Developing a chatbot for entrants

But this was not the top of our aspirations. By order of IT-Cluster Kharkiv, we created Ukraine's first profile bot, which helps applicants and students not get lost in the huge Kharkiv. So, a person who came to an unfamiliar city for the first time, even at the station there are a lot of questions. Bot @Vstup2Kharkiv_bot will be the best guide, because it has no function "to direct in the opposite direction," but has all the basic information about what will be useful for future students of IT-specialties.

Knowing the needs of the target audience, we identified several key categories:

• basic information about the universities and a link to the official website of each;
• banking institutions;
• where to stay;
• where to eat;
• leisure time;
• city transport;
• directions home;
• medical facilities;
• emergency telephone numbers.

A person from the threshold enters a friendly environment, where they are interested in ensuring their personal comfort and ready to provide information in the most convenient form. The bot will provide the applicant with all the necessary data: it will provide route maps of all public transport routes, redirect to the cab site, tell about prices in the Buffet and "take a tour" of the main sights of Kharkiv. In addition to basic needs, it will give you comprehensive information about universities and where to go in an emergency.

Why IT entrants became the target audience

Kharkiv is one of the top three cities in Ukraine with the most opportunities for IT specialists. The bot's mission is to help graduates successfully apply to the university of their dreams and to familiarize them with the city's infrastructure. Thus @Vstup2Kharkiv_bot helps to bring as many applicants as possible to the universities of Kharkiv, that is, to prepare the region for the demand in the labor market in the next six years.

By selecting the "universities" button, the user can select the necessary educational institution from the list, learn about the specialties, the educational program, go to the official website and even clarify the availability of the military department. The bot instantly gives the address of the university, indicating the nearest metro station.

A huge plus of the bot is the abundance of information about transportation. The applicant can find up-to-date public transport schemes, station addresses, and a link to online ticket ordering.