Abstract (eng)
Current literature shows a major gap in research regarding the usability of route-planning platforms. This thesis investigates the impacts of replacing traditional input fields of a route-planning application with a chatbot interface. Applying the user-centered design approach, a new route-planning tool fitted to users’ expectations is developed. Users are interviewed to gather requirements. Based on these requirements, a set of proto-types is created. Potential users are asked for their favorite prototype parts. These parts are implemented as an application, including the chatbot. The application is evaluated and compared to two other route-planning tools. We compared our newly developed tool to Google Maps and the route planning tool of the Austrian rail-way company ÖBB. The overall usability of the newly created tool is comparable with existing solutions. The time needed to complete route planning is longer. However, integrating demands and preferences in the new application is improved compared to traditional route planning applications, such as Google Maps. The accessibility is also comparable to existing solutions. For users with less experience with route planning, simplicity, integration of demands and preferences, and accessibility to laypeople are rated higher than the compared solutions. Most users positively noted having only one input field instead of filling in the information for the searched route in different fields. The application being able to compete with solutions developed by large companies is a success and shows the possibilities of simplifying user interfaces by adding a chatbot. More research regarding conver-sational interfaces is needed. Performance improvements, additional features, and more user tests to increase the significance and validity are the possibilities for continuing this study.