Design of a Chatbot for Relieving Academic Stress in Adolescent Students

This study aims to manage academic stress in adolescent students by developing a smartphone application featuring a chatbot called Zuko. Academic stress is a prevailing issue that impacts many high school and college students negatively. Stress is a major contributor to adverse psychological impacts in the adolescent population. To derive insights into academic stress and related issues, literature was reviewed and multiple stakeholders were interviewed. Based on these insights, a framework “iZnChAT” is proposed to generate chatbot-based digital solutions for managing academic stress. With adolescents being the most digitally connected population and chatbots having the potential to reach a wider audience, a chatbot Zuko is prototyped that can be accessed via a smartphone application. The chatbot includes elements of gamification to increase engagement. Subsequently, the chatbot was successfully evaluated by fifteen stakeholders based on various performance parameters. This chatbot is accessible via a smartphone application has a great potential to impact many lives by reducing academic stress, enhancing a students’ wellbeing and educational performance.