Project: Chatbot during the Car Buying JOURNEY

In times of Artificial Intelligence, there are many use cases to save time and using it as a helpful tool. As a UX Researcher in field of mobility,
I wanted to find out what user think of chatbots during the process of purchasing a car. Therefore i did set up this research project.

Key Questions of this project were:

  • What do users think of chatbots in general?

    • What’s their opinion about Chatbots/Ai? How much would they rely on chatbots? When and for which intention would they use it?

  • How do users expect the appearance of the chatbot?

  • What would they do first with it in general?

  • How would they use the chatbot during the process to search for an ideal car?

  • How do users compare interesting deals?

The goal of this project was a better understanding of the perception, needs and usage of chatbots during the online car buying journey. Qualitative methods in form of unmoderated live tests were used to collect data. The users were asked to solve tasks and respond to questions about their perception and needs while using the platform www.deepai.org as chatbot on their mobile phone (iOS).

What do users think of chatbots in general?

"I am a big fan of AI in general."

Artificial Intelligence & AI

“I would rely on them when I need some help to find information and support.”

“Sometimes they are very helpful so maybe they are shortcuts to answer FAQ really quick to get the information needed on a website.”

"I would not rely 100% because sometimes i feel like i would like to speak to a real person about some things. Because maybe something is unclear and the chatbot can not solve the problems i have."

"Chatbots.. I don't know. I have to try it before and I am little bit critical about this. I try to keep a little distance."

"helps in the daily life, professional life, study life or anything"

This shows the screen of the chatbot from deepAi on mobile.

Most users were positive towards AI and chatbots, mentioning that AI and chatbots can help to save time during a search process. No one mentioned to rely on it 100% but would use it to gain more information (e.g. about car models, features and what to pay attention of) and help to structure and organise the process to reach the best deal of a car.

How do users expect the appearance of the chatbot?

The users where asked how do they expect the chatbot to appear before leading them to deepAi.

The chatbot is expected to be in the right bottom corner, as they mentioned that this is the most common placing on other platforms. They also mentioned to prefer it not to be a pop up, but rather a button to click for a conversation offering help.

When asking them about their first impression of the chatbot of deepAi, all said there are too many advertisements bothering.

Screen of a task example.

What would they do first with it in general?
How would they use the chatbot during the process to search for an ideal car?

Most users would use the message function via keyboard to write a text to the chatbot. One user tried to use the voice function, which didn’t work. After trying several times of sending voice messages, she stopped the test and reported a technical issue.

Example of first text input of a user.

Regarding the car buying process, user would use the chatbot to

  • get a recommendation where to buy a car

  • get information about car models, features of car models, lifetime of battery or similar topics

  • get a recommendation about which car type would be most suitable to their use

  • get help in the first steps to organise and structure their buying journey

  • get information what to pay attention of when purchasing a used car

  • put in links of interesting car offers to compare which deal is the best

Users were mostly satisfied when asking deepAi about generic questions (e.g. Which car types and models exist and would be suitable for their own in their preferred price range). When it came to comparing offers, deepAi wasn’t able to do so, as it hasn’t real time internet access. This led to frustration of the users. Nevertheless deepAi listed some alternative information on what to pay attention of and some guideline for the buying journey, which users found good.

SUMMARY

Users see chatbots as a helpful tool to save time and expect to find them in the right bottom corner as button and not as pop up on a website. They also would have find it useful to find it in the help section. More important than the appearance is that it solves the wanted function of their users. They would use it to structure their car buying journey and get necessary information from it. Most mentioned was to ask the chatbot on which platform would it be best to buy and what to look for when e.g. searching for a car that mainly would be used for work, trips, or as family car.