2025
Lo, Priscilla Y., Veldhuis, Annemiek, Antle, Alissa N., DiPaola, Steve
Noel: A Chatbot Persona to Support Children Designing for Others Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Association for Computing Machinery, 2025, ISBN: 9798400713941.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: artificial intelligence, chatbot, children, design thinking, education, empathy, large language model, personas, visual impairment
@inproceedings{nokey,
title = {Noel: A Chatbot Persona to Support Children Designing for Others},
author = {Lo, Priscilla Y. and Veldhuis, Annemiek and Antle, Alissa N. and DiPaola, Steve},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713836},
doi = {10.1145/3706598.3713836},
isbn = {9798400713941},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-04-25},
urldate = {2025-04-25},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems},
publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
series = {CHI '25},
abstract = {Designing for others encourages children to empathize with and consider different perspectives and needs. A chatbot persona could allow children to design for stakeholder groups that are challenging to involve directly in educational activities, such as people with disabilities. In this paper, we explore how an artificial intelligence chatbot persona leveraging the GPT-4 large language model can support children’s design empathy while designing for others. We report the design, development process, and implementation of a chatbot persona representing a 12-year-old child with low vision named Noel. The exploratory case study consisted of three 90- to 120-minute workshop sessions with nineteen students (ages 11 to 13) in a grade 6/7 classroom. Results illustrate ways that Noel supported students throughout the design process, their expressions of design empathy, and their experiences. We present implications for developers and educators along with future directions for research},
keywords = {artificial intelligence, chatbot, children, design thinking, education, empathy, large language model, personas, visual impairment},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
Designing for others encourages children to empathize with and consider different perspectives and needs. A chatbot persona could allow children to design for stakeholder groups that are challenging to involve directly in educational activities, such as people with disabilities. In this paper, we explore how an artificial intelligence chatbot persona leveraging the GPT-4 large language model can support children’s design empathy while designing for others. We report the design, development process, and implementation of a chatbot persona representing a 12-year-old child with low vision named Noel. The exploratory case study consisted of three 90- to 120-minute workshop sessions with nineteen students (ages 11 to 13) in a grade 6/7 classroom. Results illustrate ways that Noel supported students throughout the design process, their expressions of design empathy, and their experiences. We present implications for developers and educators along with future directions for research
2021
Murai, Yumiko, Antle, Alissa N., Kitson, Alexandra, Candau, Yves, Adibi, Azadeh, Dao-Kroeker, Zoe, Desnoyers-Stewart, John, Jacobs, Katrien
Facilitating Online Distributed Critical Making: Lessons Learned Proceedings Article
In: FabLearn Europe / MakeEd 2021 - An International Conference on Computing, Design and Making in Education, Association for Computing Machinery, St. Gallen, Switzerland, 2021, ISBN: 9781450389891.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Biowearables, Critical making, Critical reflection, design ethics, design thinking, Maker-centered learning, Online learning, Online workshop, quantification of self, teaching ethics, wearables, youth
@inproceedings{10.1145/3466725.3466759,
title = {Facilitating Online Distributed Critical Making: Lessons Learned},
author = {Yumiko Murai and Alissa N. Antle and Alexandra Kitson and Yves Candau and Azadeh Adibi and Zoe Dao-Kroeker and John Desnoyers-Stewart and Katrien Jacobs},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3466725.3466759},
doi = {10.1145/3466725.3466759},
isbn = {9781450389891},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-01-01},
urldate = {2021-01-01},
booktitle = {FabLearn Europe / MakeEd 2021 - An International Conference on Computing, Design and Making in Education},
publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
address = {St. Gallen, Switzerland},
series = {FabLearn Europe / MakeEd 2021},
abstract = {The global pandemic has brought numerous challenges for educators who take a maker-centered approach, whose instruction involves direct engagement with materials through collaborative and exploratory social interactions. Many educators have found creative ways to address the obstacles of being remote. However, inciting critical reflection through making, already difficult during in-person settings, has become an even greater challenge in remote settings. This paper reports on the lessons learned from a two-week online afterschool maker workshop where participants worked on a maker project being in remote locations, while engaged in critical reflections on ethical implications of biowearable devices. The results showed preliminary evidence that participants were able to produce a prototype and engaged in critical reflection on the ethical issues of biowearables. We also found that while online environments offer limited social cues and flexibility, access to multiple communication channels enabled just-in-time facilitation for critical reflection.},
keywords = {Biowearables, Critical making, Critical reflection, design ethics, design thinking, Maker-centered learning, Online learning, Online workshop, quantification of self, teaching ethics, wearables, youth},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
The global pandemic has brought numerous challenges for educators who take a maker-centered approach, whose instruction involves direct engagement with materials through collaborative and exploratory social interactions. Many educators have found creative ways to address the obstacles of being remote. However, inciting critical reflection through making, already difficult during in-person settings, has become an even greater challenge in remote settings. This paper reports on the lessons learned from a two-week online afterschool maker workshop where participants worked on a maker project being in remote locations, while engaged in critical reflections on ethical implications of biowearable devices. The results showed preliminary evidence that participants were able to produce a prototype and engaged in critical reflection on the ethical issues of biowearables. We also found that while online environments offer limited social cues and flexibility, access to multiple communication channels enabled just-in-time facilitation for critical reflection.