Should Chatbots be the Future of Web Design?
Chatbots have become the conversational interface trend. For some designers, however, this trend is scary. That’s because they might not find a place for them in the industry a few years from now. But chatbots integrated into web design shouldn’t be feared.
The basic idea of having a conversational interface is to communicate with people when they visit your site. It may sound like a stupid idea, but your visitors would love it. Your traffic would increase and sign ups for your newsletter would improve.
Chatbots enable you to convey your brand’s character and personality to your audience that a traditional site could not. They’re perfect for a personal website or a company site because your visitors want to get to know you and your brand more. But you need to have well-designed chatbots to achieve that goal.
More human
Big brands are now adopting the same approach. Chatbots and other conversational interfaces can solve the real interface problem. That is by making your brands more approachable and human.
Because of their many benefits, Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is now pushing chatbots to its Facebook Messenger to increase its monthly users further. Microsoft, too, acknowledged that its operating system’s future isn’t Windows. Rather, it’s a conversation as a platform.
Your current website may be gorgeous, but it’s impersonal because its goal is to attract everyone. Chatbots, on the other hand, is custom-tailored to express the different aspects of your brand. From a brand perspective, it means that brands can easily extend their relationship with their current and potential customers.
But can chatbots a universal fix?
No matter how beneficial they are, they’re not the solution for every user interface problem. Sometimes, a good organizational design is more important than character or personality.
Then, chatbots should be well-designed to avoid posing bigger problems. It’s especially true if they create confusion. If they’re implemented correctly, they can be powerful and effective. If not, they can cause frustration and be viewed as gimmicky.
Chatbots are not a tool for bad designers. Instead, they are another tool for good developers as they can improve overall user experience, which is a good thing.
So, what do chatbots mean for the future of web design? Designing in the future will be more about writing than pushing pixels. As designers will become better coders, the rest will improve too. The rise of chatbots will actually make the web graphic design better.
