Reflection, proactive guidance and microlearning: Evaluation of a conversational agent for food literacy
Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: The complexity of existing dietary information limits transitions towards healthier and more sustainable diets. HCI approaches that look to augment food literacy (i.e. knowledge, awareness and skills) and which engage LLM-powered conversational agents hold promise in addressing this challenge. Combining these strategies, we designed a conversational agent that shares principles of healthy and sustainable eating through a structured five-day interaction integrating self-reflection, proactive guidance and microlearning. In a field study using a mixed-methods approach, 14 participants interacted with the agent over five days. Qualitative findings highlight participants’ perceived value of personalisation and proactive guidance whilst quantitative results show participant-reported gains in dietary knowledge, awareness and an intention to adopt healthier, more sustainable habits. This case study provides empirical evidence into the potential of conversational agents in promoting food literacy around healthy and sustainable eating as well as design knowledge into the role of self-reflection, proactivity and microlearning in this context.
Institution: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Subfield: Human-Computer Interaction
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7214610684