As technology continues to evolve, so does how we interact with it. The last decade has seen the rise of mobile devices and the increasing popularity of apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and WeChat. This has led to a new era of human-computer interaction: the conversational interface.
But what does this mean for businesses? As we embrace this new way of communicating with technology, we must also consider its impact on the customer experience. A conversational user interface allows for a more natural and intuitive interaction but presents a new set of challenges for UX designers. How do we craft conversations that are effective for our business and emotionally engaging?
Think about the last conversation you had with a chatbot or voice assistant. Did it feel like a genuine interaction, or did it feel robotic and impersonal? The quality of conversational UI can make all the difference in how customers perceive your brand and whether they engage with you.
With Conversational Design Institute courses, we teach what we believe. And we believe that businesses must go beyond just automating conversations. To truly stand out in today's digital landscape, they must create emotionally engaging conversational experiences that leave a lasting impression on customers.
By understanding the dynamics of this new interface and learning how to design AI assistants tailored to their specific needs, businesses can gain a competitive advantage and foster deeper emotional connections with their customers.
In this article, we'll explore the significance of conversational UI in the business world and how it can be used to create emotional engagement with customers. Are you ready to take the next step in improving the customer experience?
Conversational UI's impact on enterprises
Conversational UI has changed how people do business at scale for large enterprises. Clients are comfortable sending inquiries to customer service teams through Conversational AI interfaces. It's become second nature.
This change forces a shift in how enterprises manage UX, UI, customer service, and support teams to improve their customer experience continuously.
Large enterprises are tapping into the benefits of training their workforce to improve Conversational UI for customers’ day-to-day activities. They realize the importance of leading the way in a changing workforce and environment.
Why are companies betting big on Conversational UI?
The number of Companies using Conversational UI is increasing all of the time because of customer demands and the recognition of its benefits to the organization. Here is what they consider:
1. Keeping up with the customers' needs
People are used to messaging to find the information they need. Conversational UI feels natural for people. They feel as satisfied having back and forth with a well-designed Conversational UI as they do speaking to customer service. The interaction mimics a personal connection. The entire experience requires less from the customer.
2. Conversational UI saves money
The cost of having staff available round the clock adds up. With 24/7 standards for their customer support services, companies experience high costs. Experts predict that Conversational UI will save up to $8 billion by the beginning of 2023.[1][2]
An efficient Conversational UI can support customers at all hours. It also supports the customer service and support team. Creating an efficient overflow resource during busier than normal times.
3. Improving the client support service
You might be familiar with the phrase, “We are currently experiencing a higher than normal volume of calls…”.
This is a frustrating message for customers to hear. It does not create a good customer experience.
Having a Conversational UI system in place could be the solution that saves the customer from any hassle.[3] It also saves the customer support team time and the company money.
4. Creates an internal career path for customer support teams.
The move towards automated customer support through conversational user interfaces creates a career path for customer support agents because they are the ones who know a company's customers best.
Their knowledge of customer needs and preferences makes them well-suited to help design and build more effective automated conversational UIs. By leveraging their expertise in customer support, agents can work on the development and implementation of these new technologies, allowing them to take on more advanced roles within the company.
Customer support agents are the perfect fit to learn how to responsibly train and manage the automated support system behind Conversational UIs. Making sure that it provides the best possible customer experience.
Examples and know-how
For online shoppers, it matters how fast they get through the buying process. The buyer often abandons the cart when it’s complicated or takes too long.
To combat this, the E-commerce industry is utilizing AI Assistants to engage with customers at every stage of the buying journey. The Conversational UI is like a shopping guide that is convenient rather than annoying. It’s easier to keep track of what’s in the cart, have questions answered, and complete the sale. This is all done without having to switch pages to checkout.
Companies understand that Conversational UI recenters people in a busy marketplace. They realize the value of keeping customers engaged and providing a good customer experience.
How do you make Conversational UI?
To make Conversational UIs, a designer uses collaboration tools and systems to create a conversational user interface. There are a variety of tools. Some are Voiceflow, Microsoft, PVA, IBM, and Watson).
But it’s not just about buying the technology. You don’t have a brand-new chatbot that can answer all your queries right after you buy it. You still need teams who can design conversations and build your chatbot to deliver on the company's priorities.
Why does designing Conversational UI matter for enterprises
The benefits of conversational UI for enterprises are higher when the AI assistants are well-trained. Here are the main reasons companies choose CUIs:
It comes down to the money
Once the Conversational UI is set up, companies enjoy cost savings. They don’t need people on a 24/7 schedule to provide good customer support. Chatbots help companies maximize the impact of their customer support teams.
With Conversational UI taking on routine tasks, like answering customer inquiries or qualifying leads, the staff focuses on other tasks. This means higher staff satisfaction and a reduction in the costs of delivering the highest levels of customer service.
The evolution towards conversational interfaces
Conversational UI allows people to interact with digital devices in a natural and conversational way. It uses either spoken or written dialogue, where the terms chatbots and voice assistants are used. Although we see these all the more often referred to as AI Assistants.
Implications for UX design teams
The technology behind Conversational UI is rapidly developing, and the implications for UX teams are expanding just as fast.
UX designers who’ve come up in the era of programming languages like HTML and CSS must adapt to conversational interfaces. This is clear in the migration of people who prefer mobile devices over desktop computers.
When shifts like this occur, those designing behind the scenes adapt. The change has flipped everything UX designers learned in school on its head.
Conversation Design Institute has worked with companies in many sectors like finance and healthcare to help train their UX teams to adapt to conversational interfaces.
The standardization challenge in implementing Conversational UI
When enterprises incorporate Conversational UI and automation into their customer service offering, they need to consider some challenges. These challenges come up without standardization, staff training, and resources that support overall success.
Once an enterprise considers implementing conversational AI as a solution, it'll have a lot to choose from.
Challenges
The challenge companies face comes when they deploy the tech. The team realizes they don't know with certainty how to design the conversations to get the most out of the technology. The experience isn't all that it was said to be. This happens because the team only accesses some of the Conversational UI capabilities.
This is the common gap between tech vendors and large enterprises ready to experience CUI's benefits. Companies are looking for a great customer experience to drive their business forward.
This is why it is so important to train your team in the fundamentals of conversation design, the courses on offer at Conversation Design Institute can help your organization to enhance the skills of your team to deliver more human-centric AI assistants.
How can Conversational User Interfaces help you?
UX Managers at large enterprises are paying attention to the shift in how customers interact with businesses. Conversational UI is a driving factor in how the day-to-day customer service and support centers operate.
Leaders in corporations understand the benefits of Conversational UI and training their teams to be successful. From increased customer satisfaction scores to reduced cost per interaction, Conversational UI is making a positive impact.
What are the next steps?
A well-designed Conversational UI is about the technology and the skillset. Companies who want to deploy Conversational UI at scale need to balance and support their workforce as they adapt. This involves everything from mindset, skillset, culture, and systems.
Conversation Design Institute offers training and workshops to help develop your team into Conversation Design experts. Our assessments can even let you know who might be best to take on the role of other teams within the business.
As a result, you will extract the maximum benefits provided by AI assistants.
