ChatGPT and User Experience

As the Director of User Experience at Thirdera, I understand the value of utilising technology to enhance and improve the user experience. One tool that I feel will become particularly useful in this regard is ChatGPT - a natural language processing (NLP) model designed to generate text that appears as though a human wrote it. In fact, I used ChatGPT to help me write a portion of this blog… can you tell which parts? I’ll reveal it at the end. 
 
As more and more businesses turn to NLP and chatbot technology to improve their customer service and user experience, some may wonder if these tools will eventually replace the need for human experts in user experience design. That sentence scares me! And my immediate answer is No!
 
While NLP and chatbot tools are becoming increasingly advanced and sophisticated, they are still limited by the data and parameters set by the developers. Phew! They can provide a helpful, convenient interface for users to interact with, but they are not able to replicate the creativity, empathy, and problem-solving abilities of human user experience experts like we have at Thirdera. 
 
Our designers conduct user research, testing, and analysis to understand the needs and pain points of our customers. We can then use this information to design solutions that are tailored to their specific needs, while also considering factors like branding, accessibility, and overall usability. Chatbot tools can be a great option for businesses looking to provide quick, efficient customer service; but, they cannot replace the creativity and human touch that user experience experts bring to the design process. 
 
When I consider how we at Thirdera can leverage ChatGPT and other NLP tools in the future for our customers my mind goes to the time-consuming task that many of our customers face: managing their knowledge bases. With a constantly growing volume of information and a need to keep the knowledge base organized and up to date, it can be overwhelming to stay on top of it all. This can lead to frustration for both the employees tasked with managing the knowledge base as well as users seeking information.
 
By combining our expertise in user experience with the efficiency of ChatGPT, we feel that we will be able to provide an elevated service to our customers specifically around the management of knowledge catalogues. In other words, users are not only happier and more productive thanks to a streamlined knowledge base; but also feel supported and understood thanks to a real partnership. Something ChatGPT couldn’t do alone.
 
Some ways in which we would do this with the help of ChatGPT are:

• Pull a report of the usage data for your knowledge catalogue. We would then use ChatGPT can help us quickly analyse the data and identify trends and patterns.
• Identifying articles that have not been accessed in a certain amount of time (e.g. 6 months). These articles may no longer be relevant or useful and could be candidates for archiving.
• Search for similar articles that could be consolidated. By doing so, you can create a better-balanced knowledge base – i.e. users have enough valuable items to use and consume while not overwhelming them with items that they do not understand or need.

It will always be important to have a human perspective to create truly effective and user-centred experiences. That’s why we incorporate these values into every aspect of our work. Ultimately, user experience experts are irreplaceable when it comes to creating a great user experience. And the same can be said about blog writers when it comes to sharing thought leadership, right?? If you couldn’t tell, the first and third paragraphs were mostly written by ChatGPT! Not bad, but I prefer my own personal style 😊 

Moving forward

At Thirdera, we are excited to continue to use and learn more about this technology and see how it fits with our UX/UI methodology in a way that not only improves efficiency but also fulfils humankind’s inherent need for human connection. 

If you are looking to improve the productivity and satisfaction of your employees and customers through user experience, you may find value in attending our upcoming webinar “2023 UX/UI Design Trends Reveal”. During this discussion, you’ll hear from multiple user experience experts on how current trends like micro animations, organic shapes, and 3D design can help businesses thrive by improving the way employees work.