The Visual Design and Implementation of an Embodied Conversational Agent in a Shared Decision-Making Context (eCoach)

This paper outlines the design process and challenges of creating a character for our implementation of an embodied conversational agent (ECA), specifically integrating diverse views from focus groups consisting of individuals representing different levels of socio-economic status and health literacy. Initial focus groups consisting of members from both higher and lower socioeconomic status and health literacy found the stylized ECA to be unappealing. Later focus groups conducted after completion of the educational intervention better accepted the ECA, reporting it to be acceptable.