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The Kik Bot Platform

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Re: The Kik Bot Platform

#11

Post by dpflan »

devit wrote: post #7

Can anyone explain how a chat-based interface can possibly be generally successful except briefly as a novelty? Surely an UI with controls specific to the task at hand is much better than having the user guess what the bot responds to and what it can do? In the restaurant use case, for instance, a QR code + text URL that points to a website where you can advertise the restaurant with whatever graphics and UI you want…

Perhaps it is the illusion of communication with a human (if the bots can handle variable expressions for the same concept - e.g. people can say the same thing many different ways) that makes this appealing. I don't have to click, which would mean I construct a concept in mind and I then convert that to the correct expression provided by the service. Integration of simple bot support is a first step as AI/ML + NLP evolves to support greater complexity.

Re: The Kik Bot Platform

#13

Post by munificent »

devit wrote: post #7

Can anyone explain how a chat-based interface can possibly be generally successful except briefly as a novelty? Surely an UI with controls specific to the task at hand is much better than having the user guess what the bot responds to and what it can do? In the restaurant use case, for instance, a QR code + text URL that points to a website where you can advertise the restaurant with whatever graphics and UI you want…

> Surely an UI with controls specific to the task at hand is much better than having the user guess what the bot responds to and what it can do?

A well-designed and well-implemented UI is better, yes. But I think where this could be useful is for the many customers who don't have the cash to make a decent app. A stripped down chat interaction could end up more usable than what they'd build from scratch.

Re: The Kik Bot Platform

#14

Post by Jtsummers »

rocky1138 wrote: post #12

I have no idea why people use these programs over straight up SMS.

kik in particular? Or chat programs in general?

1: International SMS isn't free (US-centric viewpoint, what's the situation in other countries?).

2: No character limit. Which is bypassed with MMS. Which introduces its own limitations when sharing media (reduced resolution/quality of video and images, for example).

3: Potentially, depending on the particular client, not tied to your phone number in a way that others can access (that is, as a fellow user you don't know that my number is 555-555-5555). This can be gotten around by using something like Google Voice, which then loses the MMS feature (have they added that in yet?).

4+: Probably other reasons that I can't think of at the moment.

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It just occurred to me that by "people" you meant the companies that kik is apparently courting with this. They'd want to use this because their users use kik. It's one more interface for customers to interact with them, on a moderately popular chat network.

Re: The Kik Bot Platform

#15

Post by hammock »

devit wrote: post #7

Can anyone explain how a chat-based interface can possibly be generally successful except briefly as a novelty? Surely an UI with controls specific to the task at hand is much better than having the user guess what the bot responds to and what it can do? In the restaurant use case, for instance, a QR code + text URL that points to a website where you can advertise the restaurant with whatever graphics and UI you want…

>Surely an UI with controls specific to the task at hand is much better than having the user guess what the bot responds to and what it can do?

The challenge of syntax discoverability can be mitigated in a text interface with smart autocomplete to guide people towards what they can say. It becomes harder with voice. Also one messaging app, Telegram, allows chatbots to present customized keyboards that change based on the context of the conversation, e.g. thumbs up/down or star rating system.

Re: The Kik Bot Platform

#16

Post by skyyler »

rocky1138 wrote: post #12

I have no idea why people use these programs over straight up SMS.

I use Telegram over straight up SMS for many reasons. Group chats that aren't terrible, quick image/gif sharing, stickers (might be useless to you if you're not a furry, lol), bots in those group chats are incredibly useful, secret chats are awesome for my paranoid minded friends that need to talk about illegal stuff with me, and most importantly, I can use the Telegram client on every single one of my devices, so I always have access to my social circle if I have an internet connection.

These benefits may not be as great for someone who has a twitter or Facebook account, but as I don't, telegram is the easiest way for me to talk to all of my friends.

Re: The Kik Bot Platform

#18

Post by Aleman360 »

devit wrote: post #7

Can anyone explain how a chat-based interface can possibly be generally successful except briefly as a novelty? Surely an UI with controls specific to the task at hand is much better than having the user guess what the bot responds to and what it can do? In the restaurant use case, for instance, a QR code + text URL that points to a website where you can advertise the restaurant with whatever graphics and UI you want…

It's a command line where you don't have to be precise.

Re: The Kik Bot Platform

#19

Post by caffinatedmonk »

Jtsummers wrote: post #14
rocky1138 wrote: post #12

I have no idea why people use these programs over straight up SMS.

kik in particular? Or chat programs in general? 1: International SMS isn't free (US-centric viewpoint, what's the situation in other countries?). 2: No character limit. Which is bypassed with MMS. Which introduces its own limitations when sharing media (reduced resolution/quality of video and images, for example). 3: Potentially, depending on the particular client, not tied to your phone number in a way that others c…

Kik also downscales images last time I checked. It is still better than MMS though.

Re: The Kik Bot Platform

#20

Post by rmason »

devit wrote: post #7

Can anyone explain how a chat-based interface can possibly be generally successful except briefly as a novelty? Surely an UI with controls specific to the task at hand is much better than having the user guess what the bot responds to and what it can do? In the restaurant use case, for instance, a QR code + text URL that points to a website where you can advertise the restaurant with whatever graphics and UI you want…

In Waterloo there's a restaurant where you can text your order. Personally I'd rather text bring me a 38 with a diet coke and hold the mustard. The number of times a waitress or drive thru person gets the order wrong is much higher than simply texting it.

http://venturebeat.com/2016/03/01/why-bots-not-a-i-are-the-f...

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