Designing Healthcare Relational Agents: A Conceptual Framework with User-Centered Design Guidelines

Ashraful Islam; Beenish Moalla Chaudhry; Aminul Islam

doi:10.1109/iscc58397.2023.10218039

Conference Paper2023Cited by 1

Designing Healthcare Relational Agents: A Conceptual Framework with User-Centered Design Guidelines

Ashraful Islam, Beenish Moalla Chaudhry, Aminul Islam

28th IEEE Symposium on Computers and Communications (ISCC)-ICT4eHealth

IEEE, pp. 1-4

DOI: 10.1109/iscc58397.2023.10218039 URL

Abstract

This paper presents a conceptual framework for designing relational agents (RAs) in healthcare contexts, developed through the findings from multiple user studies on RAs about their acceptance, efficacy, and usability. The framework emphasizes a user-centered design (UCD) approach that takes into account the unique needs and preferences of patients, non-patient users, and healthcare professionals (HCPs). Based on the results of these studies, we analyzed and refined the RA designs and proposed a UCD-based conceptual framework for designing effective and user-friendly healthcare RAs. The paper aims to provide an initial resource for researchers, designers, and developers interested in developing RAs for healthcare contexts by thinking of UCD techniques.

Keywords

UsabilityConceptual frameworkHealth careKnowledge managementComputer scienceResource (disambiguation)User-centered designConceptual modelHealth professionalsHuman–computer interaction

CCDS Authors

Ashraful Islam, PhD

Center Director, CCDS
Director, HCI Wing

Assistant Professor

Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB)

Research Interests

Human-Computer Interaction, AI for Social Good, AI for Public Health, AI for Impact

References

1.Timothy Bickmore, Justine Cassell. (2001). Relational agents. , 396–403[10.1145/365024.365304]
2.Simon Provoost, Ho Ming Lau, Jeroen Ruwaard, Heleen Riper. (2017). Embodied Conversational Agents in Clinical Psychology: A Scoping Review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19(5), e151[10.2196/jmir.6553]
3.Timothy Bickmore, Lisa B. Caruso, Kerri M. Clough‐Gorr, Timothy Heeren. (2005). ‘It's just like you talk to a friend’ relational agents for older adults. Interacting with Computers, 17(6), 711–735[10.1016/j.intcom.2005.09.002]
4.Minjin Rheu, Ji Youn Shin, Wei Peng, Jina Huh. (2020). Systematic Review: Trust-Building Factors and Implications for Conversational Agent Design. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 37(1), 81–96[10.1080/10447318.2020.1807710]
5.Timothy Bickmore, Laura M. Pfeifer, Donna Byron, Shaula Forsythe, Lori Henault, Brian W. Jack, Rebecca A. Silliman, Michael K. Paasche‐Orlow. (2010). Usability of Conversational Agents by Patients with Inadequate Health Literacy: Evidence from Two Clinical Trials. Journal of Health Communication, 15(sup2), 197–210[10.1080/10810730.2010.499991]
6.Timothy Bickmore, Suzanne Mitchell, Brian W. Jack, Michael K. Paasche‐Orlow, Laura M. Pfeifer, Julie O’Donnell. (2009). Response to a relational agent by hospital patients with depressive symptoms. Interacting with Computers, 22(4), 289–298[10.1016/j.intcom.2009.12.001]
7.Michelle X. Zhou, Gloria Mark, Jingyi Jessica Li, Huahai Yang. (2019). Trusting Virtual Agents. ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems, 9(2-3), 1–36[10.1145/3232077]
8.Timothy Bickmore, Lisa B. Caruso, Kerri M. Clough‐Gorr. (2005). Acceptance and usability of a relational agent interface by urban older adults. , 1212–1215[10.1145/1056808.1056879]
9.Teresa K. O’Leary, Elizabeth Stowell, Everlyne Kimani, Dhaval Parmar, Stefán Ólafsson, Jessica A. Hoffman, Andrea G. Parker, Michael K. Paasche‐Orlow, Timothy Bickmore. (2020). Community-Based Cultural Tailoring of Virtual Agents. , 1–8[10.1145/3383652.3423875]
10.Susana Castillo, Philipp Hahn, Katharina Legde, Douglas W. Cunningham. (2018). Personality Analysis of Embodied Conversational Agents. , 227–232[10.1145/3267851.3267853]
11.Beenish Moalla Chaudhry, Ashraful Islam. (2022). A Mobile Application-Based Relational Agent as a Health Professional for COVID-19 Patients: Design, Approach, and Implications. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(21), 13794[10.3390/ijerph192113794]
12.Ashraful Islam, Beenish Moalla Chaudhry. (2022). Design Validation of a Relational Agent by COVID-19 Patients: Mixed Methods Study. JMIR Human Factors, 10, e42740[10.2196/42740]
13.Ashraful Islam, Beenish Moalla Chaudhry. (2022). Acceptance Evaluation of a COVID-19 Home Health Service Delivery Relational Agent. Lecture notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, 40–52[10.1007/978-3-030-99194-4_4]

Cited By

1.Theerawut Tantiathimongkhon, Mahasak Ketcham, Montean Rattanasiriwongwut. (2025). AI-Driven Language Learning Platform for Thai Learners: A Design Thinking Approach. , 1–6[10.1109/icci64209.2025.10987504]

← All publications

Abstract

References

1.Timothy Bickmore, Justine Cassell. (2001). Relational agents. , 396–403[10.1145/365024.365304]

2.Simon Provoost, Ho Ming Lau, Jeroen Ruwaard, Heleen Riper. (2017). Embodied Conversational Agents in Clinical Psychology: A Scoping Review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19(5), e151[10.2196/jmir.6553]

3.Timothy Bickmore, Lisa B. Caruso, Kerri M. Clough‐Gorr, Timothy Heeren. (2005). ‘It's just like you talk to a friend’ relational agents for older adults. Interacting with Computers, 17(6), 711–735[10.1016/j.intcom.2005.09.002]

4.Minjin Rheu, Ji Youn Shin, Wei Peng, Jina Huh. (2020). Systematic Review: Trust-Building Factors and Implications for Conversational Agent Design. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 37(1), 81–96[10.1080/10447318.2020.1807710]

5.Timothy Bickmore, Laura M. Pfeifer, Donna Byron, Shaula Forsythe, Lori Henault, Brian W. Jack, Rebecca A. Silliman, Michael K. Paasche‐Orlow. (2010). Usability of Conversational Agents by Patients with Inadequate Health Literacy: Evidence from Two Clinical Trials. Journal of Health Communication, 15(sup2), 197–210[10.1080/10810730.2010.499991]

6.Timothy Bickmore, Suzanne Mitchell, Brian W. Jack, Michael K. Paasche‐Orlow, Laura M. Pfeifer, Julie O’Donnell. (2009). Response to a relational agent by hospital patients with depressive symptoms. Interacting with Computers, 22(4), 289–298[10.1016/j.intcom.2009.12.001]

7.Michelle X. Zhou, Gloria Mark, Jingyi Jessica Li, Huahai Yang. (2019). Trusting Virtual Agents. ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems, 9(2-3), 1–36[10.1145/3232077]

8.Timothy Bickmore, Lisa B. Caruso, Kerri M. Clough‐Gorr. (2005). Acceptance and usability of a relational agent interface by urban older adults. , 1212–1215[10.1145/1056808.1056879]

9.Teresa K. O’Leary, Elizabeth Stowell, Everlyne Kimani, Dhaval Parmar, Stefán Ólafsson, Jessica A. Hoffman, Andrea G. Parker, Michael K. Paasche‐Orlow, Timothy Bickmore. (2020). Community-Based Cultural Tailoring of Virtual Agents. , 1–8[10.1145/3383652.3423875]

10.Susana Castillo, Philipp Hahn, Katharina Legde, Douglas W. Cunningham. (2018). Personality Analysis of Embodied Conversational Agents. , 227–232[10.1145/3267851.3267853]

11.Beenish Moalla Chaudhry, Ashraful Islam. (2022). A Mobile Application-Based Relational Agent as a Health Professional for COVID-19 Patients: Design, Approach, and Implications. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(21), 13794[10.3390/ijerph192113794]

12.Ashraful Islam, Beenish Moalla Chaudhry. (2022). Design Validation of a Relational Agent by COVID-19 Patients: Mixed Methods Study. JMIR Human Factors, 10, e42740[10.2196/42740]

13.Ashraful Islam, Beenish Moalla Chaudhry. (2022). Acceptance Evaluation of a COVID-19 Home Health Service Delivery Relational Agent. Lecture notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, 40–52[10.1007/978-3-030-99194-4_4]