Assignment
In 2006 a new law radically changed the health insurance market. The new law enabled Dutch citizens to move more freely between health insurances. This change forced insurance companies to make their offerings more transparent.
With the knowledge that a large group of users, especially youngsters, are hard to reach through traditional media, our client decided to build a program that could chat with users through MSN. The goal of this MSN chatbot was to guide future clients through different insurance modules and to send them an offer based on choices made. In order to quickly translate the concept into a working version User Intelligence was asked to create an interaction and information design.
Method used
Because a working version needed to be created in a short amount of time, the choice for a ‘constrained dialogue’ with the user was made. The chatbot needed to ask closed questions that could only be answered in two or three different ways. This would allow for the interaction with the user through the chat and control the number of paths that the user can take. The ultimate goal of the chat was to compose a personal health insurance offer.
First of all, the script was written out by means of a flow diagram. This made the interaction with the user and the order of the texts clear. This served two purposes. Firstly the logic needed to be synchronized with the technical party. This allowed them to quickly check if everything was feasible and made it clear what exactly needed to be built. Secondly, the written texts and the interaction script could be discussed with the account manager of the client. It offered them the opportunity to check if the text provided the correct information on the insurance. It also allowed them to decide upon the ‘tone-of-voice’ of the chat.
Based upon the flow diagram and the scripts, wireframes were created describing the various states of the activity and the chat window. These wireframes referred to the timing in the script and the flow diagram. This made clear which information and interaction was needed in the activity window and how this window was controlled by the chat. There was now enough information for the writers, the programmers and the graphic designer to start the production of the application.
Results
In the course of only a few days all uncertainties were identified and the idea was drawn up in detail. Everything was documented in such a way that all the different fields (text, technique and graphic design) could start simultaneously and effectively.