A conceptual framework supporting user experience designers in creating conversational user interfaces

Abstract

Conversational user interfaces (CUIs) driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) are becoming more common in a user’s day-to-day digital interactions. AI can be used to automate repetitive tasks, provide insights from large datasets, and enhance existing workflows. Furthermore, AI-driven CUIs such as AI chatbots and digital assistants can leverage technologies such as machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) to engage with customers through natural dialogues. Organisations can leverage user experience (UX) to ensure that the CUIs they utilise provide a seamless and satisfying experience to their customers, leading to a competitive advantage. Structured design principles and frameworks are needed to support the development of CUIs. Despite the growing interest in CUIs, UX designers continue to face challenges when designing CUIs due to the absence of context-specific CUI UX metrics and an oversight of the importance of integrating UX design practices with data science expertise. These gaps result in a mismatch between user expectations and the capabilities of CUIs, highlighting the need for comprehensive tools and guidelines to support UX designers in CUI design. The purpose of this study is to identify UX components and develop a conceptual framework that can assist UX designers in designing a CUI and communicating the design components of an effective CUI. Therefore, an interpretivist philosophical approach has been identified as the most suitable qualitative research paradigm. To capture both the subjective experience and the broader pattern across participants, this study adopted a mixed-methods approach. This study employed a design science research (DSR) research strategy, which outlines a structured approach for developing and evaluating artefacts. Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) was chosen as the theoretical framework. Based on the findings of this study, TOE was enriched with a fourth factor, namely Human Experience (TOEHE). In the context of CUI design, the findings in this study indicated that the role of a UX designer is to ensure that the CUI is engaging, intuitive and able to deliver a highly satisfactory UX.

Furthermore, the role of a conceptual framework in categorising CUIs is defined as a communication bridge between different stakeholders involved in developing a CUI, ultimately leading to a more cohesive product. Additionally, the findings emphasise the importance of context-specific UX principles such as simplicity, personalisation and emotional considerations in designing engaging and intuitive CUIs. The final artefact, TOEHE, is presented after enriching the framework with two DSR sub-cycles. TOEHE comprises four main CUI adoption factors (technology, environment, organisation, human experience) and four unique themes (chatbot, user, effect, model) that are mapped to the CUI adoption factors and 28 individual concepts categorised under the four themes. TOEHE highlights the key components that influence the UX of CUIs. The framework presents a high-level, holistic overview that supports UX designers and developers throughout the design process.