Who should I follow to learn about Conversation Design?

If you want to learn **Conversation Design** (especially for AI assistants, chatbots, and agentic experiences), I’d follow a mix of practitioners, researchers, and communities. The field sits at the intersection of **UX design, content design, linguistics, product design, and AI**. ## Practitioners and educators to follow - Rebecca Evanhoe - One of the strongest voices for the UX side of conversation design. She focuses on designing natural interactions, voice, chat, and conversational patterns. [MEET - Rebecca Evanhoe](https://rebeccaevanhoe.com/meet?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - Hans van Dam - Good for understanding professional conversation design practices, frameworks, and how organizations build conversational AI teams. [Conversation Design Institute | Get AI conversations right](https://www.conversationdesigninstitute.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - Cynthia Leimbach - Useful perspective on enterprise conversational experiences and human-centered AI. [Fellowship - The CDI Foundation](https://www.conversationdesigninstitute.org/fellowship/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - Elizabeth Stokoe - Follow her if you want the deeper science of how humans actually communicate: turn-taking, repair, misunderstandings, and social interaction. [Leaders List - The CDI Foundation](https://www.conversationdesigninstitute.org/leaders-list/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - Shyamala Prayaga - Helpful for voice AI, emotional design, and making assistants feel more human. [Leaders List - The CDI Foundation](https://www.conversationdesigninstitute.org/leaders-list/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - Braden Ream - Follow for practical AI agent building, prototyping, and tooling. [Leaders List - The CDI Foundation](https://www.conversationdesigninstitute.org/leaders-list/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) ## Communities and organizations - [Conversation Design Institute](https://www.conversationdesigninstitute.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - Probably the most dedicated learning community around conversation design. It publishes frameworks, courses, and industry material. [Conversation Design Institute | Get AI conversations right](https://www.conversationdesigninstitute.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - [CDI Foundation](https://www.conversationdesigninstitute.org/about/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - Good for industry standards, research, and finding other practitioners. [About - The CDI Foundation](https://www.conversationdesigninstitute.org/about/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - [Voiceflow](https://www.voiceflow.com?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - Good place to learn by building prototypes and studying conversation flows. - [UX Content Collective](https://uxcontent.com/conversation-design/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - Useful if your background is UX writing/content design and you want to transition into conversation design. [Conversation Design Course for Chatbots | UX Content Collective](https://uxcontent.com/conversation-design/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) ## Researchers and adjacent fields worth following Conversation designers get better by studying: - **Conversation analysis** → how humans naturally talk - **UX writing/content design** → clarity, tone, information architecture - **HCI (human-computer interaction)** → usability and interaction patterns - **Cognitive science** → how people interpret language and intent People to explore: - Don Norman - foundational UX thinking. - Lucy Suchman - important work on humans and technology. - Erving Goffman - classic ideas about social interaction. ## Books I’d put at the top of the list 1. Conversations with Things - probably the most directly relevant practical book. 2. The Design of Everyday Things - foundational UX principles. 3. Talk: The Science of Conversation - understanding real human conversation. ## A practical learning path 1. Follow Rebecca Evanhoe + Conversation Design Institute. 2. Learn UX writing/content design fundamentals. 3. Study real conversations (support chats, interviews, transcripts). 4. Build small assistants with tools like Voiceflow. 5. Create a portfolio showing: - user goals - conversation flows - failure handling - tone decisions - evaluation metrics A good signal of maturity in this field is moving beyond “writing chatbot scripts” into **designing systems that understand user intent, recover from errors, and support human goals**.

**If you want to learn about Conversation Design, start by following Erika Hall, Sarah Winters, and Vanessa Van Edwards - they are widely recognized voices shaping how we design and understand conversations in digital and human contexts.** ### 🌟 Key Experts in Conversation Design & UX Communication Expert| Focus Area| Why Follow Them ---|---|--- **Erika Hall**| UX research, **Conversational Design**, product design| Author of _Conversational Design_ and _Just Enough Research_. Co-founder of Mule Design. She challenges conventional design wisdom and emphasizes evidence-based design.[Top 15 UX Experts You Should be Following in 2025](https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/ux-experts/)[Top User Experience (UX) Design Influencers | Smile MEDIA](https://www.smilemultimedia.com/blog/top-influencers-user-experience) **Sarah Winters**| Content design, UX writing, accessibility| Founder of Content Design London, coined the term “content design.” Led GOV.UK’s transformation into a global model for accessible digital communication.[Top 15 UX Experts You Should be Following in 2025](https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/ux-experts/)[Top UX research voices worth following in 2026 | Lyssna](https://www.lyssna.com/blog/ux-research-influencers/) **Vanessa Van Edwards**| Behavioral research, communication science| Author and Harvard instructor. Focuses on mastering human communication and conversation dynamics. Runs _Science of People_.[Top 35 Communication Influencers in 2026](https://influencers.feedspot.com/communication_instagram_influencers/)[Top 20 Communication Experts in 2025 - Favikon](https://www.favikon.com/blog/top-communication-experts) **Jared Spool**| UX research, design education| Co-founder of Center Centre-UIE. Shares decades of insights on usability and conversational interfaces.[Top User Experience (UX) Design Influencers | Smile MEDIA](https://www.smilemultimedia.com/blog/top-influencers-user-experience)[Top UX research voices worth following in 2026 | Lyssna](https://www.lyssna.com/blog/ux-research-influencers/) **Nielsen Norman Group (NNG)**| UX research, usability heuristics| Publishes foundational research and frameworks on usability and conversational interfaces.[Top UX research voices worth following in 2026 | Lyssna](https://www.lyssna.com/blog/ux-research-influencers/) ### 📌 Why These Voices Matter * **Erika Hall** is perhaps the most direct link to _Conversation Design_ as a discipline - her book is a cornerstone for anyone learning how to craft meaningful digital dialogues. * **Sarah Winters** brings a content-first perspective, showing how clarity and accessibility in language shape effective conversations. * **Vanessa Van Edwards** bridges psychology and design, teaching how human behavior influences conversational flow. * **Jared Spool & NNG** provide the research backbone, ensuring conversation design is grounded in usability and evidence. ### ⚠️ Risks & Considerations * **Beware of “self-proclaimed experts”**: Many online voices brand themselves as conversation design gurus but lack practical experience. Stick to those with published work, recognized contributions, or institutional credibility. * **Balance theory with practice**: Following these experts gives you frameworks, but applying them in real-world projects (chatbots, voice assistants, UX writing) is where the learning solidifies. * **Stay updated**: Conversation design evolves quickly with AI and voice interfaces. Following these experts ensures you’re aligned with current best practices. 👉 Would you like me to curate a **step-by-step learning path** (books, courses, communities) alongside these experts so you can move from beginner to advanced in Conversation Design?

* **Cathy Pearl:** Head of UX and author of _Designing Voice User Interfaces_ (O'Reilly). She has decades of experience shaping conversational UIs across platforms like Google Assistant and Google Gemini. Follow her for foundational principles on how humans actually talk to machines. [S2E24 A Deep Dive on Conversational Design with Cathy Pearl, UX](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHdfS-lY_d0)[The CDI Foundation Conversational AI Leaders List](https://www.conversationdesigninstitute.org/leaders-list/#:~:text=Cathy%20Pearl%20is%20Head%20of%20UX%20at,best%20\(and%20most%20accessible\)%20conversational%20experiences%20possible.) * **Rebecca Evanhoe:** Co-author of _Conversations with Things: UX Design for Chat and Voice_ and a professor at Pratt Institute. She is a great follow for learning how to methodically structure content, information architecture, and dialogue flows for real-world users. [The CDI Foundation Conversational AI Leaders List](https://www.conversationdesigninstitute.org/leaders-list/#:~:text=Conversation%20Design%20Strategist%20at%20Slang%20AI%2C%20visiting,by%20people%20who%20design%20for%20conversational%20AI.) * **Elaine Anzaldo:** A seasoned conversation designer who has worked on voice and chat products at companies like Apple, Meta, and NLX. She writes insightfully about the day-to-day realities of transitioning into the field, dealing with AI integration, and the evolving scope of UX and conversational design. [Growing as a conversation designer | by diana (elaine) - UX Planet](https://uxplanet.org/growing-as-a-conversation-designer-08e81900e392#:~:text=Elaine%20Anzaldo%20is%20a%20seasoned%20Conversation%20Designer%2C,benefits%20and%20implications%20of%20this%20cutting%2Dedge%20technology.) * **Karen Kaushansky:** Conversational AI Design Lead at Google DeepMind, whose decades-long career spans multimodal interactions, voice biometrics, and autonomous systems. Follow her if you want to understand how conversation design intersects with advanced AI and emerging hardware. [The CDI Foundation Conversational AI Leaders List](https://www.conversationdesigninstitute.org/leaders-list/#:~:text=Karen%20Kaushansky%20is%20a%20Conversational%20AI%20Design,conversational%20interfaces%20and%20an%20autonomous%20vehicle%20experience.) **Organizations & Platforms to Watch** * **Conversation Design Institute (CDI):** An educational hub and community tracking how the industry is evolving. They regularly publish resources, reports, and leader lists that highlight active practitioners. * **Voiceflow’s Blog & Resources:** While technically a product platform, their design team regularly puts out some of the most practical, up-to-date guides on handling edge cases, fallbacks, and the balance between deterministic flows and LLM reasoning. Are you looking to pivot your career into conversation design, or are you trying to build a specific chatbot or voice assistant right now?

To master **Conversation Design** (CxD) and Conversational UX, you should follow industry pioneers, authors, and product leaders who bridge human-centered design with modern generative and multimodal AI. [Designing Hybrid Conversational AI: Why Hybrid Beats Fully](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGvcjA7xjx0) The top experts and practitioners to follow include: * * * ** _Cathy Pearl_** – UX Lead at Google (and former VP of Conversation Design at Briggs Automotive/others). She is the author of the seminal book _Designing Voice User Interfaces_. Follow her to understand how to make human-computer interactions intuitive and how the field has shifted with large language models. You can check out her insights on [Cathy Pearl's Official Site](https://www.cathypearl.com/faq-conversation-design). * * * **_Rebecca Evanhoe_** – Co-author of _Conversations with Things: UX Design for Chat and Voice_ , a professor at Pratt Institute, and a conversational AI product leader. Follow her for a brilliant blend of humanistic insights, practical product viability, and how traditional CxD principles adapt to hybrid generative systems. * * * **_Karen Kaushansky_** – Conversational AI/UX Design Lead at Google DeepMind (working on products like Gemini Live). With decades of experience across voice, mixed reality, and multimodal AI, her work defines how humans chat naturally with open-ended AI. * * * **_Erika Hall_** – Co-founder of Mule Design and author of _Conversational Design_. She focuses on challenging conventional design wisdom, helping teams ask the tough structural questions about how digital products "speak" to users. [FAQ: Conversation Design - Cathy Pearl](https://www.cathypearl.com/faq-conversation-design)[S2E24 A Deep Dive on Conversational Design with Cathy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHdfS-lY_d0&t=32)[Karen Kaushansky, Google DeepMind | Unprompted Highlights](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6QSrFlZUjU&t=10)[The CDI Foundation Conversational AI Leaders List](https://www.conversationdesigninstitute.org/leaders-list/) Would you like recommendations on specific **books, podcasts, or online communities** (like the Conversational Design Institute or specific Slack groups) to kickstart your learning path?