A good answer is only a beginning.
A first conversation with an assistant can feel remarkable. A customer asks a question and receives an answer in seconds. The harder question arrives later: is it the right answer, drawn from the right information, and does it help the customer do something useful? That is where an AI feature becomes a product decision.
Start with a job, not a chat box.
Choose a narrow task before choosing a model. A product adviser might help someone compare a small set of options. A service assistant might explain a process and prepare the right questions for a human expert. These are different jobs with different information needs. An interface should make that job clear from the first interaction.
Make the knowledge visible.
An assistant needs a maintained source of information: approved service descriptions, product data, policies or project records. A confident tone cannot replace a reliable source. Where possible, connect an answer to the material behind it. If the information is missing or contradictory, the useful response is to acknowledge that and ask a better question.
Design the handoff.
Some conversations need a person. That should feel like a continuation, not a failure. Preserve the useful context, explain what happens next and ask only for the information that is needed. A lead form with a transcript attached is not automatically a better handoff; a concise, accurate summary is often more useful.
Test the ordinary and the awkward.
Build an evaluation set from realistic questions, including ambiguous requests and missing information. Check whether the assistant finds the right source, respects scope and handles uncertainty. Measure completed tasks and useful handoffs alongside response quality. Revisit those checks when the content or model changes.
Keep the presence honest.
An expressive character can make an interface memorable. Its animation should communicate a real state: ready, processing or needing input. Avoid theatrical progress messages that suggest work the system is not doing. Personality works best when it makes the experience clearer.