Ask Bunty

Ask Bunty is an AI guide for Hand & Lock. It brings more than 250 years of craft and teaching into one chat.

The task

Hand & Lock did not need a basic chatbot. It needed a guide that could share more than 250 years of craft and teaching. The chat had to feel like a warm welcome from an embroidery teacher.

The guide had to answer questions, help people learn and suggest useful products. It also had to sound like Hand & Lock.

Why a simple chat would fail

A simple chat can find a fact and give an answer. That is not the same as teaching a craft.

People learn embroidery through practice. A new learner may not know what to ask. A skilled maker may need a clear, detailed answer. Some people just want a new idea.

So Bunty needed to act more like a tutor than a search box.

Start with behaviour

It is easy to link an AI model to some files and add a chat box. That only builds the shell.

The guide also needs a voice, a teaching style and clear rules. Without them, it would not feel like a visit to the Hand & Lock studio or one of its courses.

The key question was simple: how should a helpful member of the Hand & Lock team act?

The aim was not to make AI sound clever. It was to make each answer warm, clear and full of care for embroidery.

What we built

Ask Bunty uses several parts that work as one guide.

Voice and manner

Bunty has a set voice. She is warm, calm, patient and kind. She knows the subject but does not show off.

She explains, gives support and teaches before she suggests a product.

Hand & Lock knowledge

Bunty uses Hand & Lock sources, not just general AI knowledge. This keeps answers close to the brand's own teaching and voice.

• The Thread articles
• Course information
• Product information
• Heritage content
• FAQs
• Embroidery techniques
• Educational resources

Live shop link

Bunty links to the live Shopify shop. She can use current product data when she makes a suggestion.

• Suggest a useful product
• Find an embroidery kit
• Find the right tool
• Suggest a course
• Link to the right product page

The live shop stays in charge of product facts.

Teaching steps

Bunty follows a short teaching path, not just a question and answer path.

• Answer the question
• Explain why
• Build confidence
• Give a clear next step
• Suggest a product or course only when it helps

How the parts connect

One prompt could not do every job well. The system uses a set of AI parts that work together.

Set the rules first

We set Bunty's behaviour before we tuned the AI prompt.

• How should Bunty greet people?
• How should she help a new learner?
• How should she explain a hard method?
• When should she recommend products?
• When should she say she is not sure?
• How should she share Hand & Lock's history?

These rules guide every answer.

A different kind of chat

A basic chatbot

• Answer questions
• Find stored facts
• Point to a product
• Try to end a support task

Ask Bunty

• Builds skill and trust
• Explains the answer
• Guides the next learning step
• Suggests a product when it solves the need

The core parts

The system has its own prompt, voice guide and behaviour rules. It uses retrieval-augmented generation, which means it searches approved sources before it answers. It also links to Shopify, uses sample chats, sets product rules and knows when to ask a person for help.

Together, these parts keep the chat useful and on brand.

What could come next

Ask Bunty starts on the website. The same base can support more tools later.

• Phone apps
• Community features
• AI learning paths
• Suggestions based on the user
• Rewards and praise
• Image checks for embroidery methods
• Creative project planning
• Links to museum and archive records

The chat is the first public part of that wider plan.

Why the tone matters

People need to know why they can trust an AI answer.

A bigger AI model does not fix a cold or unclear chat. Good sources, clear limits and a kind voice matter here.

For Hand & Lock, the chat had to carry more than two centuries of craft, teaching and human care.

What the system adds

Ask Bunty brings learning, shopping and help into one chat. A visitor can ask, learn and find a useful next step in the same place.

It gives Hand & Lock a base for a wider digital embroidery guide as the business and community grow.

A useful AI guide does not need to know all things. It needs to give people a safe place to ask.

The role of AI

Ask Bunty was not made to replace the Hand & Lock team.

Its job is to share the team's warmth, skill and ideas with more people, at more times of day.

It works as a new digital front door to the Hand & Lock team and its knowledge.