Design principles for conversational agents to support Emergency Management Agencies

Stefan Stieglitz, Lennart Hofeditz, Felix Brünker, Christian Ehnis, Milad Mirbabaie, Björn Ross

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

Widespread mis- and disinformation during the COVID-19 social media “infodemic” challenge the effective response of Emergency Management Agencies (EMAs). Conversational Agents (CAs) have the potential to amplify and distribute trustworthy information from EMAs to the general public in times of uncertainty. However, the structure and responsibilities of such EMAs are different in comparison to traditional commercial organizations. Consequently, Information Systems (IS) design approaches for CAs are not directly transferable to this different type of organization. Based on semi-structured interviews with practitioners from EMAs in Germany and Australia, twelve meta-requirements and five design principles for CAs for EMAs were developed. In contrast to the traditional view of CA design, social cues should be minimized. The study provides a basis to design robust CAs for EMAs.
Original languageEnglish
Article number102469
Number of pages11
JournalInternational Journal of Information Management
Volume63
Early online date13 Jan 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2022

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Conversational agents
  • Chatbots
  • Design principles
  • Crisis communication

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