"The superhero of the university": Experience-driven design and field study of the university guidance robot

Abstract

<p>Robots have recently gained popularity in customer service. Especially social robots are nowadays utilized in healthcare, elderly homes and schools. Although it is crucial to design social robots according to well-defined user experience goals, research related to experience-driven design of social robots is still scarce. Experience-Driven Design (EDD) is a framework to design interaction for technology based on certain goals, known as experience goals. In this paper, we present the design and evaluation of the university guidance robot based on the user experience goals defined in previous research. The experience goals are nurture, fellowship and recreation. We designed applications, interaction, and robot's behavior to support the fulfillment of the experience goals. The social robot Pepper served as a platform for the university guidance robot. The evaluation was conducted as a field study in a university campus with 32 university students during the orientation week. According to our findings, the university guide robot successfully evoked nurture, fellowship and recreation among participants.</p>