| Abstract |
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We studied the role of the competence of an interface
agent that helped users to learn and use a text editor.
Participants in the study made a set of changes to a
document with the aid of one of four interface agents.
The agent would respond to participants’ spoken
questions as well as make proactive suggestions using a
synthesized voice. The agents varied in the quality of
responses and suggestions. One group of participants
could also access a help screen. Results revealed that the
perceived utility of the agent was influenced by the types
of errors it made, while participants' subjective
impressions of the agent related to the perceptions of its
embodiment. Additionally, allowing participants to
choose their preferred assistance styles improved
objective performance. We relate quantitative findings
with qualitative interview data and discuss implications
for the design and the implementation of systems with
interface agents.
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 Additional Information
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Index Terms- Information interface and presentation, User Interfaces, Evaluation/methodology, Embodied conversational agents, interface agents, empirical evaluation, Wizard-of-Oz technique, qualitative study
Citation:
Jun Xiao, John Stasko, Richard Catrambone,
"An Empirical Study of the Effect of Agent Competence on User Performance and Perception,"
aamas,
pp. 178-185,
Third International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems - Volume 1 (AAMAS'04),
2004
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