Chat is not automatically better
A conversational interface feels advanced, and for collecting known information it is slower than a form: more typing, more turns, more ambiguity, and no visible sense of how much is left.
Forms win when the fields are known
If you always need the same six pieces of information, ask for them at once. The user can see the whole task, tab through it, correct a mistake without re-explaining, and finish in seconds.
Nobody has ever wished a booking form was a conversation.
Conversation wins when the path is unknown
Where the next question depends on the last answer, or the user doesn’t know what they need, dialogue genuinely helps. That is the same distinction as an agent versus a workflow, one layer up in the interface.
The hybrid usually wins
Let people describe the problem in their words, then present a pre-filled form for confirmation. You get natural input and structured, checkable output — and structure is what makes an output verifiable.
Watch the abandonment
If a conversational flow drops people midway, the interface is the cause more often than the model. That drop-off is the same measurement as form starts versus completions, and it deserves the same scrutiny.
Ask what the user is trying to do
Someone booking an appointment wants it booked, not discussed. Matching the interface to the task rather than to the technology is the whole decision, and it is frequently the cheaper build as well.