Identifying suitable use cases

Chatbots are awesome! Being able to create a new way for users to interact is such a great feeling that you want to make a chatbot for everything. Unfortunately, chatbots aren't suited to every situation and some things need to be carefully thought through before being implemented. You need to think about whether users would want to talk about certain things with a chatbot, as well as how the chatbot will be communicating back.

Thinking about the way that the bot will be communicating is particularly important for voice-based chatbots, as everything that the chatbot says will be sent through speakers for everyone around to hear. This could end badly for a chatbot that accesses your bank information, reads your emails, or deals with any other personal information. When designing your Alexa conversations, ask yourself whether you'd want Alexa telling all of your friends and colleagues about your results from your doctor's appointment or reading out an email from your partner about what they had planned for that evening.