Chatbot — Yorkshire Building Society

Yorkshire Building Society was expanding its chatbot to include answers to customers’ questions about opening and closing savings accounts, moving money, using online banking and mortgage redemptions.

Using data and transcripts of customer service phone calls, I designed new conversation flows and worked closely with subject matter experts, to create answers to customers’ questions.

Customers do not use banking terminology

The first problem that the transcripts of the customer service phone calls uncovered was that customers often used one word to describe different types of transactions.

To customers, moving money into or out of an account online is a ‘transfer’. In banking terminology, a ‘transfer’ is a movement of money between your accounts with the same bank.

Customers also referred to ‘paying in’ and ‘paying out’, to put money into their accounts or take money out – regardless of how they were moving the money or if the account was with the same bank or a different bank. Banks refer to ‘deposits’ and ‘withdrawals’.

So I had to design some further questions and options to help get customers to the correct information.