Thank you for testing our housing chatbot.
All queries made during this exercise are for testing purposes only.
Please do not use the chatbot for any real-life issues. We will not answer any queries made during this test.
The test will take around 20 minutes and will be followed by a very short survey. You will be asked to use the chatbot to help you with these five housing scenarios:
Your sister is in poor health and you want to move home to be closer to her. You currently rent from a private landlord in a different part of Gateshead to your sister. Use the chatbot to find out more about renting from Gateshead Council.
You live in a Gateshead Council house and your bathroom tap is leaking. Use the chatbot to find out how you can get it fixed.
You have lived in a Gateshead Council house for five years and you want to replace your living-room carpet with laminate flooring. Use the chatbot to find out more about doing this.
You own your home and your next-door neighbour, who is a Gateshead Council tenant, has been playing loud music late at night every day for a week. Use the chatbot to find out how you can resolve this issue.
You are a Gateshead Council tenant and you are worried about being able to pay your rent. Use the chatbot to get some advice about what you should do. If the chatbot does not give an appropriate response to your first question, please ask more questions until it does. Do not complete any forms.
If, after several attempts, the chatbot does not give you the answer you need, please move on to the next question. We need you to keep moving on so that you answer the survey at the end.
We are interested in finding out how easy you have found using the chatbot and also how satisfied you are with the responses it gives.
Getting started
You can use any device to do the test (PC, mobile, tablet).
The test runs through a program called Userbrain. This records your screen so we can watch you complete the tasks. If you are using a PC, you will need to install the Userbrain browser extension. This will appear at the top-right of your screen. You may need to click on this icon to see the testing questions. If you are using a mobile device, you will need to download the Userbrain app. (Userbrain will guide you through these actions.)
Userbrain will ask you to talk through your thoughts and actions as you perform the test. It will not allow you to do the test if you do not switch on your microphone. However, we are mainly interested in watching your interactions with the chatbot, and you don't have to speak if you don't want to.
A note about the testing setup
If you follow any of the links presented by the chatbot, the page will open in a new tab, which will not have the chatbot on. You will need to navigate back to this page to continue using the chatbot. (This will not be an issue when the chatbot is live - it is only happening now because we are linking from a hidden test page to the live website.)
Thank you.
