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User Experience for a Better World

Virtual Agents

I am looking for some information about the user experience and UI design of virtual agents for web-based applications. In particular, best practices and industry standards about avatars (e.g., graphic depiction, personna, UI design), user experience information about interacting with virtual agents (e.g., placement on pages, dialog design, window managment, etc.) and integration of virtual agents with other support channels (e.g., call center, chat).

Any direction about where I might find this information would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Tags: agents, experts, help, online, virtual

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ranabir Dasgupta on June 18, 2010 at 10:22am
Visit humanfactors.com
Permalink Reply by John Baldasare on June 18, 2010 at 10:35am
Ranabir,

Thanks for your reply. I did look around on humanfactors.com but I didn't find anything. Can you point to some particular article or white paper?

Thanks.
John
Permalink Reply by Ranabir Dasgupta on June 18, 2010 at 9:49pm
Permalink Reply by Adam S. Kortepeter on June 18, 2010 at 10:27am
John

Maybe they're good for fortune telling, but I haven't tried any.

My impression is that this technology is still very much in its infancy. They have yet to rise above the level of "gimmick" to replace chat or other useful customer service methods.

I have yet to have a positive experience with any online virtual agent. They blink, they nod their heads, and they look very nice, but they end up being more maddening than useful, because they lack real answers to complex problems. Look no further than the ubiquitous MS Office Paperclip, or "Office Assistant". Almost everyone I know has turned this feature off.

You can't really explain the problem you are having to a virtual agent. If they don't understand your question, or if you have exhausted their list of common questions, they'll direct you to Customer Service anyway. Then you have to start all over with the customer service agent, so you just wasted your time. If you're looking for a real answer, virtual agents are typically not the best place to start, and I think most customers have already figured that out.

With regard to intelligent IVR and voice recognition systems, (such as Amtrak's automated phone system, for example), these can be useful for handling the "Happy Path" bookings that have few complexities, but if you have a question about your booking, or have special circumstances, you will be directed to a live agent.

If you *MUST* use a virtual agent, I would be less concerned with graphical presentation and more concerned that it can intelligently answer the questions customers are asking, which is by far the bigger challenge. As an AT&T customer, I would probably prefer to have an online chat session with a real customer service rep than to "deal with" with a virtual agent that tells me to check the power cable and reboot before ultimately directing me to customer service anyway.

For what it's worth,

Adam
Permalink Reply by So on June 18, 2010 at 10:55am
Hi John,
Please find here a virtual agent solution developped by Virtuoz http://www.virtuoz.com/
they have about 40 customers worldwide, such as eBay, SFR, and H&R Block, VirtuOz is the leading providers of virtual agents.
and a Forrester Research insights on a Customer Experience Online Survey, 2009

Maybe you can contact them for futher info...
hope it helps,
kind regards,
Sophie Tron
Alcatel-Lucent
User Experience manager & Social Media Trends advisor
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Permalink Reply by Laura on June 18, 2010 at 2:47pm
I’d recommend looking at best practice NPC and avatar design principles in game design.

Game designers prioritize creating an emotional experience rather than a usable one.
As a starting point, check out this paper: http://www.xeodesign.com/xeodesign_whyweplaygames.pdf

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