Conversational user interfaces – also known as chatbots – have been around since the 1960s. In 1966, ELIZA, a computer program created at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab, had users talk to an AI-powered therapist that could remember previous responses and engage in conversation by responding with scripted lines from a bank of statements. Today, the term conversational UI is usually used to refer to text input and output-based systems that are typically powered by AI, such as Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Facebook M.
Conversation as a medium has been around since the dawn of man. People have always talked with each other to express themselves and convey information. Today, people talk more than ever. They use messaging apps to communicate with friends and family; they conduct their business on email; and chatbots let them interact with brands through the same mediums.
Sometimes, people want to engage with brands through messaging because it feels personal or engaging in an actual conversation is easier than using a website. Other times, it’s because they simply want things done quickly and conversations are often faster than apps.
All these reasons have led to the rise of conversational UI. But there are still kinks in the system that feel further away from becoming mainstream. These issues include platform fragmentation, discoverability problems and, most importantly, a lack of proper context.
Platform Fragmentation:
When it comes to conversational interfaces, how you use them and the context you provide is key. This is why even most messaging apps aren’t yet fully committed to an all-text interface for their most important features such as payments and banking. On Kik, we still have a hybrid setup where we use our bot platform to create custom, native experiences. We make it easier for brands to use Kik as their primary communication channels while enabling users to opt out of chatbot context and get the best of both worlds.
This enables brands to communicate with their consumers in real time. Without taking them away from the platform they’re already using to communicate with friends and family.
Discoverability:
Conversational UI also faces discoverability issues because many don’t know it exists or how to actually use it. With our upcoming Bot Shop, we’re trying to solve this by giving brands and developers a place where they can reach new audiences and be discovered without the constraints of traditional app stores.
Context:
The biggest obstacle right now is the lack of contextual information. When you type something into Google on your mobile phone, it knows where you are, what you’ve been doing and delivers a tailored experience. Conversely, when you type something into a conversational interface, it’s not able to provide the same level of context. Sure, they can remember things from previous conversations but they lack machine learning capabilities to make suggestions based on a user’s current situation.
For example, if someone is using a conversational interface to book an airline ticket on their mobile phone but hasn’t specified their departure city, the bot wouldn’t know where to look for flights. This is why Kik brought web views into our Bot Shop – because context is everything. When it comes to the future of conversational UI, platform fragmentation, discoverability and context are the biggest problems.
Web views:
In order for this to work properly, you’ll need a powerful platform that can build intelligent conversational experiences across many contexts – just like how people communicate – not just text messages but images, videos, emojis and more. That’s why we’ve been working aggressively on our own platform, which is now supported by Kik, Skype and Messenger.
The best part about web views is that they allow bots to make use of all the UI elements available on a mobile device. The user can see images, emojis and even interactive buttons within conversation. Meanwhile, the only thing the user types into is Kik. This allows bots to provide a powerful, yet familiar experience.
In Kik, web views are already being used by brands such as H&M and Sephora so users can get a richer experience when communicating with them through text messages. In the future, we plan add rich media experiences such as watching videos or listening to music within conversation.
We believe that having Kik as part of Microsoft’s Conversational Platform will allow us to provide the most powerful conversational experiences. Since we couldn’t be more excited about what’s coming. We’ll leave you with a sneak preview of our latest progress: an interactive Kik bot for Xbox Live. Check it out and let us know what you think.
The sneak preview features a Kik bot you can chat with on top of your Xbox 360 interface. Which acts as a messenger and party-coordinator for gamers. With this new feature you can easily invite friends to play, chat during games and send gifs to express yourself when trash talking opponents or celebrating after scoring the game winning shot. It’s just the first step for Kik to deliver amazing interactions within context.
Since our bots are native to Kik, they’ll come with all of Kik’s unique functionalities –
including read receipts, typing indicators and location sharing. We’re also working on adding feedback loops so users can see if their messages have been seen by the other person.
This is just the first step for Kik to deliver amazing interactions within context. Finally, we’re exploring ways to send rich media (such as links or files) directly to other people in conversation. If you’d like to explore the Xbox Live bot for yourself, feel free to give it a try here.
Kik has always been about bringing people together, whether that means playing games or sharing music with friends. We can’t wait to see where this takes us next.
What’s coming next?
With Kik as part of Microsoft’s Conversational Platform, we’re working hard to bring experiences that are completely contextually aware. For example, if someone messages their friends via Kik about what they want for dinner, the bot would provide filtered results based on that conversation thread. If they mention sushi, then the bot would filter restaurants that serve that particular food.
Another example is bots within existing services such as Skype. Imagine a world in which you could order a product that appears within a video call. For example, if your friend is selling their car they can take a picture of it and send it to you in chat with the price. Within the conversation, you could then get more information about the car by tapping into an intelligent bot that scans the picture and provides you with relevant facts. About what you’re viewing (e.g., horsepower, color, etc.).
Conclusion:
The integration of Kik into Microsoft’s conversational platform presents a new phase for the company. Which is currently known primarily as an instant messaging app. Kik has taken advantage of this partnership to integrate its bots with platforms that are already widely used by millions of people every day.
This enables brands to communicate with their consumers in real time without taking them away from the platform they’re already using to communicate with friends and family.
Though still in its early stages. This integration is a glimpse into a new era of how brands can interact with their consumers through bots that are natively integrated within popular messaging apps.
