BobChat
- Design, Project Management, Writing
- # Branding, Campaigns, Content, Copywriting, NYU, Print, Research, UX/UI, Vector Art, Web, Work
Summary
BobChat was an award-winning digital concierge and resource hub for the NYU community.
Envisioned as a convenient, engaging, and all-inclusive point of contact, BobChat was developed years ahead of the current AI boom, becoming the largest University-wide chatbot in existence upon launch in 2019. With resources spanning over 30 areas of student life, the bot helped students navigate NYU, discover resources, leave feedback, and have their questions answered 24/7, anywhere in the world.
Client
NYU Student Affairs
Roles
Project Manager
Content Writer
Brand Designer
Copywriter
Web Designer
Challenge
In a rapidly changing tech landscape, traditional customer support methods at large institutions like NYU can feel insufficient. A convoluted web structure is hard for administrators to update and for students to navigate, and phone support is limited to business hours and availability. With a global network encompassing 14 campuses, these limitations seem not only outdated but antithetical to NYU’s mission and brand.
When approached by Student Government to develop a feedback-gathering platform, our office saw an opportunity for a chatbot to do just that — and more. By meeting students where they are and providing comprehensive support, BobChat aimed to bridge the gap between student needs and university responsiveness in an evolving digital age.
Goals
Offer students a 24/7 resource hub, with consistent and convenient answers
Provide high-level support through live human chat for complex inquiries beyond the bot’s abilities
Collect continuous feedback about the student experience
Process
My work with BobChat began from its inception as project manager. Leading a team of interns who curated and wrote BobChat’s content, I reviewed and copyedited all the information that went into the bot. Prior to our official release, we met with partner NYU offices to establish points of contact and validate all content. Finally, I designed BobChat’s brand identity as well as the marketing materials that would introduce it to our student population.
Brand Identity
BobChat’s name was chosen as an irresistible pun between NYU’s real-life mascot, the bobcat, and the word chatbot. In designing its main visual identifier — its profile picture — I created a robotic version of the mascot with a mechanical but friendly lean, following a tech-inspired blue color palette accentuated by the NYU violet. As a conversation-focused piece of technology with content written by several team members, a set of unified voice and tone guidelines were a particularly vital piece of branding.
Web Design
While our intern team still worked on developing BobChat, I led the design of a landing page to introduce the bot to a wide population — planning sections, writing copy, drawing illustrations, and designing the page on Ceros.
Campaign
Impact
Reaching over 1000 users in the first day and continuing to provide support over the following year, BobChat set a clear case study for NYU to invest in chatbot technology. In 2019, it won a NASPA Excellence Award for outstanding contributions to innovation in higher ed.
Unable to obtain enough budget to improve BobChat, our team chose to pause development in early 2020. In the years since, new NYU chatbots have emerged with limited scopes — admissions and graduation most notably.
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