Designing a chatbot flow that does not annoy people

Eighteen blocks, and the handful of rules that separate a flow customers finish from one they abandon.

A flow builder gives you blocks. It does not give you judgement. These are the rules we keep coming back to.

Never ask what you can look up

If the customer has ordered before, do not ask for their address. Pull it and offer it as a button: same address, or a new one.

Three buttons, then a list

WhatsApp allows three reply buttons. The moment you need a fourth, switch to a List Message. Cramming choices into two buttons and a "more" is worse than either.

Put the human transfer everywhere

The fastest way to lose a customer is to trap them. Every branch that can dead-end should have a route to a person, and the away message should be honest about timing.

Test on a real phone

A flow that reads well on a wide canvas can be six scrolls of text on a phone. Walk it on the device your customers use before you publish.