How to make a chatbot? This is the question more and more companies face. Looking at all the benefits chatbots have, people want to figure out how to create them. There are plenty of possibilities and ways to do that. Google will provide you with thousands of articles on how to make a chatbot, and the tools you need to do that. However, there are some common mistakes many companies still make. Here are some of them.
Mistake 1 – Believe that it’s impossible to create a chatbot
Thinking about chatbots, we often imagine talking robots or other machines of that type. You start thinking about artificial intelligence and the process of chatbot making seems to be more than difficult, even impossible. But is it really so? Of course, not. There are just several things to consider.
How to write a chatbot? There are two ways to do that. Developers may build the app from scratch, using a pure programming language. Such process of AI creation will include teaching the app how to learn and make conclusions on the basis of its own mistakes. Sounds difficult, right?
Another way is to use chatbot building platforms that offer frameworks and APIs. Some of the most popular building platforms are Chatscript, Rebot.me, Pandorabots, Facebook «Bots for Messenger», Microsoft «Bot’s Platform», etc. These platforms have different features and tools, however, there is one feature that is common to all of them. They allow making cool chatbots.
Here is an example of building a chatbot via Facebook’s platform. There is an application server that receives messages from users. It should be associated with the Facebook page with certain parameters. Then there is a platform wit.ai that understands the natural language and teaches a bot how to do it. When a client sends a message to a chatbot, the language is utilized via wit.ai and sent back to the server. Then a bot provides the answer in a form of the text or more structured data like product photos, lists, etc. Thus, a person who wants to make a chatbot needs 3 things: a Facebook page, a server, and wit.ai.
Mistake 2 – Forget about the chatbot behavior
What makes a peculiar chatbot really cool? People love communicating with chatbots because of two things: the appealing visual look and branded language. Clients don’t really care how much time developers have spent building a peculiar chatbot. They just want a chatbot that will surprise them with the ability to carry on conversations as a real person.
Secondly, an appealing visual look is an advantageous feature for every service or product. Make something look awesome and clients will love it. However, it’s also better not to forget about the language a chatbot uses. It’s one of the ways to make a chatbot stand out and put it on the list of «Best Chatbots Clients Use All the Time».
Mistake 3 – Neglect chatbot dialog flow
Chatbots are still new to people. Most of us have already tried communicating with only some of the most popular ones, like CNN news bot, Hi Poncho weather bot, etc. Nevertheless, the majority are still eager to know what a chatbot is and how they can use it.
Creating an engaging icebreaking part is one of the crucial things. Showing users how interesting and useful it is to communicate with a chatbot is vital. The same concerns designing a dialog flow.
In order to create the right dialog flow, one should know how chatbots work. It’s also important to understand the difference between linear and non-linear dialogues. The main goal of linear dialogues is to collect information that is needed for completing some actions. Non-linear dialogues depend on users’ answers. Designing the effective dialogue flow, developers make sure that users are satisfied with the interaction.
Mistake 4 – Choosing the wrong channel for a bot
Knowing the main purpose of a bot creation, it’s easier to choose the right channel for it. One may compare advantages and disadvantages of different channels and choose one that suits all the requirements. Here is a short guide on some of them.
Creating a chatbot via Messenger is a great way to reach almost 900 million people. Everyone who needs such type of interaction will find it useful. The main benefits include the easy access to all users, tools for complex conversational experiences facilitation, and simplified ways of context management.
Telegram is a popular option for news bots. Telegram chatbots are used by Forbes and BBC. That must be the best example of the effectiveness of such conversational agents! One of the main benefits of Telegram chatbots is the great user experience. The communication is super simple. Users often don’t even have to type. They just use custom buttons.
Slack chatbots are highly popular among successful companies. Their main functions include monitoring of the channel activity, posting messages and reactions, making messages interactive, etc. All these features allow teams to use services of their smartest employee, a chatbot. As you may read at Wired, there is a Slackbot for everything. Taking into account all the benefits, it’s not a surprise.
Mistake 5 – Neglecting the testing stage
Testing is the time when one can check the chatbot’s functionality, its importance, and value. It’s the best moment for finding out mistakes, analyzing user experience, and making a chatbot even better than it is. Having carried out A/B testing by small groups of testers, developers will see the mistakes and solve the appearing problems.
Continuous correction of a chatbot seems to take a lot of time. However, it’s also the stage that will bring the best results. It’s impossible to create the ideal product from the very start. Working on a program, developing the project, and analyzing UX are the stages that take some time. However, these are the stages that make the company successful.
Avoiding making these 5 mistakes, companies save a lot of time and money. The same concerns chatbots. This technology develops every day. And we are happy to be a part of it.
So do you already know how to write a chatbot? At Letzgro, we keep an eye on the latest ideas and news concerning chatbots. We also create conversational agents ourselves, because we know how to write chatbots properly. Feel free to contact us! We’re always ready to provide you with all the needed information. Let’s make the coolest chatbots together!
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