Problem

The existing implementation struggled to support complex UI elements and interactions, reducing all content to basic conversation bubbles with inadequate formatting. This led to a simplistic, unpolished user experience that lacked the professionalism needed for key use cases, particularly those involving complex transactions such as financial operations, signatures, and approvals. This limitation hindered our ability to provide the sophisticated, reliable interface required to drive business growth.

Strategy and Process

In 2018, it was already clear that our existing conversational user interface had significant limitations. Structured items like calendar invites and documents requiring signatures suffered from poor legibility and recognizability, slowing down conversation flow. Sensing the growing need for improvement, I made the strategic decision to allocate part of the design team’s time to develop a flexible framework of components that could support existing items while allowing for future adaptability.

We began the project by conducting a comprehensive audit of the chat UI across all platforms (iOS, Android, Desktop) to create a complete list of all the different supported objects. This meticulous process ensured that we could support all existing elements, guaranteeing consistency and functionality across every platform.

Solution

This decision proved to be forward-thinking when a strong business case emerged in 2020, as support for financial transactions became a must-have. The framework’s built-in flexibility allowed us to accelerate the delivery timeline, enabling us to quickly meet the new requirements and deliver the required experience in only 2 weeks. Having already developed a robust set of components, our primary challenge at this stage was to establish a clear set of rules for users to combine these elements seamlessly. It ensured that when third-party companies leveraged the components to create their own cards outside of our direct control, the results remained legible, consistent, and aligned with our standards.

Design leadership

This project was an excellent design challenge that pushed me and my team to approach the work with a high level of rigor and attention to detail. It highlighted how design can play a crucial role in driving business growth, particularly when resources are strategically allocated to longer-term initiatives. This experience reinforced my confidence in trusting my design intuition when identifying weak points and investing in proactive solutions.