Article ID: CBB047169622

Of robots and humans: Creating user representations in practice (April 2020)

unapi

In this study, we explore the constitution of user representations of robots in design practice. Using the results of ethnographic research in two robot laboratories, we show how user representations emerge in and are entangled with design activities. Our study speaks to the growing popularity of and investment in robotics, robots and other forms of artificial intelligence. Scholars in Science and Technology Studies (STS) have shown that it is often difficult for designers and engineers to develop accurate ideas about potential users of such technologies. However, the social context of robots and design settings themselves have received significantly less attention. Based on our laboratory ethnographies, we argue that the practices in which engineers are engaged are important as they can shape the kind of user images designers create. To capture these dynamics, we propose two new concepts: ‘image-evoking activities’ as well as ‘user image landscape’. Our findings provide pertinent input for researchers, designers and policy-makers, as they raise questions with regards to contemporary fears of robots replacing humans, for the effectiveness of user involvement and participatory design, and for user studies in STS. If design activities co-constitute the user images that engineers develop, a greater awareness is needed specifically of the locales in which the design of robots and other types of technologies takes place.

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Authors & Contributors
Vertesi, Janet Amelia
Mandy de Wilde
Niels Van Dijk
Usenyuk, Sverlana
Andreas Kolb
Carsten Ochs
Concepts
Users of technology
Design
Technoscience; science and technology studies
Ethnography
Robots
Usability
Time Periods
21st century
20th century
20th century, late
Places
Arctic regions
United States
Netherlands
South Africa
Poland
Soviet Union
Institutions
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Mars Exploration Rover Mission (U.S.)
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