I am implementing a conversational web form for project requests. While I’m fairly certain that I should use one of our real photos for our account representative I’m uncertain what kind of dummy image/avatar/graphic should I put for our potential clients? Here’s the glimpse of the form:
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I think there is no need to display an avatar for oneself. The reason for the avatar is to show who are you talking to. As long as it is clear that the client is writing on the right side, there is no need to display an avatar for him.
For example, LINE app uses this approach. In a conversation you can see the picture of the person you are writing to but not yours.
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OK, thanks for the suggestion on the account representative avatar, but that doesn’t answer my question which is which avatar / dummy user photo should be used in chatbot conversation for client side. – Siniša Šašić Apr 28 '17 at 9:23
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@SinišaŠašić Maybe I am misunderstanding the question, but I mean when the client talks to your representative he (the client) sees the avatar of the representative but doesn't need to see an avatar for himself. – Alvaro Apr 28 '17 at 9:26
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So what you are suggesting is not using avatars at all, for both account and client side? – Siniša Šašić Apr 28 '17 at 9:30
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1Use it for representative, Don't use it for client - Having a placeholder avatar of himself brings no value to user – Malyo Apr 28 '17 at 10:54
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Follow iOS's messaging pattern where you are always on the right, while the representative (or other party) is on the left. Doesn't really matter which side is which, just make it clear to the user that one side is not him while the other is. – Majo0od Apr 28 '17 at 11:30
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Think of it like a chat-bot, a robot like icon, and it responds to you and behaves very unnatural sometimes.
See this: http://designrfix.com/design/key-principles-chatbot-design
Here's a very interesting chat-bot:
This seems very useful too: http://www.creativebloq.com/how-to/how-to-design-a-chatbot-experience
EDIT 1: This seems very interesting, worth reading:
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1This clearly shows how it can be done! And those links were useful, at least to me. – John Smith Apr 28 '17 at 20:17
