What is Conversational Design

With the amount of time we spend on our smartphones growing meteorically, people thrive for a sencerity of a person-to-person conversation when it comes to interacting with any app or device.

And while we as designers are still very much “screen first” when creating an interface, it is now, more than ever, that we need to think of how they communicate rather than how they look like. Here is where conversational design steps in. Find out how different companies are using it to create interfaces that people love chatting with.

So... What is it?

Conversational design is about creating interfaces that people can easily talk to. It can be applied to Voice assistants, chat-based apps and generally any interface.

Babylon Health app is an example of how conversational design can be used for a larger service. In their app, one can get a diagnosis by chatting with a bot which then connects the user with the right specialist.

Conversational design uses human conversation as an example of communication with any device or app.

Replika is another example of an AI-powered conversational app. Users train Replika by messaging with it to create a virtual friend or rather a digital twin. The app helps users to cope with anxiety and loneliness as they feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts with AI in moments of vulnerability.

How to have an effective communication? According to Paul Grice, British philosopher one needs to follow this simple rules:

Be truthful, be relevant, be brief, be unambiguous, be polite and give just enough information.

Duolingo uses conversations as a way to learn languages. It even allows to practice your newly learnt language with a bot.

For senior adults, using smartphones and other devices can be hard. Alexa on the other hand is easy to understand and talk to. It has helped seniors in the retirement communities become more independent and engaged, feeling more connected to their families. When using Alexa they could call and text them without any difficulties.

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