Abstract
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.