Preface

The world of conversational design opened up to me over two years ago, when my company shifted from Mobile to Voice. We were fortunate to be one of the first companies to recognize that oice is going to take over our interaction mediums, and that businesses will have to react fast to the conversational revolution that has just emerged.

And indeed, today, we can say that conversational interactions, whether through chat or voice, are changing the way we live and do business, offering an efficient, focused, and cost-effective solution that suits our needs.

However, conversational design didn't just "appear" into our lives. It is the evolution of a long human-machine communication history, in which with every step we take, we get closer and closer to naturally humanized interaction with computers.

In this book, I will highlight some of the main components of conversational design, while distinguishing between chat and voice interfaces. Although I do refer to the technicalities behind building conversational solutions, I chose to focus on the challenge of designing a successful conversational interaction that will be natural, comprehensive, and supportive of users' needs.

The world of conversational design is very dynamic and it evolves constantly. In fact, as I was writing this book, I needed to go back and update some of the chapters to keep the information up to date.

However, this is also what makes this technology so interesting and unique. We are in the midst of a revolution, and we are a main part of it, Conversational designers, developers, device-builders, and vendors are all shaping the way conversational design will be in the next decade. There is a lot to innovate, to accomplish and achieve, and as pioneers in this market, we can all make a difference and leave a mark.

Writing this book, I wanted to provide you the readers with an easy-to-use guide to build your first conversational applications. I've included some historical background, provided best practices on what to do and what not to do when building a chat or a voicebot, and incorporated concrete examples designed by some of the leading brands world wide.

I hope you will find this book a useful introduction to the world of conversational design and that it will inspire you to build and create new and improved experiences of human-machine interaction.