7 weeks
Anna is an AI-powered virtual financial assistant created to help investors effectively manage their investments. The inspiration for Anna came from the need for timely information and support, especially when financial advisors are occupied.
This project received guidance from two esteemed Staff Conversation Designers at Google, Job Bloom and Tanya Kraljic. My role encompassed identifying issues that conversation design could address, crafting the script, and designing a mockup video illustrating user interactions.
Traditional investment reports proved too intricate for everyday investors. Though these reports occasionally contain valuable information, our surveys indicated that most investors simply desire a clear understanding of what's important.
While numerous investment applications exist, they often burden investors with significant responsibilities. Through user interviews, we identified that young investors yearned for guidance from trained professionals.
Anna emerges as your dedicated financial advisor, available for investment inquiries from anywhere. In a conversation with Anna, you can navigate the intricate world of finance with convenience and ease, even if your hands are full.
Our behavioral research uncovered that users endured a cumbersome process, involving a minimum of 13 steps, to access their investment information. Anna revolutionizes this by allowing users to seek answers with a single question.
Anna harnesses the power of Artificial Intelligence to grasp users' investment objectives and patterns, delivering personalized recommendations. This advancement broadens access to investment advice for underserved communities.
To address user concerns effectively, I designed user flows that prioritize brevity. The primary goal is to empower users to swiftly obtain essential information while accommodating common issues such as environmental noise or dialog comprehension challenges.
Crafting the script was a pivotal phase. My focus was on understanding the nuances of natural conversations and what elevates them. It's crucial to provide ample cues to users, ensuring they feel like they're engaging in a genuine conversation.
Successful conversations exhibit nuanced behaviors, such as respectful responses and swift replies within 200 milliseconds. Incorporating these human-like qualities is pivotal when designing voice interactions.
Chatbots possess significant potential in reducing human interactions. Careful error handling is essential to assist users without discouraging them. This necessitates anticipating error scenarios and responding empathetically.
Conversations rarely occur in ideal settings. Thus, we must design for complex, real-world scenarios. This involves understand the user in great details and what environments are they in e.g. are they a person holding a baby?
In conclusion, Anna, our AI-powered virtual financial assistant, has significantly impacted the investment landscape by simplifying complex financial data, delivering personalized advice, and providing immediate support. Its user-centric design and AI-driven conversation model have not only made investment management user-friendly and accessible, but also removed the burden of self-reliance from investors, enabling more confident and strategic decision-making. This shift exemplifies the transformative power of conversation design, enhancing financial inclusivity, simplifying complex information, and ushering in a new era of financial empowerment where investment management is more accessible, convenient, and user-focused.
