Context

The average person has about 80 different apps installed in their phone. That’s a lot of apps, all of them providing some unique value that a user can leverage when needed. The problem with this, is that for each of these apps, the user must familiarize themselves with a new interface, work through different task flows, and acclimate themselves to varying feedback and interactions for each app. For many of these apps, the usage is only triggered by occurrence of an event. 

Enter, the chatbot

From this arises the opportunity to leverage chatbots as a means to access app services through conversational interactions. Puka, an SMS chatbot that helps users resolve common household problems, explores this opportunity. By utilizing the Yelp API, users can tell Puka about a household problem and receive the name, rating, and phone number of nearby businesses that can help.