Design Validation of a Relational Agent by COVID-19 Patients.

Abstract

Relational agents (RAs) have shown effectiveness in various health interventions with and without doctors and hospital facilities. In situations such as a pandemic like the COVID-19 when healthcare professionals (HCPs) and facilities are unable to cope with increased demands, RAs may play a major role in ameliorating the situation. But they have not been well explored in this domain. To design a prototypical RA in collaboration with Covid-19 patients and HCPs and test it with the potential users, for its ability to deliver services during a pandemic. The RA is designed and developed in collaboration with infected patients (n=21) and two groups of HCPs (n=19 and n=16 respectively) to aid COVID-19 patients at various stages by performing four main tasks: testing guidance, support during self-isolation, handling emergency situations, and promoting post-recovery mental well-being. A design validation survey with 98 individuals was used to evaluate the usability of the prototype by system usability scale (SUS) and feedback on the design was collected from them. In addition, the RA's usefulness and acceptability were rated on Likert Scales by the participants. From the design validation survey, the prototypical RA received an average SUS score of 58.82. Moreover, 89.65% of participants perceived it to be helpful, and 68.97% of participants accepted it as a viable alternative to HCPs. The prototypical RA received favorable feedback from the participants, and they were inclined to accept it as an alternative to HCPs in non-life-threatening scenarios despite the usability rating falling below the acceptable threshold. Based on participants' feedback, we recommend further development of the RA with improved automation and emotional support, ability to provide information, tracking, and specific recommendations.