Adding a Chat Bot
Project Overview
Commercial Door Systems needed a more efficient way to engage customers and manage leads, as manual interactions led to delayed responses and missed sales opportunities. To streamline this process, I designed a chatbot solution focused on gathering customer details for follow-ups while maintaining a personal touch. This ensured sales representatives could take over conversations at key moments, increasing the chances of closing deals
The chatbot aimed to address key customer pain points, including scheduling consultations, collecting lead details, and providing order updates. The solution prioritized:
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Efficiency: Reducing response times of the sales team and simplifying interactions.
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Automation with Personalization: Collecting essential information while seamlessly escalating complex inquiries to a human representative.
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Scalability: Supporting the company’s growing customer base by handling high-volume inquiries while driving lead conversions.
The Design Process
Collaborating with the sales team, I identified key challenges in the customer interaction process. The chatbot needed to collect customer details for follow-ups while ensuring a seamless transition to human representatives when necessary. Stakeholder interviews and query mapping helped pinpoint automation opportunities to streamline inquiries, reduce response times, and minimize friction.
Key Steps in the Process
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Conversation Design: Crafted structured chatbot dialogues to guide users through key tasks, including scheduling consultations, checking order statuses, and reporting issues.
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Iterative Refinements: Optimized chatbot navigation and flow based on usability testing, ensuring smooth transitions between automation and human support.
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Usability Testing: Feedback led to refinements such as clearer labels, scannable messaging, and improved button contrast to enhance accessibility and readability.
​​By grounding the design in both business goals and user needs, the chatbot prototype effectively balanced automation with human engagement, improving efficiency while supporting lead generation
User Personas
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Key Personas: Thomas, a logistics manager; Jason, a coffee shop owner; and Ashley, a facility manager—each with unique priorities for efficiency, affordability, and clear communication.
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Real-World Insights: Developed through stakeholder interviews, industry research, and pain point analysis to accurately reflect common customer needs and challenges.
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Tailored Solutions: Focused on fast scheduling, streamlined issue reporting, and clear escalation paths to ensure an efficient user experience.
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Guiding the Design: These personas shaped chatbot interactions, balancing automation with human support to align with diverse business requirements.
Affinity Mapping
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Reducing Response Delays: Users needed a faster, more structured way to handle inquiries and manage requests.
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Automation with Human Support: Businesses valued automated responses but required easy escalation for complex issues.
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Challenges with Manual Processes: Slow response times and incomplete quotes led to missed opportunities.
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Impact on Design: Shaped a chatbot that streamlines inquiries, collects key details, and supports lead generation.
User Flows
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Conversation-Driven Design: Focused on guiding users through key actions like requesting quotes, scheduling consultations, and checking statuses.
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Seamless Navigation: Designed intuitive chatbot interactions with smooth transitions to human support for complex inquiries.
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Clarity and Tone: Prioritized clear, concise messaging and response timing to create a professional yet approachable experience.
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Refining the Flow: Iterated on the conversational design to ensure efficiency, minimizing friction and unnecessary steps.
HiFi Prototyping
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Building the Foundation: Created three chatbot states—closed, greeting, and open—to establish core functionality and user interaction flows.
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Brand Alignment: Incorporated Commercial Door Systems’ colors, logo, and boxy aesthetic to match their existing website style.
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Early Prototype Insights: The clickable prototype highlighted areas for refinement, including layout adjustments and interaction flow improvements.
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Iterative Refinements: Focused on enhancing usability, ensuring clear navigation, and optimizing visual integration with the site.
Final Design
Refinements were guided by user feedback and business goals, ensuring a seamless experience that improved usability and lead management. The final prototype streamlines interactions, enhances accessibility, and balances automation with human support.
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User-Driven Refinements: Usability testing led to key improvements, including a prominent “Close Chat” button, consistent bubble spacing, and rounded text bubbles for a more conversational feel.
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Enhanced Accessibility: Footer spacing was increased to prevent crowding, improving readability and ease of interaction.
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Polished Visuals: Adjustments to spacing and alignment ensured a clean, professional look while maintaining brand consistency.
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Supporting Business Goals: The final chatbot design balances automation with a personal touch, streamlining customer engagement while providing valuable leads for the sales team.
Conclusion
Working with Commercial Door Systems reinforced the importance of aligning user needs with business goals. By addressing key pain points—such as response delays, inefficient processes, and unclear communication—I designed a chatbot that simplifies customer interactions while supporting the company’s sales funnel. The result is a solution that balances automation with human support, ensuring both efficiency and a personal touch.
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Empathy for User Needs: Focused on reducing friction in customer interactions by creating a clear, intuitive, and professional chatbot experience.
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Supporting Business Goals: Designed to streamline lead collection, allowing the sales team to prioritize personalized follow-ups and improve conversions.
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Collaboration and Alignment: Stakeholder input guided design decisions, ensuring the chatbot seamlessly fit within existing business processes while improving customer engagement.
This project highlighted the power of user insights, iteration, and strategic design in creating solutions that drive both user satisfaction and business success. These lessons will continue to shape my approach as I refine my design process and tackle future challenges.
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