Designing for others: engaging with a chatbot persona of a blind peer in a grade 6/7 classroom

This research explores the use of an artificial intelligence chatbot persona to support grade 6/7 students (n = 19) in designing for others, with potential to foster empathy and improve their understandings about visual disability. Despite personas being used to empathize with users, they are typically project-specific, time-consuming to create, and lack interactivity. A fictional character persona representing a blind peer may raise disability awareness through empathy. Noel was created through interviews for content and implemented using the GPT-4 large language model with retrieval-augmented generation. The case study involved nine student pairs designing for Noel in an open-ended task across three workshops. This study investigated their chatbot expectations, its uses, perceived design contributions, and its impact on understanding visual impairment. Findings suggest that chatbot personas may support various design scenarios and encourage empathic considerations, offering pedagogical insights for learning opportunities. Design implications from child-chatbot interactions reveal suggestions for developers and educators.