MyNRH (RAIN)
MyNRH is the public-facing website for many aspects of the Navy Reserve. It is intended to be the first stop for any information, questions, or other resources the sailors might need. While the site has operated for years as a simple yet effective tool for reservists, RAIN (Reserve Artificial Intelligence Navigator) seeks to leverage the power of AI to bring smart search results and chat functionality to the website.
Overview
When I first joined the project, this was the look and feel of the website. For this feature, the customer wanted a minimally invasive addition of chat and search functionality. While we couldn’t overhaul much of the current design, the goal was to create a cohesive interface that didn’t feel like a patchwork of features (which it was).
Starting Point
Based on customer wishes, two floating components had to stay. The first, on the left, is essentially a branding tag for a Navy initiative. The second, on the right, leads to a help desk with a few numbers and points of contact.
The “Help/Contact” was the first obstacle for our new features. If anyone came to our website looking for our new “AI Chatbot”, it could easily be mistaken for the Help/Contact component. So the first order of business was to remove the ambiguity from the current icon choice.
Clearing Up Confusion
Existing
Before
After
Now there is no guesswork as to where this component will take you. Otherwise, we run the potential of the user being dead in the tracks before we even start.
Since this logo was going to be used in very tight/ busy spaces, the highest priorities were clarity and legibility at small scales. It also needed to be successful with inverted colors, as it will widely apply across the existing application.
Sometimes the most obvious solution is the right choice, as is the case with RAIN, which is begging for a raindrop logo. Seeing as the main focus of the application is the Artificial Intelligence aspect, “AI” is highly featured, tying together the acronym with the derived meaning for the user.
Logo Creation
Start of Search Funnel / Logo Implementation
First and foremost, since this is a highly-anticipated new feature, RAIN was added as a top-level link in the navigation menu. This would ensure that even if the user came to the site from some page other than the homepage, they would still have easy access to RAIN.
Second, while we are keeping many of the traditional search results, RAIN will also include a few AI-driven FAQ’s. Because of this, RAIN was added to the search bar, operating as a branding tag, to help assure the user that the entire search process is overhauled, even if they wish to continue with the traditional search route.
Once the user focuses on the search input, the component expands, offering some additional insight and suggestions on how to proceed with the AI tool. The primary / encouraged route would be to ask a specific question directly into the search bar. The secondary route would be to launch directly into the chatbot.
After entering a search, the results are broken into two sections. The bottom, are the traditional results that simply match keywords. The top section, however, utilizes AI to scour our database for similar questions and provide verified answers with references when applicable.
While this page may be the end of the funnel in the majority of cases, the user may want to continue fine-tuning their results by utilizing the RAIN Chat Bot itself, not just these highlighted snippets.
To point them in the right direction, the RAIN AI banner is by far the most prominent component of the page, and clicking anywhere inside will take the user to the chatbot.
Starting Search
In the chance that the search function provided zero results, we didn’t want the user to hit a dead-end. So we needed a page specifically for “zero results returned” to push the user toward the Chatbot, which has a much wider (albeit less controlled) ability to scour Navy Reserve resources.
Zero Results
Whether they arrived immediately from the navigation bar or went through the search funnel and wish to fine-tune their search, the user has at this point arrived at the full-featured chat bot. Again, this isn’t pushed immediately because at this time the chat component is still experimental and the answers cannot be verified ahead of time.
Full-fledged Chat Bot
While there are some suggestions of what the chatbot is capable of answering, at this point the user to free to fully explore what the chatbot has to offer.