1. Generate a simple list of ideas for a chatbot. Write down at least 10 topics that might be interesting to you and useful to people.

2. Conduct an internet search for existing chatbots similar to some of your ideas. Simply try searching the term chatbot combined with variations on each of your ideas.

3. Use any search results to consider new ideas or adapt your initial ideas.

4. After some reflection on your ideas, define three concepts with a little more detail using the concepts template.

Concepts Template

❏ Deliverable Collect your team's initial ideas in a list and gather the resulting concepts into a single document or slide set.

Refine your previous work as needed to be included in your proposal presentation. Ensure that each slide contributes to an explanation of a cohesive story that supports your initial concept and value proposition.

7 TIPS FOR PROPOSALS, PITCHES AND PRESENTATIONS​

❏ Deliverable Your team's proposal as a collection of slides containing...

• a title slide

• your value proposition

• intended chatbot features map or listing

• summary slides (or exemplars) of your teams work

  • Background research

  • Personas

  • Task analysis.

This is only an example of the types of artifacts you want in you proposal, carefully consider how you will tell a convincing story about your team's concept.

Analyze how people currently (without your bot) complete tasks and achieve the same goals. This will inform your design decisions in several ways.

Understanding the current habits of people will...

• help you design an easy entry into using your bot so it feels natural and consistent with people's mental model of the topic.

• reveal opportunities to design noticeable advantages for your bot over current practices. You need to "sell" the experience in a way. Does it save time? Make it more fun? Provide better value?

• identify paths that you may want to avoid in your bot. You don't want to mimic any bad experiences people may have on the topic.

Instructions

Snapshot of Task Analysis Template

​​​​

1. Determine the top 3 tasks that your bot will perform. Be sure to identify the primary goal for each of those tasks. This may change later as you develop your project, but you need to start with a clear direction to make progress.

2. For each task, list the detailed steps people currently use to reach the task goal using a specific instance. In other words, how do people complete this task without your bot? Label the steps the user performs and any steps completed by a computer program (or other tool). Start with your best guess. But for each task, ask 3 people how they would complete it and use your findings to adjust the steps for a particular instance.

   For example, if one bot task will be to "Find Burrito Recipes by Ingredients or Taste", use a specific instance like the following.

   TASK: Jill wants a burrito recipe that incorporates chorizo as an ingredient.

   • Jill: Opens browser.

   • Jill: Enters "chorizo burrito recipes" in the search bar.

   • COMPUTER: Google returns a list of sites having burrito recipes (with 2 ads at the top)

   • Jill: Scans results and selects a page on allrecipes.com

   • ...

   • ...

   • ...

   • Jill: Returns to the browser tab from seriouseats.com and selects print from the browser menu.

   • Computer: Prints recipe with all the other headings, menus, and ads on the web page.

3. Look for the best opportunities to improve the steps in each task using your chatbot. At the same time, be sure to consider how to avoid inserting any steps with your chatbot that would degrade the experience.

4. Make an instance of a potential chatbot dialogue for the same tasks that you believe improves the experience. Be detailed and consider how the chatbot will handle "directing" the conversation so that it is easy to follow and reduces the chance of getting lost in the conversation. Include labels for the person and chatbot in the example dialogue.

5. After completing all three chatbot dialogues, review and compare the current way completing the task with your proposed chatbot concepts. Refine the chatbot dialogues as needed.

6. List the main advantages you see in using the chatbot.

7. List the potential traps that could cause the chatbot to provide a poor experience for people.

​Task Analysis Template​

Create for each programming function your chatbot will need to perform your defined tasks.

Resource:

See the example pseudocode below as a guide. Don't worry about syntax. Pseudocode is meant to describe, in plain english, what you will need the computer to process.

❏ Deliverable

A document containing each functions pseudocode.

Each team member will conduct two interviews of people outside of class to understand their perspective on your chosen health issue and on chatbots. You will want to investigate the depth of each person's knowledge and passion about your topic. You will also want to gather their likes and dislikes with chatbots and chat interfaces in general. As a team review your interview responses and use this information to develop personas, one for each team member, that describe the context, needs, and frustrations of stakeholders, revealing opportunities to support meaningful value with your chatbot.

• **

• .

❏ Deliverable Collect your team's personas into a single document or slide set.

While the chatbot script (Rivescript) is your main method of controlling the flow of your chatbot dialogue, you will likely want to use a basic database to store tabular data that your chatbot could incorporate in it's service. For example, you may have a large dictionary of terms that a visitor may want to search through your chatbot, or maybe you develop a large set of study questions to quiz a visitor of your chatbot. There are a lot of possibilities.

You will find that providing a chatbot that is backed by a rich data source for people will take careful thought and multiple iterations. So getting a good start on your database will be very beneficial. Follow the for your team and make an intentional plan to develop your database of valuable facts for use in your chatbot.

You will have to think carefully and discuss with your team about what kind of data will be most valuable, along with how you can best format the data to make it useful in the chatbot.

❏ Deliverable Your properly formatted database that will support use in the chatbot. Items may continue to be added.

1. Provide each team member time to share their ideas and the value of each concept documented.

2. Synthesize your concepts into three top concepts that all team members find interesting and valuable. Document the three concepts in the template linked below the same as you did in the previous individual exercise.

3. Develop a sample dialogue flow diagram for each of the three concepts that is at least as detailed as , but begins to show some more detail like from . Include your sample dialogue flow in each concept using a Google drawing embed or photo of a hand-drawn version. Make sure it is clearly legible and useful for describing the concept.

   Note: This will not be a complete (or exhaustive) dialogue flow chart, only a sample of a common interaction with a user that you envision.

4. Share your three concepts to six people in your class and document feedback on the value, interest-level, and complexity of each concept. Be sure to carefully explain the concepts and use the dialogue flow diagram to help illustrate the idea. Be sure to discuss the tone and personality of the potential chatbot. Also, capture in your document any ideas that people give you that may be incorporated later.

5. Have each team member share your team's three concepts with two people outside of class. (For example, share with a total of six people if you have a team of three.) Try to target a different, but pertinent, audience---like parents, siblings, coaches, etc. Capture the feedback as before.

❏ Deliverable Your team's Concept Narrowing and Evaluations Document as a single document or slide set.

Outline the features to program by priority--core features, enhanced features, and wish list features. You are creating a basic functional requirements document. Begin coding and maintain well organized code as you progress towards your first full demonstration.

Functional Requirements Examples

Core Features - The chatbot will have a customized background and font that differs from the template - The chatbot will handle a simple intoduction dialogue and save the user's name - The chatbot will present three buttons to the visitor to select one of three topics of interest - The chatbot will be able to search a dictionary of terms based on visitor input - ....add more core features Enhanced Features - The chatbot will be able to offer embedded videos to the user based on dictionary searches - The chatbot will provide further suggestions as a follow up to search results to expand the user's experience. - ...add more enhanced features Wish List - The chatbot will respond to voice input - The chatbot will save a history of interactions with a user. - .....

❏ Deliverable A document or slide that outlines your progressive development plan.

Create a 3" x 5" marketing card. The marketing card will be a valuable lead-in to your chatbot that could be distributed physically or as a digital image. Think about what your elevator pitch would be for the game and make it visual.

❏ Deliverable A PNG image file of your marketing card.

Document an example of the dialogue that your chatbot may take with a user for each your three key tasks.

This exercise will help define the backbone of your bot and provide a starting point for your script.

1. All three tasks should start out the same, but quickly divert once the user triggers a path. Look at the example starting points in the template, but edit it with your chatbot dialogue and take it to the conclusion of an interaction.

2. Carefully consider the language the bot uses and how to structure clear prompts that will direct the conversation in a productive way.

3. While you are documenting this single instance of how a dialogue may go, start to think about the many ways the user may respond--you will have to deal with that in your final product.

4. Each team member should evaluate the sample dialogue (much like you would a paper prototype) by having two people individually follow your sample dialogue using the think-aloud protocol. Synthesize your results and define important decisions for chatbot design before coding begins.

Sample Dialogue Template​

Thinking Aloud from Nielsen Norman Group.

❏ Deliverables A document or slide that summarizes the results of your dialogue evaluation

Each team member will conduct background research on at least one topic to understand the scope of of possibilities for each (like current trends, statistics, and impact) and the opportunities to provide value to a chatbot visitor. It is important to look at each topic through the lens of how a chatbot may be of value.

• How knowledgeable is the general public on the topic right now?

• How much could the community benefit from learning some key information through a chatbot?

• What is the potential for generating social movement, sometimes called "viral"?

• Will you have access to the communities regarding the topic for further research and testing your chatbot?

As a team, discuss all the research and determine which topic will be your focus. If your team is still undecided, you may use the interviews in the next task to help you finalize your decision.

❏ Deliverable Collect your team's background research into a single document or slide set.

Each team member will complete the chatbot warm-up project to develop a firm understanding of the design considerations, technical opportunities and constraints your team will have with your chatbot design.

❏ Deliverable Demonstrate that you have completed the each step of the warm-up project and can discuss how the code works.

Value propositions clearly define key aspects of your design that demonstrate it is a valuable and worthwhile product or service. It provides focus for the design of many types of services or products. Here is a template to get you started.

For [describe target users] who [describe problem or need], [name of product/service] is a [describe type of product/service] that [describe benefit or value].

As a team, review all of your work and discuss several possible design directions before settling in on one single value proposition. You will want this statement to be clear, concise, and compelling. It should be supported by your research and analysis up to this point. This is a good time to outline your intended features for the chatbot that you will be able to adapt as you move through your project. Here is a template to get you started.

❏ Deliverable A document or slide deck with your team's value proposition in large font, and a copy of your draft feature mapping.

Your poster design is important for two reasons. One, it is an opportunity for your team to reflect on the project process and what you have learned, and two, it provides a great visual aid for explaining your work to visitors at the final event. Highlight at least six artifacts that demonstrate key work your team completed in the project process from beginning to end, and include a refined value statement that pulls it all together.

POSTER TEMPLATE

• You can use this which is set to 36 inches wide by 24 inches tall. Zoom in or out as needed to add text, images, etc. – but do not change the canvas size. (Be sure you're logged in to your Google Account. From the File menu, select Make a copy. Save the copied file to your shared team folder in Google Drive.)

• If you use a different drawing/illustration tool, set the canvas size to 36 inches wide by 24 inches tall at 300 pixels per inch (10800 pixels wide by 7200 pixels tall).

• If your teacher has specified a different size for the poster, use that instead.

❏ Deliverable A PDF file of poster (36" x 24").

Based on your sample dialogue evaluation and pseudocode functions, code your Rivescript file in a methodical way by dividing up the chatbot tasks and prioritizing the features. You want to have your chatbot working early in the development process, then carefully add features and refinements, testing along the way.

❏ Deliverable A properly formatted Rivescript file functioning in your chatbot.

Plan another evaluation to test your live chatbot using the think-aloud protocol with at least six people. While you did a basic functional test (code testing) earlier, this evaluation will help you determine if the chatbot is fully usable and engaging for people. Prepare a few prompts for participants to complete the main tasks your chatbot supports. For example, you could ask them, "How would you go about reviewing a glossary of terms in our Chemistry Bot to prepare for a quiz?". By observing the interaction and any comments from the participant you will gain insight. Be sure to record your findings promptly. Be sure to evaluate the conversation flow and the quality of the chatbot messages and feedback.

Follow up this evaluation with an informal post interview of participants to get feedback on the overall effectiveness of your solution in addressing your chosen health issue. You want to learn as much as you can while using people's time wisely and respectfully.

Thinking Aloud from Nielsen Norman Group.

❏ Deliverable A document or slide that summarizes the results of your user experience evaluation.

Create a simple document that outlines the style elements of your chatbot. You will want to determine the following elements, at a minimum, and document a description and visual samples of each when possible.

• Background color or image descriptions and visual samples

• Text font-family and font-size descriptions and samples (Consider using Google Fonts for a custom look)

• Text message "bubble" colors and styles for the chatbot messages and the user messages (you want them to look different)

• Sound effects - Describe any sound and how it will be used.

• Buttons - This would include the send message button as well as any other buttons you may use in your chat interface.

❏ Deliverable A style guide document.

Conduct some basic code testing to verify that the app is acting as expected under different conditions. Ensure that everything works as expected on different size screens and with touch or mouse interactions.

Consider all the things a user might do with your chatbot--like common misspellings, sending an empty message, sending a seemingly random message, or maybe sending calls for help ("help", "reset", "what?", etc.)

Make a simple checklist of conditions you will test to verify that your chatbot works as expected and handles some unintended (but somewhat foreseeable) user responses. Then one by one test each condition while playing the part of a visitor that is new to your chatbot.

❏ Deliverable A document outlining the checklist and results of your code testing.

Take this opportunity to wrap-up your trivia app the best you can in order to begin testing your chatbot in the next phase.

❏ Deliverable A slide set with a link to your prototype, a summary of evaluation results, a copy of your marketing card, and a link to your working chatbot. Prepare to demonstrate and present your background work.

This is a time to develop a clear narrative to share about your team's work and enjoy sharing it with others in class.

❏ Deliverable Prepare a slide set with your poster and chatbot link. Demonstrate your chatbot to the class, share your poster design, and discuss the most recent findings and improvements made based on your evaluations and chatbot usage analysis.

Remember, a lot of people will likely be learning about your project for the first time. You will need to tell your story from the beginning in an engaging way.

Final Chatbot

Presentation

Take the time to review the project process. What went well? What didn't? What did you learn about collaboration? What did you learn about your interests in the practice of designing, coding, and data analysis? What did you learn about personal responsibility?

❏ Deliverable A document clearly conveying your project experience, learning, and future interests.

It is important to determine how you can get the most return (improvements in the chatbot) from the time you have remaining to work. So, based on your evaluation findings and chatbot usage analysis, determine a plan to implement improvements while frequently testing to ensure nothing is unintentionally broken. Similar to your code requirements document earlier, simply list items by priority, with high priority changes and low priority changes.

This would also be a good time to revisit your Feature Map if you created one earlier.

❏ Deliverable A document or slide listing improvements by priority.

After making any improvements to your chatbot from the user evaluation in your previous exercise, share your chatbot link with classmates and others outside of class to generate some data on chat behaviors. Prepare summary data and charts on people's interactions with your chatbot and draw some conclusions about the quality of the interactions and any inferences that can be made about visitors' mental models. Look for any patterns indicating errors in your chatbot script or functions.

❏ Deliverable A document or slide that summarizes analysis in charts.