The User Interface is going beyond UI and voice recognition to the new trend of using conversation as a new way to engage with customers, i.e. Conversation As Interface. It is a more natural form of communication, especially for question-answer / interview experiences.
Now there is an emerging trend of companies opening their chat bot API to third party developers. Facebook has been running many experiments in their Messenger app allowing a few developers like Uber, Assist etc. to create chat bots. They are expected to announce opening up the SDK to all in next week’s F8 conference. Microsoft released a Bot Framework in Build last week and this supports multiple channels – Slack, SMS, Skype etc. Similarly, Line announced its SDK.
Chat bots could be a new way to reach customers even when the app is not installed. And if they support deep linking, then developers can deliver a smooth transition into sepcific flows in the app. This is a great opportunity to be where our users are. It will be interesting to see how this idea pans out.
