Social Robots: Principles of Interaction Design and User Studies

This chapter considers when, why and how you can conduct user-focused research when working with robots. While exciting, high-quality human–robot interaction research is carried out in laboratories and real-life settings around the world, often those working in the field of robotics feel unsure or unprepared to conduct user-focused research, as research design and analysis is typically not included in undergraduate robotics courses. Conducting well-designed research studies can allow you to identify potential issues, benefits and unexpected outcomes of real-world interactions between robots and users, and provide evidence for efficacy and impact. Being able to confidently and competently design and conduct user studies with robots will be an advantage in a myriad of workplace roles.

This chapter is designed to be an introduction and practical guide to conducting human–robot interaction research. In this chapter, we consider why you should conduct research examining human–robot interaction, how you can identify the best research design to answer your question, and select and measure appropriate variables. Throughout the chapter we provide examples of relevant real-world research projects. While we can necessarily only “scratch the surface” of each topic we discuss in this single chapter, and you are encouraged to explore deeper into the issues of relevance to you, the tools in this chapter will allow you to understand and implement well-designed research projects in human–robot interaction.