“Knock Knock, Here Is an Answer from Next Door”: Designing a Knowledge Sharing Chatbot to Connect Residents: Community Chatbot Design Case Study

ABSTRACTOur purpose is to investigate the potential use of chatbots for information sharing and social connection within a co-living space. To this end, we designed a chatbot for residents of a co-living space based on the following principles: (1) The range of shared information is limited to three areas derived from the similarities of the residents, and it takes a ‘give-and-take QnA’ structure, where one should answer a question from another resident after they ask a question. (2) Conversation is designed to resemble a human-like dialogue to reveal the presence of other residents. 19 residents of a co-living space used the chatbot for a week through the Wizard of Oz method, and six participants were asked about their chatbot experience through a semi-structured interview after the usage. A total of 58 interactions occurred, and the reply rate of the chatbot's question was 76%. The interview revealed that the users were satisfied with chatbot's provision of information that could only be given by fellow residents, and the chatbot increased the presence of other residents, creating a feeling of social connection. We conclude the paper by proposing design principles for chatbots in collective housing.