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Stakeholders are a growing, Australian, online tutoring company 

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Stakeholders are a growing, Australian, online tutoring company 

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An FAQs chatbot for an online tutoring company

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Chatbot = fast and friendly access to FAQs, saving both tutors and administrators time.

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Chatbot = fast and friendly access to FAQs, saving both tutors and administrators time.

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Motivation to create this chatbot was based on user-end experience as a tutor for an online tutoring company

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New tutors have several applications and systems to master during onboarding, and navigating the company’s current FAQs is difficult

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Tutors are casual and staff turn-over is relatively high due to the nature of the work, therefore tutor FAQs need to be accessible and intuitive to reduce administration

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Internal posts from tutors, asking for help, demonstrate shortcomings of the current system

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A conversation with a senior manager at the company confirmed that the current system was problematic and a chatbot ‘would indeed be of interest’

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The present system:

Tricky to navigate

Too many sub-menus

Creates information overload

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This is the current process of accessing FAQs:

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This is the current process of accessing FAQs:

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A central panel shows several pages of information about what is in the site and how to use it. A side menu contains further options. 

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A central panel shows several pages of information about what is in the site and how to use it. A side menu contains further options. 

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Over 1000 tutors are employed to tutor private students and these tutors will be the primary users of the chatbot

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Over 1000 tutors are employed to tutor private students and these tutors will be the primary users of the chatbot

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Tutors are all fluent, university level, English speakers

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Tutors are all fluent, university level, English speakers

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High speed Internet and minimum system requirements are already standard for tutors

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High speed Internet and minimum system requirements are already standard for tutors

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A good level of visual and auditory ability is assumed, as this is required for the job

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A good level of visual and auditory ability is assumed, as this is required for the job

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Challenge: FAQs contain large amounts of information in some sections

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Challenge: FAQs contain large amounts of information in some sections

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Solution: Multiple pop-ups appearing successively, as seen in Butterfly Foundation's chatbot Kit (above), are adopted to break up slabs of text which could otherwise be overwhelming for the user

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Challenge: allow the user to access options through buttons, without losing the conversational quality afforded by an AI chatbot

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Challenge: allow the user to access options through buttons, without losing the conversational quality afforded by an AI chatbot

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“Is a chatbot really harnessing the capabilities of AI if it is merely presenting menus of buttons that a user must click as they slowly get closer and closer to their answer?”
(Phillip C 2018)

Solution: To maintain a balance between the warmth of conversational engagement and the practicalities of buttons, The chatbot incorporates buttons for a main menu and a 'help' response but does not over-rely on buttons

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Chatbot created using IBM Bluemix 'Watson Assistant' software

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Challenge: users type 'thanks', 'hello' or 'what is your name?' and chatbot doesn't respond

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Challenge: users type 'thanks', 'hello' or 'what is your name?' and chatbot doesn't respond

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Solution: Dialogue and Intents are developed to respond and increase the warmth of the interaction

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Challenge: test user questions are off topic or users don't know what to ask, and the chatbot cannot respond

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Challenge: test user questions are off topic or users don't know what to ask, and the chatbot cannot respond

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Solution: specific suggestions about what the user can inquire about are included in 'Welcome' dialogue

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Challenge: Test user thinks chatbot is 'wordy'

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Challenge: Test user thinks chatbot is 'wordy'

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Solutions:

Dialogue edited to be more succinct

successive pop-up boxes are implemented (see- Interaction design challenges and solutions section for more)

Emoji’s added to break up text and add interest.

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Challenge: testers use single words such as 'book' or 'session' more often than anticipated

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Challenge: testers use single words such as 'book' or 'session' more often than anticipated

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Solution: the chatbot is programmed to recognise more single word responses

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Challenge: users arrive at dialogue dead-ends and ask things such as 'now what'?

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Challenge: users arrive at dialogue dead-ends and ask things such as 'now what'?

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Solutions:

1. Prompts such as ‘do you have another question?’ are added at the end of each dialogue response

2. A 'help menu' dialogue is added and programmed to pick up user responses such as 'now what?'

3. Dialogue links are reconsidered and connections are mapped out to avoid conversational dead ends

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Challenge: develop a persona to represent the tutoring company and engage the user

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Challenge: develop a persona to represent the tutoring company and engage the user

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Solutions:

1.  Language from the company website and internal communications from administration is used to inspire the the chatbot's dialogue. This includes: use of plain English, upbeat, friendly communication style
and use of emoji's

2. A non-gender specific name is chosen, as tutoring staff interacting with the chatbot are of both genders.

3. The name is short and simple to pronounce, making it easier for users to remember.

4. The name is also selected for its meaning; Koty means support, cushion, and home, which is appropriate for the desired persona of the chatbot.

5. A simple friendly face icon is created in Adobe Illustrator, exported as a jpeg and then uploaded to WikiCommons so that it can be linked to the IBM Watson assistant. The colours for the face are chosen based on colours used on the company website and the hair on the character is designed to resemble the company logo.

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Cluey Learning <clueylearning.com.au>.

Viewed 25th August 2021

Butterfly Foundation 2021, Chat with Kit,

<https://butterfly.org.au/chattokit/>.Viewed 20th August 2021

Phillips C 2018,  To Use Chatbot Buttons or Not to Use Chatbot Buttons, Chatbot Life <buttonshttps://chatbotslife.com/to-use-chatbot-buttons-or-not-to-use-chatbot-buttons-745af3f0deec>. Viewed 23 August 2021

Schlict M 2016, The Complete Beginner's Guide to Chatbots, Everything you Need to Know, Chatbot Magazine <https://chatbotsmagazine.com/the-complete-beginner-s-guide-to-chatbots-8280b7b906ca>. Viewed 23 August 2021

Inbenta Team 2021, 5 Ways to Use Chatbots for Internal Employees, Inbenta <https://www.inbenta.com/en/blog/chatbots-internal-employees/#day-2-day>. Viewed 23 August 2021