Evaluating the impact of a chatbot on the usability, user satisfaction, and user experience of a gambling-help website

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Author(s): Merkouris, Stephanie ; Loram, George ; Abdelrazek, Mohamed ; Rodda, Simone N. ; Ibrahim, Amani ; Bonti, Alessio ; Dowling, Nicki A.

Journal: Universal Access in the Information Society

Year Published: 2022

Date Added: January 19, 2023

Gambling help websites contain a lot of information, which can make it hard to navigate. One way to increase website usability is by using chatbots. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how a chatbot impacts the usability, user satisfaction, and user experience of the NSW GambleAware website. The researchers created a chatbot for the website and recruited 60 adults from Australia to participate in the study. About half of the participants were given access to the website with the chatbot, and the other half were given access only to the website (no chatbot). Participants with chatbot access rated the website’s usability higher than the website-only group. Those with chatbot access had higher user satisfaction. This group also had an easier time completing their tasks of finding website information but there was no difference between the groups on user experience. When compared to other websites, the website with the chatbot was rated more highly based on usability, system usefulness, information quality, and credibility. The layout, readability of responses, and look and feel of the chatbot were areas for improvement.

Citation: Merkouris, S. S., Loram, G., Abdelrazek, M., Rodda, S. N., Ibrahim, A., Bonti, A., & Dowling, N. A. (2022). Improving the user experience of a gambling support and education website using a chatbot. Universal Access in the Information Society. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-022-00932-5

Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-022-00932-5

Keywords: gambling ; gambling resources ; usability

Conceptual Framework Factors: Resources - Harm Reduction, Prevention, and Protection ; Gambling Resources

Study Design: Evaluation Design

Geographic Coverage: Australia

Study Population: Participants had to be Australian residents who were 18 years or older (n = 60). They had to have access to a computer and be fluent in English. But they did not have to have participated in any gambling activity nor have used the NSW GambleAware website in the past. On average, participants were 31 years old. Most participants (80%) used the internet for 22 hours or more on a weekly basis for work, personal use, education, or research. On average, participants gambled about 0.89 day in the past month.

Sampling Procedure: The researchers used convenience and snowball sampling to recruit participants via social media platforms and through word of mouth.

Study Funding:

This project was funded by the NSW Government’s Responsible Gambling Fund, with support from the NSW Office of Responsible Gambling. Open Access funding enabled and organized by CAUL and its Member Institutions.