ABSTRACT

Embodied conversational agents may be used to engage users in adopting eHealth applications. The aim of this research is to investigate which design features establish a positive first impression of an agent in this context. A set of eight static agent images, different in age, gender and role, were subjected to testing in an online questionnaire. Respondents (n = 155) selected their preferred design and rated the characteristics – friendliness, expertise, reliability, involvement and authority – and the likeliness of following the agent’s advice for all designs. In addition, focus groups (n = 13) were conducted for detailed understandings supporting these impressions. Our results show that, for both a general and elderly population, (1) people seem to prefer images of young, female agents over old, male agents, (2) the (a) age, (b) gender and (c) role of the agent image affect the perception of the agent’s characteristics and the likeliness of following the agent’s advice, and that (3) both the general and elderly population prefer an agent image that is similar in (a) age and (b) gender. A next step would be to investigate how the characteristics of the agent designs are perceived after interaction with the agent.

摘要

具体的对话代理可用于吸引用户采用eHealth应用程序。这项研究的目的是调查在这种情况下哪些设计功能会给代理商带来积极的第一印象。在在线问卷中对一组八个年龄，性别和角色不同的静态代理图像进行了测试。受访者（n = 155）选择了他们偏爱的设计，并对特性进行了评估-友好，专业，可靠，参与和权威-以及遵循代理商针对所有设计的建议的可能性。此外，还进行了焦点小组（n = 13）以获得支持这些印象的详细理解。我们的结果表明，对于一般人群和老年人群体，（1）人们似乎更喜欢年轻女性特工的形象，而不是男性，男性（2）（a）年龄，（b）性别和（c）代理人形象的作用会影响对代理人特征的感知以及遵循代理人建议的可能性，并且（3）普通人群和老年人都喜欢与（a ）年龄和（b）性别。下一步将是研究与代理交互后如何感知代理设计的特征。