Development and Evaluation of an AI-Based Chatbot for Preventing Social Media Addiction: A Waterfall Model Approach

The rapid growth of social media has transformed interaction and communication patterns, but it has also led to the rise of social media addiction, particularly among teenagers and young adults. This addiction, marked by compulsive usage and negative impacts on mental health and daily life, necessitates effective interventions. This research explores the development and evaluation of an AI-based chatbot designed to mitigate social media addiction by employing cognitive and behavioural strategies. The study utilizes the Waterfall model—a structured, sequential approach—in the chatbot’s development, encompassing stages from needs analysis to maintenance. The chatbot’s effectiveness was assessed through rigorous testing and user feedback. The methodology included problem analysis, system design, implementation, testing, and iterative improvements. A comprehensive needs analysis identified the psychological and behavioural factors contributing to social media addiction, leading to the design of a prototype chatbot integrated with AI for dynamic content adaptation and real-time feedback. The implementation phase focused on coding and system integration, followed by rigorous testing using Black Box Testing and the System Usability Scale (SUS) to ensure functionality and user-friendliness. Results indicate that the chatbot significantly reduced social media addiction scores, with a mean decrease from 55.21 to 50.17, supported by a highly significant p-value of <0.0001. User satisfaction was high, particularly regarding ease of use and information quality. However, user engagement declined over time, highlighting the need for ongoing content updates and feature enhancements. This study contributes to the field by providing insights into the application of the Waterfall model in AI chatbot development and offers a scalable solution for addressing social media addiction, with implications for future digital interventions in mental health.