Conversation Design
What is Conversation Design?
Conversation design, at its heart, is about teaching computers to communicate like humans, and not the other way around. It’s about making these experiences easy and intuitive, and reducing frustration.
At a more practical level, it’s about designing experiences that include conversational interactions, whether that’s through a voice user interface, a voice-forward screen, or a multi-modal device like a mobile phone that may include typing, tapping and swiping.
I want to learn more, what podcasts/books/articles should I read?
I will of course recommend my book. :) Designing Voice User Interfaces: Principles of Conversational Experiences, O’Reilly Media.
There are a LOT of podcasts, articles and books out there. Here are a few to get you started.
Podcasts
Books
Talk: The Science of Conversation
Design Guidelines
Google conversation design best practices: actions.google.com/design.
Is there a way to get a certification?
Some companies are starting to offer more formal coursework, such as CareerFoundry and Conversation Design Institute. A few more options are listed in this article by Polina Cherkashyna.
What should I major in / study?
Conversation designers come from a wide range of backgrounds, from linguistics to computer science, cognitive science and creative writing. There is no one path, and no specific major. The two traits that I believe make a good conversation designer are:
An understanding, curiosity and healthy respect for how humans communicate
An understanding of the technical constraints of this technology
You can write great designs, but if they can’t be built, it doesn’t matter. And you can be very technical, but if you don’t respect users and believe in design, they will fail.
How do I make a good CxD portfolio?
Conversation design job postings often require a portfolio. This may seem daunting, especially as many projects are voice-only. But it’s still a useful way to present yourself.
Some things to keep in mind:
It’s good to show your thinking process. How did you identify a problem? What was your approach? What were the iterations? Seeing a perfect finished project makes it difficult to know how you got there.
Pick a few crucial projects and dive a little deeper, rather than just a laundry list.
You can also show off your design process in prototypes you’ve made. You can use tools like Voiceflow, Botsociety, and Dialogflow to experiment.
For more info on how to become a conversation designer, check out my article.