BAckground
MyWave’s digital personal assistant, Myia, first hit the market in the UK as an assistant who helps customers save money on their energy bills. By asking a few questions about the customer’s current energy bill, Myia can find the best deals on the market and continually switches users to keep them on the cheapest rate.
Version 1 problems
After launching the first version, we discovered that users were misinterpreting the some of the questions asked by Myia. The result of this was that users provided incorrect data which meant they either couldn't be switched to a new deal, or they were offered plans that wouldn’t save them any money at all.
Users were also unable to edit their responses, so if they made a mistake or provided the wrong information they would have to start over. And finally, a long delay between users completing registration and receiving better deals prevented people from coming back Myia.
Solution
Conversational interfaced refined to look more like a conversation between the user and Myia.
Users no longer need to type in their full address. They simply need to enter their post code and Myia will look up all addresses with that postcode.
Myia presents the user with the list of addresses that match the postcode they provided. This means there is less work for the user as they no longer need to type in their full address. At the same time, there is no longer a risk of a user providing an incorrect address.
Users provided all sorts of figures when asked about their gas and electricity charges, with some users providing kWH consumption figures or hourly rates. Questions are now more direct and the user is given options that eliminate the risk of misinterpreting questions or providing the wrong information.
Help text is expandable and collapsable so that the user doesn't miss the question.
There is no longer a delay between answering questions and being offered better plans. As a result, there is no need for a log in screen to see better deals.
Undo button allows users to edit their previous answer if they make a mistake.
Prototype