Topics, actions & objects
Topics, actions, objects and expanded objects are four layers Inquio uses to describe what users talk about with your bot.
Topics give you the broad picture and you can find them in Conversations. Actions and objects show the exact language users use inside individual utterances – section Utterances.
Use them together when you need to understand both what users are asking about and how they phrase those requests. You can find them in Conversations and Utterances.
Topics in Conversations:
Actions and Objects in Utterances:
What they show
Actions and objects break individual user utterances into a simple linguistic structure:
- action — what the user wants to do
- object — what the user wants to do it with or to
- expanded object — the more specific form of the object as it appeared in the utterance
For example, if the user says:
“I want to close my savings account.”
Inquio may describe this as:
| Type | Example |
|---|---|
| Topic | Account cancellation |
| Action | close |
| Object | account |
| Expanded object | savings account |
The topic tells you the general area of the conversation. The action and object tell you the wording users use to express the request.
Topics
A topic is a cluster of conversations that revolve around a similar subject.
Topics are broader than individual phrases. One topic can include many different ways of asking about the same area.
- ask when a bonus will be paid
- complain that a bonus has not arrived
- ask whether they qualify for a bonus
- ask how the bonus amount is calculated
Topics are useful when you want to understand the main areas users contact the bot about.
- What are users talking about most often?
- Which topics generate the most issues?
- Which topics are handled well?
- Which topics have low First Contact Resolution?
- Which topics should be improved first?
Actions
It is usually expressed as a verb in its base form, such as:
- activate
- add
- cancel
- change
- close
- display
- download
- pay
- send
For example:
| User utterance | Action |
|---|---|
| “I need to activate my card.” | activate |
| “Can I change my address?” | change |
| “Please send me my account statement.” | send |
For example, you can use actions to answer:
- What do users most often want to change?
- What do users ask the bot to send?
- Which actions are most often connected with negative sentiment?
- Which requests are common but poorly handled?
Objects
It is usually expressed as a single noun in its base form, such as:
- account
- card
- password
- statement
- bonus
- payment
- contract
For example:
| User utterance | Object |
|---|---|
| “I need to activate my card.” | card |
| “Can I change my address?” | address |
| “Please send me my account statement.” | statement |
For example, you can use objects to answer:
- What do users most often ask about accounts?
- Which products appear in unresolved conversations?
- Which services generate the most negative reactions?
- Which objects are most often connected with churn risk?
Expanded objects
An expanded object is the more specific version of the object as it appears in the actual utterance.
For example, the base object account may appear as:
- savings account
- new account
- my account
- account for my child
- closed account
- business account
The expanded object gives you more detail than the base object alone.
For example, object = card may not be specific enough.
- debit card
- credit card
- virtual card
- replacement card
- card for a partner
- ATM card
Use expanded objects when you need to improve language-model coverage, train intents, or understand the exact phrasing users use.
A worked example
One conversation can be described by both a topic and action-object pairs.
Example user utterance:
“I need a new debit card because mine was stolen.”
Inquio may classify it like this:
| Layer | Classification |
|---|---|
| Topic | Lost or stolen card |
| Action | need |
| Object | card |
| Expanded object | new debit card |
The topic helps you analyze the conversation at a business level. The action and object help you analyze the language of the user’s request.
If you are checking whether the bot handles stolen cards well, use the topic.
If you are checking how users phrase card replacement requests, use actions, objects, and expanded objects.
Where topics appear
- Conversations — topic filter, Most Frequent Topics chart, and conversation list
- Conversation metrics — Efficiency chart, where RT and FCR are shown by topic
- Bot Report Card — issue summaries and affected areas
- Issues and Recommendations — issues connected to specific topics
- Defender — incident categories and affected conversations
- Sales Radar — opportunities and churn risks connected to topics
Topics are best for broad analysis.
Use them when you want to know which areas of the bot work well, which ones fail, and which ones deserve attention first.
Where actions and objects appear
The language table shows combinations of:
- Action
- Object
- Expanded object
- Count
You can filter these fields by typing directly into the table search fields or by clicking a selected word in the table.
The sunburst chart next to the table gives a visual representation of the most frequent combinations. You can switch whether Actions or Objects appear in the center of the chart.
Actions and objects are best for language analysis.
Use them when you want to know exactly how users phrase requests, which verbs they use, and which product or service names appear most often.
When to use topics
Topics are the better choice when you want to:
- see the most frequent conversation areas
- compare positive, neutral, bounced, and issue-heavy topics
- review FCR or RT by topic
- investigate a campaign or product area
- identify business areas that need attention
- open all conversations related to the same subject
For example, if you want to know whether the bot handles savings accounts well, start with the topic view.
When to use actions and objects
Actions and objects are the better choice when you want to:
- collect real user phrasing for language-model training
- find all variants of the same request
- see which verbs users use with a product or service
- compare specific product or service names
- identify utterances that may be missing from the bot’s training data
- refine results using regular expressions
For example, if you want to know how users ask for a card, search for the object card and review the expanded objects: debit card, replacement card, virtual card, ATM card, and other variants.
How to use them together
- Start in Conversations to find a high-volume or high-issue topic.
- Open the conversations behind that topic to understand the business problem.
- Go to User utterances.
- Search for the relevant object, action, or expanded object.
- Review the exact phrases users use.
- Use those phrases to improve bot training, dialog design, or content coverage.
For example, the topic “Appointments – banker – consultations” can show that users often need help booking meetings. User utterances can then show the exact wording they use: schedule, set up, book, meeting, appointment, consultation, or sit-down.
Where to find them
- Conversations — topics, topic filter, Most Frequent Topics, and conversation list.
- User utterances — actions, objects, expanded objects, language table, and sunburst chart.
- Conversation metrics — topics in the Efficiency chart.
- Issues and Recommendations — topics connected to specific issues.
- Defender — incident topics and affected conversations.
- Sales Radar — opportunity and churn topics.