The user signals they didn’t understand the bot’s utterance.
- U → A: “What do you mean by X?” / “Can you give an example?”
- A: Provide paraphrase, definition, or example as appropriate.
- A: Resume the activity at the same step; offer to continue.
- U (Optional): Sequence closer.
If confusion persists, degrade gracefully to extended telling or a visual aid.
Repair affordances
Paraphrase, definition, example
Metrics
Understanding repair resolution rate; repeats per concept; time-to-understand; fallbacks to extended telling.
Related patterns
Precedes
- Extended telling — fallback when a simple paraphrase or definition is insufficient
- Sequence completion — the activity resumes from the same step once the repair is resolved
Enables
- Conversation — the actor signals the bot's last utterance didn't land, repairing the exchange from the user's side