use of incorporating such fancy components and design elements.

4.     Myth 4: UX is always the second priority

No, it’s not! Whether you create UX designs for tangible items like an automobile vehicle or intangible ones like mobile apps, User Experience will be at the heart of the entire process. Knowing your consumers, their purchase behaviors, and preferences will help you nail down the right decision and make informed moves about UX design process.

5.     Myth 5: Testing is not an important part of UX

While creating UX designs, specialists have to test the design, iterate it, and make alterations as and when required. The process undergoes stringent testing, where user feedback and initial experiences are taken into account.

These are some of the common UX design myths that every design specialist should know and be aware of.

Designing with Lean UX methodologies:

Before you get down to designing any product – ask yourself who are you designing for and what experience do you want your users to leave with once they interact with your product or service?

Lean UX helps you add the “experience” to design. Every stage of design is broken down into smaller components to ensure that every aspect of user interaction and experience is taken into consideration while designing and developing any technologies.

Why follow a Lean UX methodology:

With organizations and startups soon adapting to agile development, it is necessary that even UX follows a similar quick process that captures all the iterations and implement user feedback on the go.

At GoodWorkLabs, we aim at providing UX design services that trigger customer retention and user engagement on your digital products. We follow a thorough and Lean UX design process as below:

The way UX will be perceived in 2017

UX designs have been constantly changing over the years. However, this year, we predict some key changes in UX that are going to change the way companies look at design.

In this infographic, we aim to highlight the key changes are that going to re-define UX strategies in 2017.

Every thing boils down in creating a great experience for your customers. If you feel like there are more such elements that can be added that will create a more lasting and fulfilling experience for customers, then just let us know!

Challenges for a UX Designer

According to LinkedIN, there are 900,000 UX designers in the world. How strong willed are you to be one of the best in the long run?

“ Determination is the wake up call to the human will”

A designer is a commercial artist confined by factors such as economical efficiency, technological constraints and most importantly a client’s requirements.  A UX designer is more skilled in the techniques and the process on a whole new level which we will not dwell into. And as seen with artists and designers, even UX designers can lose their way in between or simply succumb to mental fatigue unless the work flow is organised and their creative persona is kept alive.

So, what exactly are the obstacles a UX designer faces?

To answer the above question, let us just assume you are 6 years old and in elementary school. The task at hand in the art class is to draw the conventional scenery with a sunrise and a small house.

You have an hour to complete the task and your creative and young mind sketches out generously on the canvas. Agreed, it will not be the best work of art but for a 6 year old child, it is commendable.

Now, let us add factors one by one to transform the 6 year child into a UX designer.

1. The client, the teacher in this case, wants an enhanced amalgamation of colors that are soothing to the eye.

2. Instead of crayons, you will use the latest tech available to make it more interactive: the fish in the rivers should pop out when touched, the canvas should have interchangeable themes according to the time of the day and everything should look lifelike.

3. Instead of an hour, you have a week, in which you have to start from the scratch. Create a storyboard, research how different users react to the design, predict how users are going to interact with the picture on different levels to name a few.

4. And now, most importantly, you are not supposed to cross a fixed budget, redraft the design until the client likes it and stick to a deadline.

5. You’re in your 20’s now, you have had experiences as a human being and your creative side sometimes has a slightly different point of view.

And thus begins the constant battle between your creativity and someone’s exact requirements. Being a 6 year old was fun, being a UX designer is much more fun stacked up on a heap of obstacles and opportunities. So, how to go through the ardent process while enjoying it and keeping your creative ego on a standby?

Remember:

You are special. You are sketching the future of technology. It is a part of you that people will see when they access the digital world. You have already predicted what they will feel, how they will react and that is nothing but pure magic! Not an illusion, not a cheap trick, but a result of your skills and ingenuity. So, as far as you keep this in mind and adjust to a few requests, you are already strong willed to be one of the best in UX designing.

Still, here are a few tips to keep yourself clutter free and determined:

1. Ask yourself why is the client/business spending money on UX design? If it is so important can I afford to lag behind and deliver an under-performing product?

2. It is good to have infinite concepts for a project but stick to a concept, believe in it and keep refining it. The more choices you have, the more fatigue you will experience even before starting especially when you have a deadline.

3. When we are unsure of what to do, we usually look towards a social behavior to guide us. Avoid that. It is your design, a proof of your brilliance.

4. People not only perceive object shapes better, they respond better to action oriented stimuli. Allow this thought process in your creativity.

5. Be clear of what exactly you want from your design, see your design on an emotional level for the future user.

6. Every process has its hardships, but visualize the end result that will boost your confidence.

7. Anything beautiful and alleviating takes time and effort to be created. It is your mind, your space and your canvas. Realize it proves your worth as a person and as a professional.

8. Divert your mind from social and family matters and engage in healthy conversations with your co-workers.

Being a UX designer, perhaps no one will ever know who designed the masterpiece android/iOS mobile app that they have gotten addicted to. You are designing for everyone and no one at the same time. Either your passion for designing and challenges provide the spark for you or it is the growth opportunities. There will be times when you will be agitated, every creative soul goes through that. In fact it is imperative. All that pressure, all those suggestions and yet every time if you come up with a design that startles everyone, you will be the silent guardian that ensures the success of products.

A creative knight in the shining armor of technology.