Early views on the Pia Chat Interface đź—Ł

#1

Hey guys, James here again. I’m sorry I have been quiet over the past couple of weeks but we have been in the midst of a pretty hectic phase of cutting code and building stuff to test with you guys…

This is the first post of three where I can share with you some outputs to seek some feedback from all of you awesome people. Be brutally honest, and let’s build something very cool together :muscle:

First up, the design of the Pia chat interface…

One of the big decisions we made early on was to build Pia as a multi-channel chat solution. This means that you can chat to Pia via our website as well as via bot platforms like Facebook Messenger. The beauty about this approach is we can combine content with the bot as a reassuring guide as you go through it. The team are working on this integration at the moment and we can bring you some practical examples in a couple of weeks time, watch this space :female_detective:

This does create us a bit of a headache for design as we can’t rely on other people’s designs for the bot :face_with_head_bandage:. Although it also gives us way more flexibility to have a bit of fun with the interface. Enough of me waffling on, here are a handful of some of the early bot designs for mobile and desktop… Please comment below using the numbered reference to help let other people know what you are commenting on:

  1. First up :point_down: is the basic chat interface in a mobile view, not that exciting yet but good to show you the vanilla base…

Chat%20Interface%20Basic
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  1. Next up :point_down: is the menu view, if the user gets a little lost with the free chat then they can let Pia help guide them through the things it can do as a bot :robot:

Menu%20Optionss
Menu Optionss.jpg1002Ă—1725 141 KB

  1. Now Pia sends useful information back to you when you are chatting, lots of different options depending on the chat :point_down:

Pia%20Responses
Pia Responses.jpg4217Ă—1725 728 KB

  1. Now, finally :point_down: is a cheeky mock up of a chat flow and how Pia will try to break down concepts for users…

Pia%20Mock%20Up
Pia Mock Up.jpg2344Ă—2344 408 KB

That’s enough from me for now. Much more to share soon…

#2

Signed up for early access and really excited to be one of your first users :grin:

  1. Really nice, simple chat style - can imagine it’s straight forward and easy to manoeuvre.
  2. I like the circular bit at the top of the options, goes with pia’s style. Also like the option of leaving the chat being right there. I have found that some other chatbots such as Clio have been a bit difficult to exit, which is very off-putting. Think the buttons might be a bit hidden as being blue on blue though.
  3. So funny! Love the bear :bear::wave:t5: Nice response examples - super informative and to the point too.
  4. Looks slick :ok_hand: Like the links to extended content for further reading, keeps the chat digestible. Can’t wait to get my teeth stuck into this!!!
#3

The chat interface looks as you would expect it to - which is handy. I hate when it’s too different from what I’m used to. Generally overcomplicates things for me. The menu view is good UX. Not to sure if buzz off the pictures. But chat flow looks helpful.

#4

Great, thanks @MeganG, super useful feedback. I particularly hear you on the blue on blue :policeman:‍♂️! We will chat about some other options and mock them up to check it out for you

#5

Hi @Anne, thanks for the great feedback. I hear you on the pictures… We won’t over use them but they can help to bring in some personality and humour. Once we start testing the chat flows I would love to walk them through with you at one of our feedback sessions that @maike is going to organise for us. Would it be OK if we got in touch with you about this?

#6

Hi @MeganG - I definitely agree with you here. It can be a little annoying when a chat isn’t easy to exit. However, Cleo are smashing it in the chatbox space :facepunch:, and a company we definitely look upto at pia.

#8

Ye that makes sense. I see what you mean. That would be great. It would be great to meet you again and get an update on the actual build this time. :cowboy_hat_face:

#9

Thanks Anne, we’ll get you along to one of the feedback sessions ASAP