Cross Channel, Multi Product Chatbot to Serve as a Time Saving Tool
A UX team project working on an energy efficiency program for low income rental homes with a focus on the Landlord user journey of solar panel installation. The team evaluated extensive quantitative research data, personas and set deliverables including customer journey, insight generation, wireframes, chatbot dialogue and prototyping.
A problem which arises is the split incentives barrier in the rental sector.
The Landlord want an investment property that is more energy efficient. However while they pay for the upgrades, the tenants receives the benefit through reduced energy bills.
The Tenant wants to reduce the energy consumption by making improvements to the rental property, however if they pay for the upgrades, they are unsure as to how long they will be able to remain in the property to benefit from their investment.
The cost and benefit split between owners and occupiers of rental properties means rental properties are less likely to be energy efficient than similar homes that are
owner occupied.
Over the past 4 years OEH has been working on research and development of implementing a program to support more efficient homes for low income tenants.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
There are a lot of steps required to install a solar system on a private rental property,incl. many interactions between landlords, tenants, installers and property managers (when involved). This is to ensure that the appropriate system is installed properly on the property but also allows tenants to gain a better understanding of the technology.
How can we make the whole experience easier and less time consuming for a landlord involved in the process?
RESEARCH GOALS
Define Landlords common behaviors when starting the process of solar panel installation.
Determine what makes the end to end experience satisfying.
Determine the users biggest frustrations end to end.
Understand user needs and identify areas for improvement.
Primary Research – Qualitative
To have a better understanding to the perspective of the Landlord experience, Our team interviewed one on one participants who had installed solar panels or improved the efficiency of their investment property with existing or new tenants. We wanted to learn more about their experiences, preferences, motivations, and frustrations throughout the entire process from research and planning through to installation and the post installation experience.
A common frustration people have with
government websites are complex navigation,
finding simple answers and locating basic details
DEFINE AND IDEATE
The first milestone is the creation of a chatbot which integrates into the existing website and facilitates existing resources.
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
The chatbot provides the service of gathering and delivering select results to the customer going on their specified requirements, thus speeding up the process for the customer to obtain all the information they need as well as only having to go to one source to receive all the information required.
A Solar Knowledgeable Chatbot ConsIderations
A friendly character
Tone of voice
Should only have to do the process once/message log
Mobile vs desktop
Supplies us with extra data
Chatbot Process
Additional support required from external sources
Creation of questions the bot or AI can answer to support user experience
A bot that filters marketing qualified leads (MQL) towards structured query language (SQL)
Chatbot Execution
Finding the logical question and answer needs within the customer journey
Scripting the dialogue first
Building the bot second
What is the Goal
Serve as a time saving tool for good user experience
Being Clear on the Context
Writing for a specific person that being our customer persona
Not creating for a vague target audience
Define how to interact and communicate
Stay consistent
Ensure the bot stays in character
Keeping the speaking style, vocabulary and tone of voice consistent
Being concise
Each message not exceeding three lines of text on mobile devices
Break up messages into a number of responses to mimic real conversation
Vary responses
Identical answers cause a poor user experience
More than one response for the same question or segment of the dialogue script
Bot is not repetitive and comes across more conversational and human like
Should the user continue on more than one path
Finish Strong After the Conversation is Over
Take advantage of the users attention by adding a personal touch
Add to the users positive experience by ending the conversation in a natural way
Sound Natural
Talk like a real person, but not pretend the bot is a real person
Represent the brand voice
It's All About the Tempo
Intentionally pace how fast a user receives the messages
Make the experience feel more natural
Adding a delay, like a real texting conversation
Tempo helps with engagement
INTERACTION DESIGN
Complete a task flow and user flow in order to imagine the different conversations a user would have through the chatbot experience. These flows act as an important tool to ensure the information was organised in the most intuitive way for the user.
FINDINGS
A chatbot can provide the answers needed quickly. While a chatbot can’t replace the human touch, a blended approach optimises the delivery experience with options of being able to schedule a call, book an appointment or receive information by email.
Both on mobile and desktop it is:
An easy tool to use
Multiple options
Covers various paths of communication
Primarily the chatbot helps increase conversions because of its efficiency
