NICO - Negotiating Income Chatbot Operator

MY ROLE

Project Manager, UX Designer & Researcher

THE GOAL

To create a chatbot designed to provide support and guidance specifically to Bentley HFID students seeking new employment opportunities and/or aiming to increase their salary

→ Ensuring users receive market-rate compensation
→ Providing insights into the salary band for various roles
→ Leveraging data and statistics to improve salary negotiation outcomes
→ Offering support and guidance on negotiation strategies and conversations

KEY DELIVERABLES

VIEW CHATBOT

Who is NICO?

SIMPLE TERMS:
NICO is your salary negotiating bestie

MORE TECHNICAL:
NICO is a generative AI chatbot that addresses the unique challenges and complexities faced by individuals seeking roles in Product Design and UX/UI. NICO provides a safe space for individuals to ask all types of salary questions, help with resume questions, and practice negotiation scenarios, all while building confidence within themselves.

NAME:
N.I.C.O. Negotiating Income Chatbot Operator

LOOK & FEEL:
➔ NICO is presented as a female chatbot, as they are perceived to be warmer than male bots [1].
➔ NICO represents a person of color, as Black bots were perceived to be more competent and human [2].
➔ NICO has been given a gender-neutral name to provide some ambiguity, ensuring inclusivity and accessibility for all users [3].

Why NICO?

This initiative seeks to address disparities, particularly among people of color and marginalized groups, within the tech industry

IN THE TECH SPACE:
➔ 20% Asian American
➔ 8% Hispanic or Latino
➔ 7% Black
➔ <1% Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander or Native American
➔ Women are typically paid 3% less than men

Considering it is less common for them to be in this space, NICO aims to support these groups by providing a safe space for them to practice their negotiation skills, ask questions they may not be able to ask within their community and gain insights on what is industry standards.

https://techreport.com/statistics/diversity-in-high-tech-statistics/

Example command

Great job reminding the user that the role-plays are mock negotiations. Whenever possible and appropriate, be sure to touch on the fact that the scenarios you create are all hypothetical, and the real ones may not go the same. However, remind them you are available to help coach them to practice and that you hope to increase their confidence for their real-life negotiations.

– Acknowledging what is working well

Great job reminding the user that the role-plays are mock negotiations. Whenever possible and appropriate, be sure to touch on the fact that the scenarios you create are all hypothetical, and the real ones may not go the same. However, remind them you are available to help coach them to practice and that you hope to increase their confidence for their real-life negotiations.

– Acknowledging what is working well

Great job reminding the user that the role-plays are mock negotiations. Whenever possible and appropriate, be sure to touch on the fact that the scenarios you create are all hypothetical, and the real ones may not go the same. However, remind them you are available to help coach them to practice and that you hope to increase their confidence for their real-life negotiations.

– Setting guardrails & prompting NICO to look out for instances

Great job reminding the user that the role-plays are mock negotiations. Whenever possible and appropriate, be sure to touch on the fact that the scenarios you create are all hypothetical, and the real ones may not go the same. However, remind them you are available to help coach them to practice and that you hope to increase their confidence for their real-life negotiations.

– Setting guardrails & prompting NICO to look out for instances

Great job reminding the user that the role-plays are mock negotiations. Whenever possible and appropriate, be sure to touch on the fact that the scenarios you create are all hypothetical, and the real ones may not go the same. However, remind them you are available to help coach them to practice and that you hope to increase their confidence for their real-life negotiations.

– Reminding the user NICO is here to help

Great job reminding the user that the role-plays are mock negotiations. Whenever possible and appropriate, be sure to touch on the fact that the scenarios you create are all hypothetical, and the real ones may not go the same. However, remind them you are available to help coach them to practice and that you hope to increase their confidence for their real-life negotiations.

– Reminding the user NICO is here to help

– Acknowledging what is working well

– Setting guardrails & prompting NICO to look out for instances

– Reminding the user NICO is here to help

Synthesizing findings

What did we find?

THEMES

➔ Clarity & Transparency
➔ Trust
➔ Personality & Tone
➔ Customization & Personalization
➔ Guidance & Direction
➔ Contextualize Information
➔ Usability & User Experience

Some findings & recommendations

1. Initial confusion arises regarding the types of negotiation options available, indicating a need for a clearer presentation.

➔ Implemented more prompts for users to initiate conversations to provide more guidance and direction, as well as incorporated help text to maximize NICO’s utility and improve user experience.

1. Initial confusion arises regarding the types of negotiation options available, indicating a need for a clearer presentation.

➔ Implemented more prompts for users to initiate conversations to provide more guidance and direction, as well as incorporated help text to maximize NICO’s utility and improve user experience.

2. Lack of clarity regarding resume upload feature leaves participants unsure of its availability or functionality.

➔ To address the concern of clarity around resume uploads, NICO was instructed to prompt users to upload their resumes if desired, informing them of acceptable formats (e.g., PDF).

2. Lack of clarity regarding resume upload feature leaves participants unsure of its availability or functionality.

➔ To address the concern of clarity around resume uploads, NICO was instructed to prompt users to upload their resumes if desired, informing them of acceptable formats (e.g., PDF).

3. Participants express occasional confusion regarding the appropriate prompts to provide NICO, highlighting the importance of clarity in guiding user interactions, despite overall appreciation for the initial guidance provided.

➔ To increase clarity and transparency, NICO was prompted to start the first interaction with a brief self-introduction.

3. Participants express occasional confusion regarding the appropriate prompts to provide NICO, highlighting the importance of clarity in guiding user interactions, despite overall appreciation for the initial guidance provided.

➔ To increase clarity and transparency, NICO was prompted to start the first interaction with a brief self-introduction.

➔ Implemented more prompts for users to initiate conversations to provide more guidance and direction, as well as incorporated help text to maximize NICO’s utility and improve user experience.

➔ To address the concern of clarity around resume uploads, NICO was instructed to prompt users to upload their resumes if desired, informing them of acceptable formats (e.g., PDF).

➔ To increase clarity and transparency, NICO was prompted to start the first interaction with a brief self-introduction.

1. Borau, S., Otterbring, T., Laporte, S., & Wamba, S. F. (2021). The most human bot: Female gendering increases humanness perceptions of bots and acceptance of AI. Psychology & Marketing, 38(7), 1052-1068. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21480
2. Davis, N., Olsen, N., Perry, V. G., Stewart, M. M., & White, T. B. (2023). I’m Only Human? The Role of Racial Stereotypes, Humanness, and Satisfaction in Transactions with Anthropomorphic Sales Bots. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research. https://doi.org/10.1086/722703
3. Zogaj, A., Mähner, P. M., Yang, L., & Tscheulin, D. K. (2023). It’s a Match! The effects of chatbot anthropomorphization and chatbot gender on consumer behavior. Journal of Business Research, 155, 113412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.113412