In 2022 I undertook the Soul Machines' conversation design course, called the Writers Room. As part of the final assignment, I was asked to create a customer service agent on Whimsical for the company of my own making. The main use case was outsourced professional services, targeted towards both existing and returning customers.
Like most conversation design projects I undertake, I began by assessing client needs. The brief had some main topics laid out (company info, pay a bill, order a new product) but it was otherwise fairly open in terms of the company the agent was to be created for. Since I have always wondered what Conversational A.I. would look like in the streaming space (eg. for Netflix), I decided that my assignment would be for a fictional documentary streaming service called Knowledge Voyage.
I thought about what sort of goals this company would have, and in today's streaming climate I concluded that they would want to appeal to entire families, especially younger generations who may not be as receptive to the documentary format. Knowledge Voyage would therefore want to appear as a 'fun' streaming service seeking to change the reputation of documentaries into something exciting and interesting.
I then drafted a backstory and business model (free subscription with premium buy-in). By fleshing out the company and understanding their goals, I was able to then come up with a stronger and more apt bot persona for my customer service agent.
With a better idea of the company I was designing a bot for, I worked on a bot persona. I liked the idea of an explorer/adventurer character—something akin to Indiana Jones. I figured it would be something immediately accessible to a family audience, and fun for the younger generations.
I came up with Sebastian "Seb" Wilde, who is a charming and exuberant explorer from Scotland. To tie in with the Knowledge Voyage streaming service, I infused his personality with a zest for life and discovery, and gave him a motto: "Always have curiosity!"
One fun activity when making bot personas is to write a short monologue for the bot. I did this activity as a way to find Seb's voice in my mind, and to establish the type of personality and energy that I wanted to shine through.
Here is Seb's monologue:
Did I ever tell you about that time I discovered an ancient Peruvian stone tablet? Well, a company hired me to help explore some ruins they unearthed, and what an experience that was! I was with a bunch of good ol’ archaeologists—some of the coolest people I’ve ever met—and they would instruct me to zig through passageways or zag past obstacles when necessary. So I was in the middle of one of these little exploration trips with my pal Rodney when we see this goooorgeous room. It was huge and had all these intricate pillars. Thing is, the whole place was underwater! And on a floor below us! Well, I handed Rodney my torch and despite some protests—don’t jump in, there could be crocodiles—no Rod, Peru doesn’t have crocodiles—I cannonballed into the submerged room! Geronimo! When I opened my eyes underwater I saw a massive stone tablet, smack-bang in the middle of the room! We retrieved it later and I spent weeks deciphering it with one of the archaeologists. Such good memories!
I found it extremely helpful to identify a key voice for the Seb early on in the process; this let me establish a strong, consistent voice form the outset of the project.
I used Whimsical to create the conversation. After thinking about what types of users would contact the Knowledge Voyage support bot, and what they would want from such a service, I decided on a few main flows:
From the start of the conversation I wanted a prospective user to immediately sense Seb's positive and upbeat personality. Even though the task didn't call for it, I added four variations for the introduction node—for variability, and for return users.
This let me establish a strong voice and set the tone for the rest of conversation. I wanted Seb to be as engaging as possible, so I focused on making this voice consistent and compelling throughout every flow. My background in writing for marketing communications really helped me here, as I was able to draw upon my skills in writing punchy and engaging copy.
Ultimately, I wanted Seb to feel like a fleshed-out character, driven by a sense of wonder, exploration, and fun.
Some things that let me achieve this were:
Conditional pathing: Since I had to design for existing and returning customers, with users divided into free users and premium users, I had to ensure that each type of user was accounted for throughout the conversation. For instance, in the premium account node Seb will offer a free trial of premium to free users, and has a different comment if the user is already has a premium account (or has tried the trial already).
Error handling/elegant failure: I was asked to implement examples of a three step error handling solution three times throughout the conversation. Soul Machines calls this elegant failure. I implemented a solution using the following steps:
Robust error handling is critical in conversation design to ensure a smooth user experience; in a professional setting I would certainly add error handling solutions across the entire conversation (in a spreadsheet).
Floating intents: I also included some floating intents, which are queries or questions a user may have that aren't necessarily part of any main flow. This helps a bot answer frequently asked questions, and creates the feeling that the bot is more knowledgeable and therefore trustworthy (it's not a good sign if a bot cannot answer a common question)! If I were to develop Seb further, I would add even more floating intents to round out the conversation.
Seb was received well by the grader, and I finished the conversation design course with a Gold Certificate—the highest level.
As with all conversation design projects, iterative testing and updating flows is critical. To develop Seb for Knowledge Voyage further, I would develop a prototype and start user testing to smooth out my flows and hone in on key floating intents.
Overall, I was pleased with my writing—Seb turned out to be exuberant, charming, and genuine. I wanted to infuse him with a sense of adventure, and I think I was able to achieve this to great effect.
With professional experience spanning three countries, I have confidence in my ability to adapt to any situation. As a life-long learner, I always strive to equip myself with new skills and knowledge to tackle whatever challenge may come.
