How to create customer-centric chatbots with neuro-UX
Written by
About a quarter of the organisations offer chatbots, mostly for customer service, and this share is growing steadily. By subjecting chatbots to neuromarketing research, new insights emerge. With the growing number of UX/CX testing inquiries for this part of the customer journey, we would like to share some of the customer insights of chatbot (and, of course, including the psychological and emotional aspects).
Popularity of Chatbots
There are plenty of articles, blogs, trend reports and lists of benefits of chatbots. What they mostly have in common is that they are mostly framed from the business case and mostly written by chatbot providers. A frequently mentioned reason for using chatbots is sales (“can we help you?”), as an opening to a sales funnel. Below are six benefits for chatbots that are usually mentioned:
1. Cost savings. Chatbot are faster and cheaper than customer service personnel.
2. Time savings. Questions that occur more frequently are handled immediately with standard messages
3. Multiple conversations at once. Instead of one phone call, a chatbot serves multiple customers at the same time which increases productivity and reduces waiting times.
4. Consistency. Chatbots are consistent, unemotional and available 24/7.
5. Data collection. Intertwined with the above points; logging and analyzing queries provides insight. This fits perfectly into the current “data-driven” era.
6. Millennials & Gen Z. Having grown up with digital products, these generation are not only more tech-savvy, but also fear having live conversations. Chatbot are a way out of not having to speak to a real person.
If you look at these arguments it is striking that almost none of them are about the customer. Articles about how chatbots contribute to a better customer experience from the customer’s point of view are scarce.
As chatbots are becoming a standard feature, CX/UX is increasingly relevant, not only for a better customer experience, but also to differentiate yourself as an organization.
Chatbots and customer experience
“40% of consumers don’t care whether they’re helped by a human or a chatbot, as long as they are helped” -Hubspot
Even though we don’t know what the other 60% was thinking, this quote is a good starting point to state that customers fundamentally want to be helped (quickly), regardless of the form. Starting from this, we now zoom in on the (neuro)psychological and emotional impact of customer experience of chatbots:
1. Visualization of chatbots: Recognizability
Website visitors are conditioned: navigating a landing page and gathering information online is automatic. Over the years, we know that navigation menus, filters or search functions have a logical place and function and we find our way on autopilot. This principle of Jakob’s (UX) Law assumes that users prefer a site that works like other sites.
This makes chatbots interesting because they are still evolving, but the rectangular (often irritating) pop-up on the left or bottom right of the page is what is most common now. Is this the new norm for chatbots?
Humans take hundreds of decisions a day, especially with our automated brain (“System 1 thinking”), which takes the least amount of energy. Make sure your chatbot is in that system in terms of recognizability; users should immediately understand that they can turn to a chatbot for their questions.
2. Form: Imitate a human or not?
Many chatbot providers struggle with this question. Does your chatbot need to look like a human or should it be a virtual assistant?
Let users know clearly that this is a chatbot. Thinking one is communicating with a real person will raise the user’s expectations, and because bots (still) struggle with complex questions or answers, a mismatch in those expectations arises, leading to frustration. For example, indicate in the title that this is a chatbot, name the chatbot and use visual cues in case those texts have not been seen.
However, when customers feel (unconsciously) that they are interacting with a person, it makes them feel better served. That positive emotion comes from the principle of “social presence”: the idea of interacting with another person. Funnily enough, that feeling can also arise when you are aware that you are communicating with a chatbot. This presents opportunities to differentiate yourself by striking the balance between human and bot.
How do you achieve that effect?
During a survey for a travel provider, this came across well. Users immediately saw that this was a chatbot, but its design generated sympathy:
Some learnings from our studies that reinforce this effect are:
- Use of animations (such as a chat cloud that pops up at the start)
- Building in the ‘Typing’ effect before the bot asks a question/answers. You can play with wait times and conversation clouds to make the chatbot more ‘human’.
- Give your Chatbot a name.
3. Interaction (1): Keep it simple
People naturally like the easiest way (Principle of the least effort). Chatbots should therefore be simple. Button options are therefore appreciated; it saves the user the trouble of typing something. Just make sure question-answer options are logical, well-timed and visually correct.
From a UX / design perspective, it is advisable to display and set up the chatbot in a smooth and fluid manner. Make sure one does not have to scroll too much for the answers in the answer bubbles. Tip: remember that with mobile, the keyboard folds in and out.
Furthermore, people don’t like to wait, so find the right balance between quick results and the aforementioned “human” touch at the earlier tip (#2).
4. Interaction (2): Embrace your chatbot’s flaws
Chatbots are still developing and do not understand every question or sometimes give a non-logical answer. Prevent frustration by creating understanding and sympathy with the user by emphasizing that when something does not go smoothly. Furthermore, when a bot gets stuck, referring the user to a staff member is considered positive.
Conclusion
Chatbots are becoming an integral part of websites and apps and are therefore a powerful part of the customer journey. When designing them, keep the customer’s interest in mind through recognizability and ease of use. Don’t imitate a human, but make the virtual assistant as human as possible for an optimal customer experience.
%401x.svg){kind=icon}
.svg){kind=icon}