HawkerSearch: an LLM-powered marketing platform for elderly and/or low tech literacy hawkers in Singapore

• Main Author: Oh, Malthus Teng Jie
• Other Authors: Anwitaman Datta
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Computer and Information Science; User interface and user experience (UI/UX); Large language models
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/181193
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Hawker Culture in Singapore, recognised by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage, is a vital part of our nation’s cultural and economic landscape. However, as technology continues to evolve and shape our society, an ageing and less tech-savvy hawker demographic remains disconnected from modern marketing techniques, widening the digital gap between hawkers and contemporary F&B establishments. This report is centred around the research, implementation, and testing of HawkerSearch, a web-based LLM-powered digital marketing tool to help hawkers attract new customers and sustain their businesses. Users can come onto HawkerSearch, input their food and drink preferences in natural language (e.g. “I want to eat something soupy and spicy”), and receive hawker stall recommendations which they can then visit, boosting food traffic and revenue for participating hawkers. The tool will prioritise three core objectives: 1. Provide substantial value through the food search functionality to ensure a large user base. 2. Facilitate accessibility for elderly and/or low tech literacy hawkers through user-friendly onboarding processes and software design tailored to this demographic, backed by in-depth research into their specific needs and behaviours. 3. Provide relevant and easy-to-understand marketing insights to hawkers, enabling them to analyse performance metrics and improve their business operations. There are also research deliverables in scope for this report: 1. Research and distillation of software user interface and user experience (UI/UX) principles for elderly and/or low tech literacy users within a Singaporean context. 2. Research and integration of Large Language Models (LLMs) for processing, validating, and generating information within a Singaporean context. Through these efforts, this project seeks to (1) empower hawkers to bridge the digital divide and (2) provide insights that can guide future software development for elderly and/or low tech literacy users in Singapore, as well as the effective integration of LLMs into modern software systems.