Finished Projects
INtelligent Collaboration with Speechbased AssisTANTs (INSTANT)
Current Situation
Service provision in customer service is strongly characterised by interactive work and an intensive exchange of knowledge between customers and service providers. This requires customer service staff to respond flexibly to enquiries and develop individual solutions to complex problems, such as product complaints. The execution of these interactive tasks is associated with a high level of stress for employees, which is induced by unpredictable content of constantly increasing customer enquiries, lack of information and conflicts in customer discussions.
Objective of the project
The twofold aim of INSTANT is to improve the working conditions in customer service. On the one hand, the project focuses on reducing employees’ strain in terms of processing increasing numbers of customer. On the other hand, approaches are developed to facilitate work-integrated training for employees. To achieve these aims, a language-based assistance systems based on artificial intelligence will be developed: During customer calls, employees will receive relevant information, for example the shipment status of a delivery. With the help of the AI-based assistance system, specific solution strategies are automatically presented to employees during customer interaction. Overall, in the project the goal is addressed to positively influence working conditions for customer service by implementing AI-based assistance systems.
In a first step, AI-based-system-enabled interaction work in customer service will be systematically analysed, tested and evaluated in a laboratory environment. Subsequently, accumulated insights are transferred into the field. In two pilot phases involving three organizations, qualitative and quantitative research methods, such as expert interviews or experiments, are carried out. This way, organizational, work- and interaction-related aspects as well as technical requirements for the collaboration between employees and language-based assistance systems in customer service will be explored and consolidated in empirically validated design patterns.
Role of WISTS
WISTS focuses on the development and evaluation of interaction models and scenarios, which apply to provided support by the AI-enabled assistance system for work processes and tasks. Utilizing a systematic and iterative approach, first simple interaction scenarios are examined and evaluated in order to determine requirements regarding the AI-based assistance system for the realization of human-centered collaboration. Afterwards, complex interaction scenarios are examined for work processes and tasks to support employees’ service provision activities addressing the goal of increasing the working conditions for customer service.
Project Partners
- UHH – IT Management & Consulting (Project coordination)
- UHH – Language Technology
- iteratec GmbH
- Beiersdorf Shared Services GmbH
- Otto GmbH & Co KG
Project Homepage
Project Details
- Duration: 01.03.2020 – 28.02.2023
- Project Management: Prof. Dr. Tilo Böhmann
- Funding Code: 02L18A111
- Funding Note:
The project INSTANT is funded within the program „Zukunft der Arbeit“ (Future of Work) by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the European Social Fund of the European Union.
Project sponsorships lays at the Projektträger Karlsruhe (PTKA).
Civitas Digitalis
Digital and Crowd-based Service Systems for the Establishment 
of Sustainable and Liveable Living Enviroment
Current Situation
Digitalization for an extended range and depth of participation in civic participation
The isolation of individual social strata, the acceleration of social change and pace of life represent growing challenges for municipalities and call for changes. To transform cities to sustainable, adaptable, and livable environments, the digitalization of everyday life and the transformation towards a civil society with a strong need for dialogue, self-realization and cooperation, offer untapped potentials. In particular, an increasing willingness to participate in the creation and provision of services (co-creation) and the sharing of resources and offers (sharing), combined with digital networking, provide the opportunity to create new, needs-oriented and high-quality services, infrastructures, and projects. These can strengthen the community, involve citizens productively, meet their needs, counteract negative effects of demographic development and thus create a more liveable and future-oriented living environment and work space.
Objective of the Project
Innovative services for ‘Smart Cities’ are one way of dealing with these diverse challenges in cities. Based on integrated ICT technologies, opportunities of value creation are supported. The active participation of citizens is fostered to make the provided services user and customer specific, safe, reliable and available in high quality. Simultaneously, the quality of life of the citizens as well as the competitiveness of urban economy should be permanently increased.
The Civitas Digitalis solution consists of three partial solutions and is developed and piloted iteratively:
(1) The citizens’ sensor provides a web-based participatory network for the collection and generation of new service ideas and the potential for improvement of existing services.
(2) IT-supported processes and techniques for joint co-creation (on-site and platform-based) are tested by the city, service companies and citizens for the innovation process building set.
(3) Finally, the Civitas Digitalis platform brings together the results in an integrated Internet platform and, thereby, enables the full implementation and control of co-creation and co-production to the development, improvement and transformation of innovative, high-quality services for the smart service city of the future.
Role of WISTS
Prof. Dr. Bittner is the coordinator of the Civitas Digitalis project. The scientific work of WISTS focuses on the development of methods, tools and processes for IT-supported local co-creation. Furthermore, WSITS is responsible for the Civitas Digitalis solution including the usage and introduction concepts as well as the piloting phase conducted with Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg. The achievement of objectives in the project is ensured by the systematic accumlation of knowledge about participation, interaction and co-creation in participation processes and the continuous evaluation of the developed solutions with regard to process flow, effectiveness and efficiency.
Project Coordination
University of Hamburg, Work Group, Information Systems, esp. socio-technical system-design, Prof. Dr. Eva Bittner, E-Mail: bittner"AT"informatik.uni-hamburg.de<br /><br />(bittner"AT"informatik.uni-hamburg.de)
Project Partners
- University of Kassel
- City of Kassel
- Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
- fortiss GmbH
Project Homepage
http://www.civitas-digitalis.de
Project Details
- Duration: 1st February 2017 to 30th April 2020
- Project Management : Prof. Dr. Eva Bittner
- Third-Party Donors: Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Projektträger Karlsruhe
- Funding Code of UHH: 02K15A051
