Making the Case for Human-Centered Technology

Jennifer L. Burke, Ph.D.

AbstractHuman-centered technology is just thattechnology designed to augment or enhance human life is some fashion. To design robotic technology that is truly human-centered, one must consider three things: 1) the human need or desire that the technology is created to address, 2) how the form, fashion, and function of the technology will meet that need or desire, and 3) how interacting with the system will affect the human user, directly and indirectly. Without these three questions in the forefront of the creators mind, the technology is doomed to fail its purpose, which is to make life better for people. The best way to ensure that this does not happen is to involve users in the design process early on: treat them as the domain subject matter experts when it comes to understanding the human need or desire that is the problem statement. Test and iterate often throughout the design process using reasonable, meaningful metrics. Lastly, remember that users will discover new ways to use and enjoy the technology, perhaps even better than those originally intended. Keep track of this through maintaining contact with the user community. Creating useful, joyful human-centered technology is a process that should involve humans all the way! Keywords-human-centered technology; robotics; human-robot interaction; design; user interface

I.

THE LIGHT BEYOND THE LAB

Robotics for robotics sake is fun in the lab. All of the cool things you can do, the applications you can imagine, and the ways it can succeed if it ever makes it out of the lab are the stuff robot developers dream of when creating and designing a robot system. However, for those dreams to ever become a reality, many events must fall into place. There has to be a market for the technology (not just an application), and there has to be a plan on to make it affordably so that it can be sold for a reasonable price. There has to be a way to make money, and there has to be a way to teach people how to use the system and understand it. Critically, there has to be a way to make sure it doesnt get dumped by the wayside after the novelty wears off. The best, best, best robot ever made may be sitting forgotten in a lab (or still on someones desktop) because no one made provisions for getting the end product out to the intended users. Well, you might be thinking, thats not a job one person can do alone, and I am the one making the systemsomeone else will have to do the other stuff. You would be correct, to a point: you cant do it all, but there are things you can do in creating a new robot system that will greatly increase its chances of ever seeing light beyond the lab. The key is to start from the basic tenet that robots that are human-centered technology. This is not the only way to look at robots, of course, --just as there are many ways to look at the world (through the eyes of art, science, religion, mathematics), there are many ways to look at robotics. Starting from the vantage point of seeing robots as a human-centered technology

means the entire design process is informed by more focus on the human, less on the technology. This can be a tall order for engineers, computer scientists, and businessmen, you are thinking. We will need help from a psychologist, or a sociologist, or at least a computer scientist that specializes in human-robot interaction. Sure, that is a good idea. No one will argue with the value of incorporating multidisciplinary perspectives in the design process. Buthere is the easy part (you can quit reading after this if you want)remember that you, as engineers and computer scientists and businessmen, have a unique advantagenot only do you possess the skills and knowledge needed to create a robot system, you also conveniently happen to be human! There, youre done! Go be human and create robots. If only it were that easy, yes? It seems that our knowledge and skills sometimes crowd our humanity out of the way when it comes to workthis is true in every occupation. Creating human-centered technology is an effortful process, and one that requires deliberate actions on the part of the creator. This paper is my attempt to describe that process on a high level. The topic of how to take those wonderful ideas and bring them to market successfully is beyond the scope of this paper, but we will come back to revisit it at the end, because that is ultimately what we wantfor the technology we design and create with human beings in mind to be used and enjoyed in the real world, by real people. To design robotic technology that is truly human-centered, one must consider three things: 1) the human need or desire that the technology is created to address, 2) how the form, fashion, and function of the technology will meet that need or desire, and 3) how interacting with the system will affect the human user, directly and indirectly. Without these three questions in the forefront of the creators mind, the technology is doomed to fail its purpose, which is to make life better for people. The best way to ensure that this does not happen is to involve users in the design process early on: treat them as the domain subject matter experts when it comes to understanding the human need or desire that is the problem statement. Test and iterate often throughout the design process using reasonable, meaningful metrics. Lastly, remember that users will discover new ways to use and enjoy the technology youve created, perhaps even better than those originally intended. Keep track of this through maintaining contact with the client community. Creating useful, joyful human-centered technology is a process that should involve humans all the way! II. THESE THREE THINGS

A. Human Needs and Desires There is no need for a robot in the human world (other than for the sheer entertainment value, or perhaps to fulfill our need

to create something beyond ourselves). Human needs and desires are about safety, security, health, having enough to eat and a roof over our heads; then about forming relationships, friends, family, colleagues, -- connections that make meaning in our lives, and finally about attempting to fulfill consciously or unconsciously, the reason we are here [1][2]. People have been creating things to fulfill human needs and desires since time beganit is programmed into us. The process of creating a robot to fulfill some need or desire begins by forgetting about the robot, period. Look at people. Who are you designing for? For some, it is personal. I want to create a robot to help my sister as she struggles with a chronic disease, or my mother as she ages. For others, it is more broad: they want to help kids with autism, or find a way to protect our troops as they defend our country, or open new paths for scientific discovery. There are also those who want to create for knowledgeto understand what it is to be human, or how the mind works. Whatever the impetus, the first step is to nail down the specifics of what it will take to supply that need or fulfill that desire. When undertaking any technical project, one must first understand the domain. Deep domain knowledge comes from the experts in that particular field those who live in it, are steeped in the history, nuances, and everyday quirks [3]. Someone with insider knowledge is what is required to gather the details needed to create specifications for a robot system that meets the users needs. B. Maintaining the Integrity of the Specifications The subtitle above comes straight from the template for this manuscript. The words, however, are powerful and aim at the heart of the middle step in the design process: as you design the form, fashion, and function of the system, keep the users needs and desires as a filter through which all ideas are considered. This means that once you have gathered the details necessary from the intended user, you take the reins and drive, using the map given you by the domain expert. In everything from the physical form of the system, to the functions and capabilities it performs, and especially the fashion in which its goals are accomplished, as the creator you design according to the specifications given you by the user. For example, let us say you are designing a service robot to assist an elderly person who has some small difficulties in doing the day-to-day tasks of livingperhaps she suffers from carpal tunnel syndrome (a condition I fully expect to become more and more common in this age!) The robot you design must be able not only to perform the tasks neededreach for and manipulate small objects, open a pill bottle, unscrew a capit needs to show in its every feature what it can and cannot do. Are you going to give a keyboard interface to someone whose fingers are cramped from years of tapping on a keyboard? No! And if something goes wrong with the robot system, how will that be conveyed to the user? Will she have to guess what is wrong, or call someone? Or can you make a system that self-diagnoses and reports not only what the problem is but a suggestion or two on how to fix it? Finally, step back a pace and consider the larger picture: is the system youve created practically realizable? Can it be made for a reasonable cost so that the intended user can afford it? Can

you provide a way to train her on its beautiful capabilities and show her all the things it can do for her that you have imagined and created with her, the end user, in mind? From the very beginning, remember this: the entire robot system is the interface to the human user [3]. Every detail of its form, function, and fashion must maintain the integrity of the specifications drawn from answering the human need or want that motivated its creation. Throughout the design process, test and iterate often, using reasonable, meaningful metrics. These can be very simple: usefulness, ease of use, satisfaction, failure rate, resilience. They must be measured regularly, and chosen with the thought of continuing to use them after the system is in the hands of its user for an extended period of time. C. The Psychology of the User Much is made of the social aspect of human-robot interaction: how will the user engage with the robot system? What kinds of affect should be incorporated into it? This is why I use the word fashion in the preceding discussion, for it is very important that (just as people do), we form the right impression from the robot from the very beginning. From the first meeting, til the system reaches the end of its lifecycle, the interaction will affect the user both directly and indirectly. While you can do your best to ensure that the interaction is positive, safe, and enjoyable, you truly cannot predict how people will respond, nor can you expect all user experiences to be the same. As the designer, all you can do is present as honestly as possible what the system is and is not. People will draw their own conclusions based upon their perceptionsso give them as open a window as possible into the system. Trying to manipulate peoples feelings and emotions by choosing a certain appearance or sound for the robot is not a bad thing, as long as you make it clear to the user that that is what you are doing. The crux of it is this: you do not need to over-worry about how to make the system engage with the human-that is the humans part, and they will do it, you cannot stop them. People see everything through the filter of their own perception of reality, and you cannot control that nor can you make everyone see things the same way. Think of the Roomba: to one person it is a vacuum cleaner, to another it is a tech toy, and to yet another it is a pet with a name and stickers to make it special. After you have done your best to create a system designed to meet the users needs and wants, and have tested and iterated to make sure you have stayed true to the specifications, then you let the user control the interaction at the level they choose. (But keep collecting the metrics, for this data will inform the next iteration of the system). People will find new ways to interact with the robot, new tricks and activities that spring from their creative sideand even new tasks and capabilities that neither of you imagined when the system was created. Maintaining contact with the user community after a system is in use is critical to its success just as Apple or Google keep growing and expanding the capabilities of their technology, so will the creators of a successful robot system. (That is how you sustain a market, too--keep expanding what your technology can do!) Creating human-centered technology is not a process that ends with the

designer handing off to the userit is a shared life activity that we should relish.

III.

MAKING THE CASE FOR HUMAN-CENTERED TECHNOLOGY

the systems they need or want. We cannot stop the evolution of technology and how it may change us, but we can watch it observe it, report it, and be mindful of what we do every step of the way. That is the beauty of being humanwe can be aware of what we doand that is a responsibility that we as creators of human-centered technology should embrace with joy. Go have fun!

Creating technology that augments or enhances human life is a tall order for the designer, and a great responsibility. It is one that I think we as the robotics community are capable of taking on, and we must do so. The last thing one wants to do is create a system that does harm to its intended user in any way. And yet, we cannot predict all of the effects that our technology will have on the people that use it. No one anticipated the cellphone becoming a part of our lives to the point it hasas a cognitive aid, a social medium, and a way of interacting with people at work and in leisure. Because of its situatedness, its ability to move and react in our world, a robot system has far more potential to change the way we live and work and interact with one another. Let us do all we can to be aware of those changes, and to point them out to the users even as we create

ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author thanks Nanette Hardee, Michael S. Shih and Erika Rogers for their comments, suggestions, and support. REFERENCES
[1] [2] [3] A.E. Maslow, Toward a Psychology of Being. New York: Van Nostrand, 1968. M.E.P. Seligman, Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being. New York: Free Press, 2011. J.L. Burke, H.I.Christensen, R. Koeppe, R. Menassa, M. Munich et al., Crossing the chasm beween industry and academia , unpublished.