Learn the art of conversation design with Hans Van Dam

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Kane Simms

About this episode

A deep dive into the three pillars of conversation design: psychology, technology and creative writing, with Robocopy’s Hans Van Dam.


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Conversation design

Conversation design is more than simply putting some words on a page and hoping for the best. The assembly of words is only part of the job of a conversation designer.

To design natural conversations that mimic what we’re accustomed to having with our fellow homo sapiens, it takes an understanding of the three pillars: psychology, technology and writing.

In this episode

This week, we’re joined by Hans Van Dam, founder of conversation design agency, Robocopy, and creator of top conversation design training program, ConversationDesignInstitute.com, to be taken through the details of what it takes to design great conversational experiences.

Hans takes us through:

  • Why understanding the technology is important. Human and computer brains are different. Appreciating what’s different and the constraints you’re operating in will help you work within your limits and get the most of of your conversation.
  • Why psychology is key. We discuss things like anchoring, framing, social proof and plenty more psychological tools that can help you improve the user experience and success of your conversations.
  • Why copywriting is all you have and how to make the most of it. We’ve covered how writing for the screen is different to writing for the ear in our conversation with Oren Jacob of Pullstring. We take that concept further in this episode and discuss some of the mistakes brands make when designing conversation, as well as who should be designing them.

We also get into detail on things like the importance persona design, measuring success and a whole host more.

Links

Visit the Robocopy website

Check out the Conversation Design Institute

Follow Hans on Twitter

Nudge by Case Sustein and Richard Thaler  on Amazon

Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 Rules for Writing Fiction

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Kane Simms

A strategic AI advisor who, for the past decade, has helped business leaders and product owners transform customer experience using conversational and generative AI.

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