Great conversations

A pleasant chatbot or voice assistant that really answers your customer’s questions? It’s possible. And it’s what I design.

 

WHAT I DO

I support your organisation in all phases of your conversational lifecycle.

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Conversation design

 I design chatbots and voice assistants that actually help your customers solving their problem. 

 

Voice & speech

A voice app on your Google Nest or Amazon Alexa? A bot voice that does-not-sound-like-this? Advice on speech technology? Sure thing!

 

Coaching

I coach teams and individuals in use case analysis, flow design, conversational copywriting and content organisation.

Bot optimalisation

Has your chatbot been around for a while, and does it seem to understand less and less? I’ll take a look under the hood and get it up and running again. 

 

Research & consultancy

I advice organisations on conversational platforms and content architecture. Do you have an R&D issue that needs a solution? I’ll research it for you!

Hearts & minds

What’s more rewarding than sharing your knowledge and passion and spread the conversational love? I’m available as a keynote speaker, community developer and guest lecturer. 

 

conversational:
it’s in our genes

You and I were born to talk to each other. Conversation, dialogue, chitchat: it’s in our genes. And in our conversations, we -unconsciously- follow fixed patterns, rules and assumptions. To such an extent that our communication becomes completely natural. 

This self-evident communication, that’s what your customers expect from your chatbot or voice app. And let’s be honest, many bots are not there yet. I see a lot of them, the ‘hi-I’m-going-to-send-you-off-into-the-woods’ bots. 

Conversation design Helps

I can’t promise you golden mountains or silver bullets. Let alone that AI will take care of everything. But I’m convinced that many common chatbot and voice app problems can be prevented with good analysis and a robust design. And that’s what I love doing. 

What's the real problem, and is a bot the solution?

Because we want a bot”.  Can you think of a worse reason for starting a conversational project?

That’s why I start with a thorough domain and use case analysis. Who is your audience, what does their journey look like, where do they struggle? And – equally important- what’s possible in terms of ICT? And how is your content organised?

Interaction model

Once we know which use cases we’re going to tackle, I work together with your product managers, live agents and UX people to design an interaction model for your specific context. 

That can be conversational AI, where customers navigate through your bot with their own words and questions. In some cases though, a guided bot may be a better option.

We also determine your bot’s behaviour in specific situations, and when to handover to your live agents. 

Flow design

Voor iedere use case ontwerp ik een flow die je doelgroep daadwerkelijk helpt met het bereiken van hun doel: het oplossen van een probleem of het beantwoorden van een vraag.

For each use case, I design a flow that really helps your audience to reach their goal: solving a problem, or answering a question. 

To make sure that these flows feel like truly natural conversations, I take real conversations as a starting point: sample dialogs between chatbot and humans. Back-to-back, until we get a great happy flow to work with. 

Conversational copywriting

Once the flows are in place, it’s time to bring your bot alive with conversational copy. 

I write clear and attractive copy that matches your brand voice. But above all: I write copy that truly supports your customers. 

User centered, task oriented writing has been my speciality for quite a while. I use evidence based best practises like Information Mapping, minimalism and component based authoring. 

Hoihoi, I am Maaike

 

 

Maaike Groenewege, nice to meet you! Ever since I discovered chatbots and voice assistants in 2019, I’ve been hooked on this exciting technology. 

Conversation design merges everything that makes me happy: my background as a theoretical linguist, 20 years of experiences with user centered, task-based content and technical communication. And my passion: the human psyche and how we communicate with each other.

I built my first chatbot at Dutch Railways. As a freelance designer, coach and consultant, I worked for Dutch Chamber of Commerce, ABN AMRO, CZ Verzekeringen, Readspeaker, OBI4Wan and WeAreYou. 

Next to my work as a freelance conversation designer and consultant, I’m very active in the conversational community: I founded Women in Conversational, and I host the bi-weekly #VoiceLunch Language & Linguistics meetup. I regularly speak at conferences, and give guest lectures for Dutch universities. 

I love talking 

Leave a message, I do write back!