Every interaction is a conversation

A dialogue on content in product design, co-authored with Emma Acheson-Gray. Part 1 (of 3)

As spring approached with its new beginnings, and smells of blossoms lingered in the air, Emma and Julia were reflecting on content and why it matters so much in digital product design — especially as generative AI sprouts in our lives.

Here’s the playback:

‘Every user interaction is a conversation,’ Emma said.

‘But is that really true?’ Julia asked. Is every interaction truly a conversation?

This is what caused us colleagues to debate. Is there any substance to the idea that every interaction was a conversation?

Let’s dig in.

If you flip it around, then every conversation is of course, by definition, an interaction.

In a conversation you have spoken words — the transmission of messages sent and received; points being made versus points being understood. But in a user interaction, signals often get waylaid, transmitted behind a screen and we don’t know whether these signals are received.

This goes back all the way to Marshall McLuhan’s media theory, stating ‘the medium is the message’, each playing off each other, as format and content are inextricably intertwined.

Figure 1. The medium shapes the message and its content. It is unlikely you will ever read a full length book on a YouTube channel.

Content in product design is crisp and to the point. It often consists of succinct headlines, commanding call-to-action, and enticing information blurbs to expand.

It often consists of succinct headlines, commanding call-to-action, and enticing information blurbs to expand.

Users have little choice but to follow often one-way paths. If they’re lucky, they’ll have some signposting for a back button or a link to ‘reset passwords’. Content in product design is prompting, instructionally imperative, or playfully cajoling users along to follow its lead.

It doesn’t pause, undulate, or iterate. And while it might be far from a monologue, it is singular, instructional, and one-sided. Every interaction is premised by words on the screen and followed by actions by the user.

It rarely contains enough of a sentence to convey a tone of voice, and it certainly doesn’t invite the user to dwell on the details of meaning. This type of communication can fail when the signal is misread, or the instructions are unclear.

‘It is far from a conversation,’ Julia argued. But Julia has high expectations when it comes to communication in design.

Figure 2. The typical content of a mobile page — hardly conversation material.

And so our conversation went on.

Ultimately, this is where we arrived: Every digital interaction should be seen as a conversation, because at its core, a conversation is a meaningful exchange of information. Considering that every product is fundamentally an intermediary between users and a business, a product must represent the business in the user experience and the tone of voice, setting user expectations and instructing user interactions. A product may start the conversation by presenting some content or a call to action. But the user’s action (or lack thereof) is a type of response in the conversation.

So why does this matter? Why are we getting this deep about clicking some screens? It matters because conversations through digital products allow for something that is hard to replicate in real life: we can iterate. One look at the news headlines shows us that we can see dire consequences when real world conversations fail.

In product, we have an opportunity to shape the language and meaning of the conversation that the product should have with users.

Figure 3. One-way flow in information tracking and the opportunities to have a product conversation with your users.

Our technology, like UX and product design, is in constant flux. New tools, new capabilities, new talent — all are evolving with the types of problems we are trying to solve. We’re changing how we design and build our digital products and as technologists we should do so consciously. Especially at the dawn of integrating more AI capabilities into our design process, we have an opportunity to tailor our product interactions in more sophisticated ways. Our interfaces can become even more conversational. Therefore, we must prepare for product conversations.

With this in mind, our digital products should be designed with crystal clear intent on the purpose of the interaction (or conversation). You cannot have a conversation without content, and without content, you probably have very little product.

So, here’s a call to action: Include the capability of a content designer in your product squad. Arguably, content alone won’t make (or break) your product, but without a good content strategy you’ll probably lack the ability to connect business goals with user needs in a way that delivers results. An optimised product conversation can set you up to continue to learn from your existing product channels. And, by designing with a conversational, iterative mindset, you will put yourself in a good starting position to leverage our AI technology of the future.

‘This was fun 🤩 — thanks for taking the time to discuss,’ Julia smiled.

‘Right?’ Emma agreed, ‘I think we should go on and talk about conversational AI next…’ Emma suggested.

Cool, but first — let’s get a coffee. ☕️