Designing Chatbots for Guiding Online Peer Support Conversations for Adults with ADHD

Abstract

This paper presents an exploratory study of how conversational interfaces can be used to facilitate peer support among adults with ADHD participating in an online self-help program. Peer support is an important feature of group therapy, but it is often disregarded in online programs. Using a research-through-design approach, a low fidelity chatbot prototype named Terabot was designed and evaluated. The goal of Terabot is to guide participants through peer support conversations related to a specific exercise in an online self-help program. The prototype was evaluated and refined through two Wizard of Oz (WoOz) trials. Based on design workshops, analysis of chat logs, data from online questionnaires and an evaluation interview, the findings indicate that the concept of a chatbot guiding a peer support conversation between adults with ADHD who participate in an online self-help program is a promising approach. We believe that a chatbot can help establishing structure, predictability and encouragement in a peer support conversation. This study contributes with experiences from an exploration of how to design conversational interfaces for peer support in mental health care, how conversational interfaces can facilitate peer support through structuring conversation, and how the WoOz approach can be used to inform the design of chatbots.