| APPROACH I was tasked with creating a chatbot, using either the given prompt (an airline) or my own. I chose Ralph’s immediately! I’ve used their app and met others who shared my rage in using the app. Barring a total UX revamp (maybe the next challenge for me?), the next best thing is to create a chatbot for quick help. PROBLEM Ralphs’ app text does not have a strong personality to base their brand voice off of – how many ways can you say cereal on sale? They should have asked me. I turned to their main website. Based on the illustrated customers on their site, combined with a few sentences here and there, I found the heart of Ralph’s. Ralph’s is an all-inclusive, friendly, and helpful company that will go the extra step to make your life easier. They offer low-cost extras such as ordering ahead for pick-up, or delivery. They even give you recipes on their website. With this in mind, I created friendly, affable Greg. Why not just name him Ralph? The Ralph’s brand is all-inclusive. Using a name with ‘PH’ at the end but sounds like ‘F’ is a barrier to many of LA’s diversity. We have so many beautiful languages here! Sorry to all the Bobs out there, but Bob felt a little old-fashioned for the image Ralph’s created. There is the “BOB” meaning Bottom of Basket reminding clerks to check the bottom of carts as well, though less known. Greg is a short name that is easy to pronounce. I researched which languages could handle the hard G and thankfully it’s a popular sound. Why a man’s name? I chose a male name because ‘Ralph’ is generally used as a male name – also most of the illustrated customers on the app are (at time of research) male. Why not skip a name altogether? I named the bot because shopping is an intimate experience for some. They might be buying sensitive personal items, or perhaps feel they’ll be judged for their food choices. Greg’s voice is friendly but purposeful. He understands people want to get in and out of the store quickly, so he stays on task. I created two user personas: Jaymie is a hard-working mother in her mid to late 40s (a little tautology for you word-nerds). She has a full-time job at an office as well. The shopping and cooking usually fall to her, and often she is too tired to choose recipes ahead of time- especially on last-minute shopping trips. She always wants to cut down the family’s food costs. Ben is a grad student in his mid-20s and has lived on his own for a few years. He has a new girlfriend he’d like to impress with his cooking. He’s sick of eating the same things all the time. He’s on a tight budget and only buys things on sale. He already has the basics of cooking down, but is not interested in looking up recipes on the web. |
