A collaborative approach to the evaluation of cognitive accessibility of a conversational agent for public healthcareShow others and affiliations
2026 (English)In: Interacting with computers, ISSN 0953-5438, E-ISSN 1873-7951, Vol. 38, no 1, p. 77-94, article id iwaf034Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Sustainable development
SDG 3: Good health and well-being, SDG 10: Reduced inequalities
Abstract [en]
Conversational agents are increasingly being introduced in healthcare to enhance access to healthcare and address limited healthcare resources. The aim of this study was to explore experiences of a conversational agent for symptom checking and triage tool assessing the urgency and appropriate level of care implemented in public healthcare from a cognitive accessibility perspective. With a Participatory Action Research approach, this study includes: (1) A Participatory Cognitive Barrier Walkthrough in workshops with people with cognitive impairment (n = 7), product owner representatives (n = 4), and researchers (n = 5), followed by a workshop for improvement suggestions; (2) a paired interview with healthcare system specialists (n = 2). The data from the study were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, resulting in five themes: 'The design of the eHealth service created expectations that were not met during interaction'; 'The eHealth service uses a difficult language'; 'The eHealth service triggers negative emotions and reactions'; 'The layout and graphic design of the eHealth service is difficult and sometimes misleading'; and 'The eHealth service lacks in trustworthiness' .The findings show the importance of including people with lived experience of cognitive impairment, to expose and find solutions for cognitive accessibility issues.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
OXFORD UNIV PRESS , 2026. Vol. 38, no 1, p. 77-94, article id iwaf034
Keywords [en]
interaction design, Ehealth, participatory action research, process and methods, participatory design, user evaluation
National Category
Health Care Service and Management, Health Policy and Services and Health Economy Human Computer Interaction
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:du-50934DOI: 10.1093/iwc/iwaf034ISI: 001527950300001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105024992032OAI: oai:DiVA.org:du-50934DiVA, id: diva2:1986204
2025-07-302025-07-302026-05-12Bibliographically approved