Chatbots as Interaction Modality : An Explorative Design Study on Elderly Classical Music Concert Subscribers

Abstract: This thesis is a pilot study aimed at exploring how a chatbot can be designed to be used as a tool to give elderly classical music concert subscribers information about concerts they are attending. Previous works have indicated chatbots to be useful as information retrieval systems. To test this theory, a chatbot called “BerwaldBoten” was created and tested on eight elderly concert subscribers. Apart from testing the chatbot in everyday settings during a week leading up to a concert, the users also answered questionnaires before and after the study for qualitative data. Data from the chats was also collected for qualitative analysis. The results were generally positive, where most users found it easier to acquire concert information when using the chatbot. A need to provide the alternatives to interact using either quick reply buttons or free text was indicated. Furthermore, the importance of stating limitations and being transparent regarding the system state at all times is discussed.