CiSA: An Inclusive Chatbot Service for International Students and Academics

Abstract

In the present study, we developed a chatbot service termed ‘CiSA’ (Chatbot for International Students and Academics) to enable international students and academics to effectively acquire essential information regarding their academic and campus life. To investigate the pain points and needs of our target user group, user research consisting of interviews and surveys was conducted. Based on the key findings from qualitative analysis, the concept was further refined. A flowchart was constructed to illustrate the designed conversations, while the user interface components were determined to express the responses of the chatbot. The design was further prototyped using Google’s DialogFlow, and implemented in Facebook Messenger. Finally, the interviews with the target users were conducted to verify the effectiveness, satisfaction, and extensibility of the service. The outcome of this study provides a powerful way to support the facilitation of communication and social inclusion by using this conversational agent. Furthermore, by focusing on enhancing the accessibility, the research contributes towards the practical understanding of the investigation of its service design for chatbot aimed at inclusivity.