Abstract
In this paper, a user interface paradigm, called Talk-and-Tools, is presented for automated e-coaching. The paradigm is based on the idea that people interact in two ways with their environment: symbolically and physically. The main goal is to show how the paradigm can be applied in the design of interactive systems that offer an acceptable coaching process. As a proof of concept, an e-coaching system is implemented that supports an insomnia therapy on a smartphone. A human coach was replaced by a cooperative virtual coach that is able to interact with a human coachee. In the interface of the system, we distinguish between a set of personalized conversations (“Talk”) and specialized modules that form a coherent structure of input and output facilities (“Tools”). Conversations contained a minimum of variation to exclude unpredictable behavior but included the necessary mechanisms for variation to offer personalized consults and support. A variety of system and user tests was conducted to validate the use of the system. After a 6-week therapy, some users spontaneously reported the experience of building a relationship with the e-coach. It is concluded that the addition of a conversational component fills an important gap in the design of current mobile systems.
Highlights
In the interaction with the world that surrounds us, two types of information flow can be distinguished: a symbolic and a physical one
Users can BTalk^ with these systems supported by a conversational interface, and they can work with these systems supported by BTools^ based on direct manipulation interfaces
The first dimension refers to the idea of a collaborative dialog that unfolds between the coaching parties and where the coachee learns in interaction with the coach (Talk); the second refers to the experiential-oriented process of the coachee (Tools)
Summary
In the interaction with the world that surrounds us, two types of information flow can be distinguished: a symbolic and a physical one. The distinction has given rise to two major existing paradigms for designing user interfaces of computerized systems: (a) the so-called conversational or dialog interfaces that mimic the conversational behavior between two social actors [27] and (b) the so-called model world or direct manipulation interfaces that involve continues representations of objects and real-time feedback of their behavior or manipulations [24]. Pers Ubiquit Comput (2017) 21:661–674 written dialogs between human users and/or a computer system that behaves as a social actor, while the Tools enable the observation, analysis, and manipulation of task objects in a physical or virtual domain. We will apply the Talk-and-Tools paradigm in the domain of e-coaching for behavior change. The Talk provides for dialog and periodic consults with the ecoach and the Tools for data acquisition, analysis, and visualization
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