doi: 10.18178/ijiet.2026.16.9.2688
Human-centered Design and Evaluation of a Knowledge-based Conversational Agent for Student Well-being
Jieyu Wang1
,
Li Zhang2 ,
Abdullah Abuhussein1 ,
Dingfang Kang1 ,
Katherina G. Pattit3,*
- 1Information Systems, Herberger Business School, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, USA
- 2Finance, Herberger Business School, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, USA
- 3Office of the Provost, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, USA
- Manuscript receivedDecember 1, 2025
- revisedJanuary 19, 2026
- acceptedApril 9, 2026
- publishedSeptember 10, 2026
Abstract
This study extends prior exploratory research on student acceptance and expectations of well-being conversational agents by developing and evaluating a high-fidelity conversational agent using a human-centered AI design approach. The prototype incorporates evidence-based mental health screening instruments, including the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and assessments for anxiety, sleep, and panic symptoms, alongside a structured knowledge base from verified resources from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), the Mayo Clinic, and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). An empirical usability study was conducted with twenty university students engaged in task-oriented usability testing and post-interaction interviews to assess system usability, user satisfaction, and perceived conversational intelligence. Findings indicate that participants perceived the conversational agent as credible, easy to use, and emotionally supportive, while expressing persistent concerns regarding privacy and data security. The results substantiate the user-centered design framework articulated in earlier work and demonstrate its evolution into a functional and deployable model for student well-being support. This research provides empirically grounded recommendations for the design of credible, trustworthy, and knowledge-based AI-driven wellness interventions in higher education.
Keywords
- human-centered Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- user-centered design
- empirical usability study
- student well-being
- knowledge-based conversational agent
- user trust
- credibility
How to Cite
Jieyu Wang, Li Zhang, Abdullah Abuhussein, Dingfang Kang, and Katherina G. Pattit, "Human-centered Design and Evaluation of a Knowledge-based Conversational Agent for Student Well-being," International Journal of Information and Education Technology, vol. 16, no. 9, pp. 2295-2307, 2026. https://doi.org/10.18178/ijiet.2026.16.9.2688
Copyright & License
Copyright © 2026 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).