Support
Find out how users can ask for support while playing the game.
Escapeling is currently equipped with two support functionalities to assist users during their game experience: a /faq command and a /tutorial command. Read more to find out how these two features were conceptualized and implemented.
Contents
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Over the course of the project, the Escapeling team has been eager to make the bot transparent to the user. While the bot structure and code were becoming more user-friendly due to the implementation team efforts, we could still afford more user experience improvements. Since Escapeling is an autonomous Telegram bot, it was lacking the general welcoming message, permanent support of the tech team, and it left no opportunity for the user to request any clarifications in case issues or questions arose.
In order to present the very idea of Escapeling game as well as explain the basic ‘how-to’ details to the new user, the design team has created the FAQ button. The FAQ button is a segment of the Escapeling supporting site as well as a command within the bot that allows the user to learn about the idea behind the project and its limitations, task content and specifications, general instructions, and a list of potential technical problems.
The FAQ button is a section that is open to constant updating and edits, which are natural to appear as the project evolves. By the end of the third project semester, we have collected some precise but elaborate answers to the most frequent and challenging questions that the user could have, as well as comments about the developed tasks, technical regulations and the general goal of the project per se.
Tutorial
When evaluating feedback received by various users of our application, we realized that some elements of Escapeling’s game experience weren’t entirely clear to first time users. This was especially relevant when it came to some crucial aspects of the Telegram framework it relies on. Therefore, we decided to put together a tutorial that would provide guidance, if requested. More specifically, we prepared a script for two distinct tutorials:
a) one shows how to get started with Escapeling
b) the other shows how to approach the group tasks.
This partition corresponds to the two main modes of interaction with our app, namely:
a) in a private chat with the Escapeling bot, and
b) in a group chat with other users.
The image shows an example of what this looks like in the app.
Implementation details
To support these new functionalities, we introduced two new conversation handlers, one for each feature. These conversation handlers are triggered within the chat by using the /faq command and the /tutorial command, respectively. Once triggered, the conversation handlers will prompt the users with a poll of options. If an option is chosen, messages are sent to elaborate on the issue the user inquires about (see screenshot for an example). Subsequently, the user gets to choose whether to continue asking other questions (i.e. get the same poll again) or to return to the game.
Both the FAQ and the tutorial functionalities are available in the dyadic conversation (between the bot and a single user) as well as in the escape missions (in the game group chats).
The scripts needed for these support functionalities are stored as .json files under:
data/phrases/faq_questions.jsondata/phrases/tutorial_questions.json