From Instructor to Collaborator: What a 90-Participant Study Reveals about Human-Agent Collaboration in a Mobile Serious Game

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2605.27384v1
• Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2026 17:05:51 GMT
• Title: From Instructor to Collaborator: What a 90-Participant Study Reveals about Human-Agent Collaboration in a Mobile Serious Game
• Abstract summary: This position paper reflects empirical data collected during my PhD from a large-scale within-subjects study.<n>The study compared a highly human-like, spoken embodied conversational agent (ECA) against a low human-like text base agent.
• Score: 0.0
• License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
• Abstract: This position paper reflects empirical data collected during my PhD from a large-scale within-subjects study (N = 90). The study compared a highly human-like, spoken embodied conversational agent (ECA) against a low human-like text base agent (no embodiment, text bubble only) within a mobile, Unity-developed game about pre-decimal UK currency. The game included two agents with different roles-an Instructor (Alex) and a Shopkeeper/Collaborator. Users interacted using voice and mouse input. The quantitative data I collected included a usability questionnaire (CCIR MINERVA) and the Agent Persona Instrument. Data was analyzed using paired t-test, repeated measures ANOVA and multiple linear regression to identify correlations between the persona and usability. The results showed a statistically significant preference for the version of highly human-like agents, with a large effect size. This is further discussed alongside qualitative findings from observations and exit interviews. The results are framed for Human-Agent collaboration, especially for how roles, mixed-initiative dialogue, and breakdowns/repairs become apparent in goal-oriented tasks. I conclude with questions on timing, user expectations, and role-specific interactions. This submission does not propose new frameworks; it reports empirical findings and questions I hope to workshop with the community.

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