Conversation-Based Hybrid User Interface for Structured Qualitative Survey: A Pilot Study Using Repertory Grid

Conversational user interfaces (CUIs) have the potential to substantially influence current practice in diverse application fields, one important example being the way in which online surveys are conducted. Currently, CUIs are mainly applied to help improve the user experience with quantitative surveys. We describe the development of a Hybrid User Interface (HUI) prototype that combines a Graphical User interface (GUI) and a CUI to conduct a fully automated but structured qualitative survey according to the Repertory Grid Technique (RGT). This paper describes a pilot study that we conducted to inform the design of the HUI and to converge to a prototype that is sufficiently mature and robust to be used in a more extensive follow-up study. Our experiences with developing this HUI may help others avoid pitfalls and profit from the tools and lessons we have learned as part of our design process.