Understanding your users pt.3

This would be the last and final part of this mini post-series. You can see the previous 2 posts here:

• Part 2
• Part 1

This would rather be a shorter post, but I promise it'll be another good one 😊

I didn't want my pollution notification to just be able to send new notifications to my family group chat. I want it to be interactive since my bot will not send any new notifications when the pollution level is the same, even if the concentration value has changed. I want to introduce a way for people to ask my bot for the most recent pollution level so they can be informed in real time and act accordingly. Like, my dad might have forgotten the last pollution level if it had stayed in the same range for a long time. Then, he just needs to ask the bot the hotword, and it will respond wonderfully.

I thought this was a brilliant idea because I copied the same approach from another rather popular Line bot in Thailand, Khun Thong.

The problem was that my dad couldn't seem to remember this hotword at all, and he kept tagging the bot over and over again instead.

Then I think, what's the point of forcing everyone to remember the hotword in the first place? Tagging the bot is also a great indicator that someone wants to interact with the bot. Then, I went back to coding.

Not long after, my bot could now respond when it's tagged. And my dad would be happy as he could ask the bot to tell him the current pollution level without having to remember the hotword anymore.

And that's how I learned that users are very likely to navigate your products very differently from what you have initially imagined. We need to empathize with them and build a solution that truly solves their problems.