Salesforce Einstein
Conversational UX Design | Service Design | AI Interaction Design
Year
2024
Role
Lead Product Designer
UX Researcher
UX Writer
Tools
Figma
Miro
Google Docs
Google Meet
Methods
User Interviews
Usability Testing
Introduction
As part of a UX initiative with Salesforce, we redesigned the Einstein chatbot to deliver a more human-like, intelligent, and context-aware experience. The goal was to transform Einstein from a static, scripted assistant into a generative AI-powered interface that adapts to user needs, maintains conversational memory, and aligns with Salesforce's brand voice.
How might we design a human-centered AI chatbot experience for small businesses using the Salesforce website for the first time with specific focus on product discovery?
Problem
Chatbot Personality & Tone
Our goal was to develop a personality system that balanced professionalism with human-like empathy and engagement.
- Users preferred clear, structured, and jargon-free communication.
- Formal tone worked best for workplace tasks; empathetic tone was essential for troubleshooting; and fun tone was most engaging for product discovery.
- Final personality was modeled after a dolphin— adaptive, empathetic, intelligent, and user-friendly.
Context Aware Experience
Users experienced disjointed conversations due to the chatbot's inability to remember past interactions, leading to frustration and information loss across platforms and sessions.
- Conducted contextual inquiries using ChatGPT, Amazon Rufus, and Salesforce Einstein.
- Identified key issues: poor thread continuity, rigid prompts, and lack of conversational memory.
- Refined thread handling and prompt design to support seamless multi-session interactions.
Simplifying Product Discovery
How might we simplify product discovery and recall to support faster decision-making, as users expect quick, helpful info to guide exploration?
Optimizing Prompts for GenAI Interaction
How might we guide users to write better prompts for relevant, context-aware responses from a GenAI chatbot?
Chat Navigation Timeline
How might we help users quickly navigate long chatbot threads by jumping to relevant topics or past suggestions without scrolling?
Behavioral Questions For Clarifying Questions
User tests showed people prefer chatbots with natural, helpful conversation. How might we prompt users for clarification or elaboration without disrupting flow?
Re-Engaging Users During Inactivity
Salesforce values customer retention and aims to ensure users feel supported throughout the journey. How might we re-engage users during inactivity?
Seamless Agent Connection
Enabling a seamless connection to a sales rep when the chatbot fails to find the product the user needs, particularly when the user has a specific item in mind.
User Research through ChatGPT
We chose ChatGPT for its consistency across sessions and platforms, wide adaptability, and ease of personalization—allowing us to control tone, personality, brand voice, and tailor responses to user needs.
User Testing
Conducted user testing with over 15 participants to evaluate three distinct chatbot personalities—formal, playful, and empathetic—designed based on the 16 personality types framework.
Key Findings
- Users preferred clear, structured, and jargon-free communication.
- Formal tone worked best for workplace tasks; empathetic tone was essential for troubleshooting; and fun tone was most engaging for product discovery.
- Final personality was modeled after a dolphin— adaptive, empathetic, intelligent, and user-friendly.
Iteration and Prototyping
We introduced a dolphin character to guide first-time users with a tone that's approachable, supportive, and professional. Informed by user research, the character helped shape our UX writing to be clear, empathetic, and confidence-building from the first interaction.
What I Learned
This was my first project that introduced me to the principles of UX design. I learned that UX isn't only about building new features or making it look pretty—it's also about enhancing existing ones to improve usability. Through this project, I discovered how thoughtful design can reduce friction, help users navigate the site more intuitively, and connect them with the right products and information more efficiently. It taught me that good UX is ultimately about aligning the experience with user needs in a way that feels seamless and supportive.