User-Centered Design and Evaluation of a Mobile Shopping Robot

• DOI: 10.1007/s12369-014-0257-8
• Publication Date: 2014-10-27T17:23:44Z
• Authors: Nicola Doering; Sandra Poeschl; Horst-Michael Gross; Andreas Bley; Christian Martin; Hans-Joachim Boehme
• Keywords: Human–robot interaction; Usability goals

This paper describes the user-centered design and evaluation process of a humanoid mobile shopping robot named TOOMAS that assists customers of home improvement stores. Three separate empirical field studies addressing the robot's usability (according to ISO 9241-11) and acceptability (intention to use) are presented involv- ing N = 343 test persons altogether. The first forma- tive evaluation study (N = 210) addresses the usabil- ity of the robot's article search system. It is demon- strated how several usability problems could be identified and eliminated, leading to significantly more successful article searches. The second formative evaluation study (N = 39) addresses the robot's adaptation to its specific task and role in the home improvement store. Embodi- ment, mobility, voice output, and social behavior were ana-