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User Experience in Large-Scale Robot Development: A Case Study of Mechanical and Software Teams

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Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2023 (INTERACT 2023)

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Abstract

User experience integration within software companies has been studied extensively, but studies on organizations that develop robots are scant. The physical and socially situated presence of robots poses unique design and development challenges, which companies should be able to address. This case study examines how mechanical and software teams involved in a large-scale robot development project embed UX in robot design. The case offers new perspectives on HCI research, which traditionally explores UX integration in companies from the point of views of UX specialists and software developers, with little consideration of how mechanical and software design interact. During our 12+ months collaboration with the company, we conducted non-participant observations of 30 project SCRUM meetings. Based on this data, we identify four themes concerning the role of UX in robot development, workarounds in design evaluation, requirements handling, and coordination mechanisms.

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Acknowledgments

We like to thank the case company and practitioners involved for providing an interesting setting for our research. Additionally, we thank Aleksandra Kaszowska for proofreading the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronic Systems, Aalborg University, Fredrik Bajers Vej 7B, Aalborg, 9220, Denmark

    Sara Nielsen

  2. Department of Computer Science, Aalborg University, Selma Lagerlöfs Vej 300, Aalborg, 9220, Denmark

    Mikael B. Skov & Anders Bruun

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  1. Sara Nielsen
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  2. Mikael B. Skov
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  3. Anders Bruun
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Correspondence to Sara Nielsen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of West London, London, UK

    José Abdelnour Nocera

  2. Reykjavik University, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Marta Kristín Lárusdóttir

  3. University of York, York, UK

    Helen Petrie

  4. University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy

    Antonio Piccinno

  5. Université Côte d’Azur, Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France

    Marco Winckler

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Nielsen, S., Skov, M.B., Bruun, A. (2023). User Experience in Large-Scale Robot Development: A Case Study of Mechanical and Software Teams. In: Abdelnour Nocera, J., Kristín Lárusdóttir, M., Petrie, H., Piccinno, A., Winckler, M. (eds) Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2023. INTERACT 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14143. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42283-6_3

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