Good Answers

Owned by Nina Praß
Last updated: Sept 28, 2020 by Klaudia (Unlicensed)
3 min read

The answers to the incoming questions are defined in every category. You can set up two different types of categories: In the case of context-independent categories you will need to create just one answer for your category. In the case of context-dependent categories it is recommended to provide answers for your contexts to make sure that your user will get a response from the chatbot. Read more about context-dependency here. 

When writing your answers there are few things to keep in mind:

  • Keep them short

The answers should not be too long - ideally 300 to 600 characters. Longer answers do not lead to the best user experience due to the nature of messaging platforms that will divide them into few pieces or will force your user to scroll to see the whole message. You can add a link (please use full links like https:// or http://) to redirect the user for more information if necessary or create a content flow around that topic.

  • Do not start with “Yes!”, “Unfortunately” or similar


 

The answers should not start with “Yes!”, “Unfortunately” or similar because, as you can see in the example, not all questions that users ask require a “Yes” or “No” response from the chatbot and such answers would not be ideal UX.

  • Be informative


 

The answers should be informative and not only consist of links redirecting them to the content. Of course you can include links leading the user to more information if necessary but the link should not be the only part of the answer.

  • Cover all questions 



 

It is important that all questions in a category are covered by the answer otherwise it could happen that, even though the correct category for an incoming user question was detected, the answer does not fit or the information given is insufficient.

  • Other things to keep in mind:

    • All links in the answers should start with http:// or https:// otherwise they will not be clickable in the chat window later on.

    • Feel free to be less formal, use emojis and exclamation marks to give your chatbot a character.

    • Do not use bullet points because they are not rendered properly in the messaging platforms. 

Common questions:

  1. Can I create hyperlinks?
    Unfortunately, it is not possible. Please use full links (starting with http:// or https://) instead to make sure that they are clickable for the user. You can of course use link shorteners like bit.ly to provide better UX in a case of long links. 

  2. Can I make text bold, italic, or apply any other formatting to it?
    Unfortunately, it is not possible.

  3. Can I add emojis to my answers? How to do it?
    Yes, you can! Please copy and paste the image of your emoji from any database available online (for example https://emojipedia.org/)

  4. Can I add images or videos to my answers?
    Unfortunately, it is not possible. If your chosen platform supports it, you can direct your questions into the Content Flow that can handle images and videos. 

  5. Can I provide an answer with follow-up buttons or quick replies?
    You cannot do it in your dataset but you can, with support from your Implementation Manager, create a category that will lead to the Content Flow block. That block can contain buttons or quick replies that will lead to more content.

  6. How can I create a fallback answer in my context-dependent categories?  
    Unfortunately, it is not possible. Please make sure that all possible contexts have an answer before going live. The general answer will only be given when a question is not asked in the context of a job.

Learn more about creating good datasets in the next articles: