Chatbots on Smartphones: It’s not a love story, but it’s worth trying

It’s easy, you might say. In fact, there are several ways to use chatbots on messenger platforms (WhatsApp, FB Messenger, etc.) or to integrate them on the mobile website or apps via widget. However, these methods have several problems:

1. Mix of business and private. If you use a messenger platform for your business, you will inevitably compete with private messages from users. This is often seen as invasion of privacy and is detrimental to their business.

2. Dependence on messenger platforms. Big messenger platforms change terms and conditions according to their interests. As the example of WhatsApp shows, at one go the years of construction work can be nullified.

3. Usability. Microsoft dared to make the leap to digital assistants in the late 1990s. The result was clippy, which has always appeared in the lower right corner of the office. This was not appreciated by users at all and the talking paper clip was taken off the market.

All the more interesting is that just about all Chatbot approaches follow exactly this model: somewhere on the bottom right on the screen emerges an assistant who offers unasked assistance. Just like 20 years ago that’s annoying. It’s almost as if nobody had learned anything.

If you want to use chatbots, then you have to embed them differently (“framing”), or find an environment (“context”), where chatbots function in a natural way, so to speak.

We at IKANGAI offer a solution where chatbots are used in a natural way. We use Progressive Web App technology, which turns a chatbot into an app on the smartphone. This respects the privacy of users, is independent of Messenger platforms (including app stores) and the user experience is tailored to the Chatbot.

If you want to know more about it then you are welcome to contact us. In the meantime you can subscribe to our mobile newsletter: just open https://ikangai.newsapp.stream on the smartphone and save it to the home screen.

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