Mo, Wen; Singh, Aneesha; Ayobi, Amid; Holloway, Catherine; (2025) Designing with Tensions: Understanding Professionals’ Needs in Integrating AI Chatbots for Wheelchair Assessment Services in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. In: Kane, Shaun and Shinohara, Kristen and Bennett, Cynthia and Mott, Martez, (eds.) ASSETS '25: Proceedings of the 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility. (pp. pp. 1-19). Association for Computing Machinery (ACM): New York, NY, United States.

Preview

Text 3663547.3746340.pdf - Published Version Download (2MB) | Preview

Abstract

While AI chatbots have been proposed to support wheelchair provision services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the perception of physical therapists regarding how they could be integrated into their service workflow remains unclear. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 professionals from Africa and South Asia, using two design probes to investigate the potential and limitations of using chatbots in their everyday wheelchair assessment services. Our findings revealed 13 tensions that arise when the envisioned chatbot use misaligns with three interconnected domains - professional values, practice structures, and contextual readiness, such as conflicts in professional autonomy, evolving responsibilities, and confidence in AI. To guide more situated chatbot design, we proposed a tension-informed design framework that centers professional practice and surfaces tensions as opportunities rather than barriers. We discuss how introducing chatbots in LMICs should aim to amplify professionals’ capacity and align with the nature of assistive technology services.

Download activity - last month

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as JSONXMLCSV

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Archive Staff Only

View Item