Voicebot and Chatbot Design

Flexible conversational interfaces with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Facebook Messenger

Rachel Batish

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781789136883
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Semantics
• Index: Computer Science

Create conversational UIs using cutting-edge frameworks

Key Features

• Build AI chatbots and voicebots using practical and accessible toolkits
• Design and create voicebots that really shine in front of humans
• Work with familiar appliances like Alexa, Google Home, and FB Messenger
• Design for UI success across different industries and use cases

Book Description

We are entering the age of conversational interfaces, where we will interact with AI bots using chat and voice. But how do we create a good conversation? How do we design and build voicebots and chatbots that can carry successful conversations in in the real world?

In this book, Rachel Batish introduces us to the world of conversational applications, bots and AI. You'll discover how - with little technical knowledge - you can build successful and meaningful conversational UIs. You'll find detailed guidance on how to build and deploy bots on the leading conversational platforms, including Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Facebook Messenger.

You'll then learn key design aspects for building conversational UIs that will really succeed and shine in front of humans. You'll discover how your AI bots can become part of a meaningful conversation with humans, using techniques such as persona shaping, and tone analysis.

For successful bots in the real world, you'll explore important use-cases and examples where humans interact with bots. With examples across finance, travel, and e-commerce, you'll see how you can create successful conversational UIs in any sector.

Expand your horizons further as Rachel shares with you her insights into cutting-edge voicebot and chatbot technologies, and how the future might unfold. Join in right now and start building successful, high impact bots!

What you will learn

• Build your own AI voicebots and chatbots
• Use familiar appliances like Alexa, Google Home, and Facebook Messenger
• Master the elements of conversational user interfaces
• Key design techniques to make your bots successful
• Use tone analysis to deepen UI conversation for humans
• Create voicebots and UIs designed for real-world situations
• Insightful case studies in finance, travel, and e-commerce
• Cutting-edge technology and insight into the future of AI bots

Who this book is for

This book is for you, if you want to deepen your appreciation of UI and how conversational UIs - driven by artificial intelligence - are transforming the way humans interact with computers, appliances, and the everyday world around us. This book works with the major UI toolkits available today, so you do not need a deep programming knowledge to build the bots in this book: a basic familiarity with markup languages and JavaScript will give you everything you need to start building cutting-edge conversational UIs.

Voicebot and Chatbot Design

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Table of Contents

Voicebot and Chatbot Design

Why subscribe?

Packt.com

Contributors

About the author

About the reviewers

Packt is Searching for Authors Like You

Preface

Who this book is for

What this book covers

To get the most out of this book

Download the color images

Conventions used

Get in touch

Reviews

1. Conversational UI is our Future

What is conversational UI?

The evolution of conversational UI

Textual interface

Graphical user interface (GUI)

Conversational UI

Voice-enabled conversational UI

The stack of conversational UI

Voice recognition technology

NLU

Dictionaries/samples

Context

State machine

Event-driven contextual approach

Business logic/dynamic data

Challenges and gaps in conversational UI

NLU is an AI-hard problem

Accuracy level

From GUI to CUI and VUI

Chatbots

Voicebots

Non-implicit contextual conversation

Security and privacy

Summary

References

2. How Not to Build Your Next Chat and Voicebots

Why are we building a conversational UI?

Chats and chatbots

Voicebots, IVAs, and voice-enabled interaction

What your bot shouldn't be

Define your use cases – not too little and not too much

Don't just build and forget

Summary

References

3. Building a Killer Conversational App

Find the direct path to initial success

Think like a search engine, not a command line

Give your bot a "personality," but don't pretend it's a human

Chatbot examples

Voicebot examples

Build an omni-channel solution – find your tool

Stay up-to-date with the trends

Summary

References and additional reading

4. Designing for Amazon Alexa and Google Home

Amazon Echo? Alexa? Google Home? Actions? What does it all mean?!

Amazon Echo

Echo Dot

Echo Show

Who or what is Alexa?

Google Home

Google Home Mini

Google Home Max

Just a few words on Apple's HomePod

Developing skills and actions

Voice recognition

Utterances

Natural language understanding (NLU)

Intent

Fulfilment

Response

Slots/entities

Developing skills on Amazon Alexa

Developing actions for Google Home

Summary

References

5. Designing a Facebook Messenger Chatbot

The FB Messenger stack

Building a FB Messenger bot using Wit.ai

Tutorial

Challenges and consequences of the FB Messenger bot

Other tools to develop FB Messenger bots

Summary

References

6. Contextual Design – Can We Make a Bot Feel More Human?

Contextual conversations or contextual design?

Building contextual conversations: humans versus bots

How can a bot be better than a web search or human interaction?

Conversational structure

The bot as an intelligent assistant

The case of robo-advisors and how they impact the bot industry

Text and toning

Emotional intelligence versus AI-based emotional intelligence

Positive responses

False-positive responses

Negative responses

Trolling

Summary

References:

7. Building Personalities – Your Bot Can Be a Better Human

Personification of computers

Building personas

Who can build it?

What's your bot's job description?

Who are your bot's clients?

Building your bot's personality

Gender

Look and feel

Voice and style

Small talk = big success

Building multiple personas

Methodologies for building your bot's personas

Summary

References

8. A View into Vertical-Specific Bots – Financial Institutions

Can a banking bot become a travel bot?

Financial institutions – use cases, implementation, and examples

Why?

Where?

What?

Financial institution chatbots

Bank of America

Wells Fargo

UI and UX best practices

Wells Fargo

Capital One

Financial institution voice-enabled conversational bots

Capital One

GEICO

Summary

References

9. Travel and E-Commerce Bots – Use Cases and Implementation

Travel and E-Commerce challenges

Can you compete with something that is already successful?

How do chatbots and voicebots manage data presentation?

Defining a new data discovery model

Use cases and recommendations

Travel

KAYAK

What went well and what didn't?

KAYAK on Alexa

Hotel search

Flight search

E-Commerce

eBay

What went well and what didn't?

Summary

References

10. Conversational Design Project – A Step-By-Step Guide

Defining the stakeholders

Defining the goals

Who does our bot address?

Where and how – choosing devices

Our conversational application's persona

Functionality and use cases

Development and testing

Deployment, maintenance, and analytics

Summary

11. Summary

Conversational interfaces – how did it all start and where do we stand today?

Why do we even need conversational solutions? What do they bring to the table?

How to build great conversational applications

Development: technical and non-technical expertise

Vertical-specific or a mega bot?

Summary

Other Book You May Enjoy

Leave a review - let other readers know what you think

Index

Voicebot and Chatbot Design

Copyright © 2018 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing or its dealers and distributors, will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Acquisition Editors: Frank Pohlmann, Suresh Jain

Project Editor: Kishor Rit

Technical Editor: Saby D'silva

Proofreader: Safis Editing

Indexer: Mariammal Chettiyar

Graphics: Tom Scaria, Sandip Tadge

Production Coordinator: Sandip Tadge

First published: September 2018

Production reference: 1280918

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

Livery Place

35 Livery Street

Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.

ISBN 978-1-78913-962-4

www.packtpub.com

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