Team: Pratt Institute Emotional Design Students (Sarah Geiz, Nimisha Malreddy, and Reyna Yang)
Role: Ethnographic Research, Semi-Structured Interviews, Competitive Analysis, Emotion Interactions, Prototyping, Final Presentation
Timeline: 4 months (February - May 2024)
AI Platforms Replika, Character, and ChatGPT
The Challenge
The prevalence of mental health issues and loneliness has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic.
With new AI platforms, people, especially young people, are increasingly using AI (artificial intelligence) like ChatGPT, Character AI, or Replika for support.
They are often perceived, however, as surface level and lacking personality, so users don’t feel strongly connected to them.
The Process
Exploration through Ethnography
What can ChatGPT Reddit tell us about the future of therapy platforms?
ChatGPT is an AI (artificial intelligence) chatbot that is freely accessible. Some people started to use it in place of mental health therapy due to accessibility and cost.
Through explorative ethnography, r/ChatGPT posts and comments by people who use ChatGPT as a therapist were observed
Interviews
I also conducted interviews with 3 participants to understand how AI chats feel, or would ideally feel.
Interview Prompts
Findings
Talking to AI chatbots came with feelings of freedom, relief, and release.
On the flip side, people feel that AI chatbots:
Excerpts from Reddit
The Solution: EmpathEase
EmpathEase is an AI chatbot mobile app for users seeking a buddy that can be there for them at any time, without judgement. Bringing a sense of intimacy, comfort, and connectedness to you 24/7.
Who is a Typical User?
The Draw
The Features
Onboarding
Click play to see how it works!
Bot Customization
Click play to see how it works!
The Chat
Click play to see how it works!
Product Delivery
Future Considerations:
1) Continue to iterate on the emotional aspects of the design.
2) Consider more customizations for AI characters based on user feedback.
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