What is the Conversational Interface?

So, what is the Conversational interface? This is the user interface (UI), which imitates or copies the usual conversation of a person with a person. And you probably already have experience of interaction with the CUI (onversational User Interface).



If you have a smartphone, then you can chat with virtual assistants like Siri, Cortana, Alexa or Google Assistant. If you made online purchases, then you could also interact with the CUI, which is called a bot. A bot can help you order a pizza, call a taxi or buy a plane ticket.



All these services were developed in the likeness of a normal conversation. CU interfaces are designed to promote greater personalization between services and users of these services. They also contribute to improved user experience thanks to the built-in customer service for digital products or services.

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Companies such as Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple are looking at CUI as the next stage of future communication with the user.



Bots using this type of interface may soon replace applications, giving users the ability to directly interact with their favorite services.



Understanding conversational user interfaces (CUI) is essential for understanding future technological development.



The main idea of ​​conversational design is to make human communication with the computer as easy as possible. Computers are basically, as we know, binary.



Until recently, it was difficult for them to cope with complex tasks without detailed process details, binary coded instructions on what to do and how.



But with the advent of self-learning technologies, computers can evolve and change themselves.

Instead of using a special computer language, CUI allows the user to "talk" with the computer in the way he would communicate with the person.



Why "talk" if you can "show"?



In the last twenty years, the main focus in UI design has been on the GUI - Graphical User Interface.

At the time of home desktops, pointing the mouse over an object and clicking on an object were the main modes of interaction between the user and services.



But now most users no longer use desktop computers to access the Internet or use various services.



The increase in the number of smartphones heralded massive innovations in UI design, with which designers compete with each other in an effort to capture the user's attention. As a result, the main number of users use only a few applications. Designers have to put a lot of effort into attracting new audiences.



CUI began to dominate on this field for one simple reason - it involves the user much more than the static graphical user interface.



Directly interacting with the user, the conversational interface is of interest and involvement. A large number of conversational interfaces can also anticipate user desires. They are presented as quite savvy and users start to get into them.



Importance of CUI



Always the goal of the UI was to make the use of technology by the user more accessible, intuitive and easy.



A website, for example, uses a large number of different components to make it easier and more convenient to interact with you as a user. Everything plays a role here - from the color coding of the buttons, the menu design to the organization of the site pages.



Creating a good UI is the same as creating something else is an art that constantly requires a lot of skills and constant checks and tests to do something great.



But the design method using CUI is actually new and quite complicated.

Bots are less complex than humans, but even the most advanced of them sometimes make mistakes when interacting with human language. Even search engines belonging to the simplest CUI often give quite unpredictable answers.



However, much can change with the development of technology. Facebook is working hard to create Natural Language Processing so that bots can understand natural speech better. Google creates a standard for CUI design.



And many people (including maybe you) create their own bots, increasing the penetration of CUI there.



The future of conversational design



CUI and bots are now in the same state as the “early” web. The potential is huge, although so far limited to real implementations. Conversational interface has already captured the minds of the world's leading programmers and designers.



Some of them see the goal of the CUI in creating an AI capable of leading the conversation as a person.

Chatbots like Mitsuku (who won the Loebner Prize for their ability to talk as a person) were created with an emphasis on the authenticity of communication.



The creator, Steve Worswick, told the Wall Street Journal in an interview that he was impressed with emails from bot users.



“People write to me how Mitsuku has helped them with advice in difficult situations - with bullying in schools, dating, looking for work, etc. I also receive a lot of letters from older people who brighten up their leisure time in communication with the bot. ”



Others, such as messaging creator Kik CEO Ted Livingston, believe that the conversational interface should not focus on imitating traditional conversations, but on the UX itself.



“People are still experimenting with how bots should work, how interface, design, etc. should look like. And it seems to me a big mistake to focus on natural language processing. That is why we use the recommended answers. Now people quickly understand what they need with a detailed guide, but with interactive elements. ”







From the point of view of the designer - CUI will become more functional and more efficient. Soon the difference between the UI and the CUI will not be noticeable.



If all technological trends continue, then the future of the UI is the onversational User Interface.