Chatbot research with Neil Lawrence

It was an absolute pleasure to talk with Neil Lawrence from Dorset Council about the research project he led, using Local Digital funding to find out what the user needs are that using a chatbot might meet. You can watch the video on YouTube.

It turns out that if you want to know whether a chatbot is a good idea or not, it’s not as simple as a yes or no. There are a number of factors to bear in mind, such as the complexity of a service, how transactional it is, and what the emotional state of the service user might be.

Add on top of that the fact is that you need to train the chatbots with the good content and provide access to back office data via APIs. Anyone thinking chatbots are a shortcut are very much under the wrong impression!

Check out the project’s website to download the various outputs, so you can benefit from this research too.

Chatbot research with Neil Lawrence

It was an absolute pleasure to talk with Neil Lawrence from Dorset Council about the research project he led, using Local Digital funding to find out what the user needs are that using a chatbot might meet. You can watch the video on YouTube.

It turns out that if you want to know whether a chatbot is a good idea or not, it’s not as simple as a yes or no. There are a number of factors to bear in mind, such as the complexity of a service, how transactional it is, and what the emotional state of the service user might be.

Add on top of that the fact is that you need to train the chatbots with the good content and provide access to back office data via APIs. Anyone thinking chatbots are a shortcut are very much under the wrong impression!

Check out the project’s website to download the various outputs, so you can benefit from this research too.

NEW: the SensibleTech link library

Photo by Alfons Morales on Unsplash

Back in 2017, Paul Maltby co-curated a list of reading for policy wonks interested in finding out more about digital. There’s loads of great stuff in there which have stood the test of time.

I’ve always liked the idea of bringing together in one place all the great stuff that has been shared over the years in blog posts and articles, so people don’t need to answer these problems themselves, over and over again.

So, I’ve started my own library of evergreen, ever-helpful links. What’s more, in the interests of preservation, I’ve also stored my own PDF copy of each article, just in case they disappear from the web, for whatever reason.

Each link has a title and a description, tells you who wrote it, and provides a link to the orifginal, plus to the PDF copy in case you need it. I would always encourage folk to read the originals if you can, so you see them in context and so the author knows their stuff is being read.

Each link is also tagged, so you can easily find other links on related topics, or other content across the SensibleTech site that likewise is along similar lines.

For those that want to keep up to date with additions to the library, there is a trusty RSS feed. I might build out an email alert system at some point, if people would be interested in that.

I’ve also added a form so you can suggest links to be added – it would be so helpful if you do.

Hopefully this is a useful thing – do have a browse and let me know your thoughts!

Huge thanks to Steph Gray for his help making this work. I managed to do some clever stuff with custom post types and fields, but needed his magic to make it all look pretty and functional on the front end!

FREE online workshop: quick and easy service discovery

Photo by J. Kelly Brito on Unsplash

Following on from my last workshop on the matching user needs to technology capabilities process, here’s the next one, this time talking through service discovery, based on the ideas and template shared in this blog post. The workshop will be free and for public sector people only.

The workshop will run on Zoom on Wednesday, October 27 at 11am. I anticipate it will last around 45 minutes, but keep an hour free just in case.

At the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

  • use the process to identify services that are ripe for digital transformation
  • engage service owners in a conversation about how their services can be redesigned
  • begin to think about a service’s user needs
  • identify early technology opportunities within a service
  • document all of this in a nice template, courtesy of me

The running order is as follows:

  • Intros
  • Quick bit of background about when this process can be used and what for
  • Running through an example, using the template live
  • Discussion and questions about taking it forward in practice

Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? So what are you waiting for?

If it is any consolation for those that can’t make it, I will be sharing a recording here on SensibleTech 😀

Workshop recording: matching user needs with technology capabilities

Here’s the recording of the workshop I ran earlier today on using a process and template to help match user needs to technology capabilities. We worked through the example of an intranet and there was lots of interesting discussions as everyone chipped in through the session.

🖥️ View and download the slides

📄 View and download the template

I think this way of running short, focused online sessions works pretty well, and I will definitely be doing more in the future!