Navigating consequential decisions is a difficult task in and of itself, especially when they have a significant impact on one's life. This is especially true in the complex world of healthcare, where the importance of choices is magnified. The complexities of these issues can make it difficult for patients and their loved ones to effectively address them while dealing with increased stress and uncertainty. Medical professionals are also under immense pressure to ensure the well-being of their patients. In such scenarios, the indispensable role of decision support tools (DSTs) becomes apparent. These invaluable resources aid both patients and healthcare professionals in selecting the optimal treatment option by carefully considering the risks and benefits involved. DSTs play a vital role in empowering individuals to make well-informed decisions by providing relevant information and facilitating comprehensive analysis. These tools enable the evaluation of various treatment options or potential outcomes. Some DSTs are data-driven, relying on prognostic algorithms. By utilizing analytical methods and algorithms on clinical data, they can offer predictions on survival rates, chances of recurrence, and estimated quality of life, particularly in diseases such as cancer. Although data scientists have worked consistently to develop algorithms and guarantee the validity of the data used, there has been a noticeable lack of focus on defining the qualities of appropriate interaction with decision support tools. Numerous critical aspects remain unclear, such as identifying the appropriate qualities of interaction with a DST, determining the optimal delivery method for these tools, determining the optimal point in the care path to introduce them, specifying the relevant data to be provided to the DST, and deciding what information should be delivered to empower patients in their decision-making process. Furthermore, the integration and practical implementation of DSTs within the time limitations and complex dynamics of the medical context have been widely disregarded. In this graduation project, we adopt a speculative design perspective to explore the future of data-driven healthcare. We aim to imagine how DSTs can become meaningful and sustainable components of the care path. Through a process of futurology, we envision an alternative future (or present) to contribute to the doctor and patient (as human actors) seeing the DST (the non-human actor) literally as partners in making decisions.

The focus of this project is two-fold: first it explores how animation can be used to make functional robots more intuitively understandable. A framework for functional robot developers, to apply animations in the designed behaviours of their products, is proposed. Second, it demonstrates the value of the incorporation of animated behaviours, as well as the effects, through application of the framework to a hospital transport robot. Robots, belonging to smart machine technologies, are expected to be part of the most disruptive technologies over the next decade. Especially functional robots are on the rise, making the transfer from controlled factory floors to mundane environments, where people can also encounter them in everyday life. This requires new design strategies that tackle functional robots, not only as efficient machines but also as understandable agents that people can deal with, preferably intuitively. What sets robots apart from other intelligent agents, is that they are able manipulate our world not only digitally, but also physically. Since people are highly sensitive to physical movement, this trait can be used in the pursuit of more intuitively interpretable robots. The art of animation houses deep expertise in how to use movement, to dynamically communicate state and intention, and can therefore be the key to designing more intuitive robots This project has therefore set out to make effective application of animation practices available for functional robot developers, as to enable them to offer more intuitively understandable products and be a game changer for how we have to deal with robots today. A framework, that combines animation practices and functional robot development with knowledge of user-centred design, is proposed, to provide guidance throughout development towards more intuitively understandable products. Over the last decade an increasing number of functional robots have been developed and employed to conduct the intra-logistics in hospitals. The main reason for implementation has been that hospitals are under a constant pressure to cut costs. However, especially in sensitive settings such as hospitals, there is urgency for these robots to be naturally understood to facilitate an intuitive response in people towards the robots. People in healthcare facilities often feel stressed and anxious, leaving them with only little capacity to deal with complex or confusing situations. Based on the identified urgency for more intuitive robots in this setting, a case study was conducted that aimed to answer the following question: How can the application of animation principles in the designed expressivity of a hospital delivery robot evoke an intuitive response in hospital visitors, in such a manner that its expressive behaviour seamlessly integrates with its delivery function? It was found that the proposed framework effectively stimulates a workflow that adopts animation practices. Also, it could be concluded that animated behaviours and ‘staging’ of robots movements through embodiment can indeed stimulate desired response in the human encountering the robot. Although the framework still requires validation through evaluation in real life robot development project, the current study shows its potential as a first step towards more intuitively understandable robots based on animation practices.

This project develops a novel assistive technology for aiding in mobility of the Visually Impaired in collaboration with Royal Visio. This technology provides VIPs with a dynamic tactile map of their environment to improve spatial awareness. The aim is to improve overview, wayfinding and orientation, while also improving the overall mobility experience by boosting confidence and independence through comprehensive awareness of the environment. The initial research phase seeked to understand the needs and challenges in mobility faced by VIPs, both from a functional point of view, focusing on wayfinding and orientation, and on a psychosocial level, focusing on emotional and experiential needs that derive from the process. It was found that the absence of the visual sense significantly limits VIPs’ ability to overview and comprehend their surroundings, hindering their orientation and use of distant environmental reference for movement, resulting in the reliance on physical guidelines. Reduced awareness of potential hazards and complicated wayfinding often leads focus the functional aspects of mobility. They experience a vigilant, alert state of mind, focusing mainly on avoiding risks and not losing their way. This intense focus diminishes engagement with the broader environment and leads VIPs to stick to familiar areas. Such limitations impact their independence but also their connection with society. The review of current assistive solutions reveals that they primarily concentrate on similar functional aspects of mobility, using interface technologies that fall short in significantly enhancing environmental awareness and reducing the perceived lack of environmental awareness. This gap highlights the need for assistive technologies that focus not only on wayfinding and navigation but also on these experiential aspects. The project proposes a multidimensional, spatial interface technology akin to conventional tactile maps but of dynamic nature, is capable of real-time updates based on the actual environment, moves along with the user and subsequently is able to display non-static and small-scale environmental elements. This dynamic tactile map aims to provide a deeper sense of environmental awareness and understanding. In the subsequent research-through-design phase, a prototype of the conceptual product, that provides a dynamic top-view map of the environment on an electronic braille screen, is put to the test. Despite highlighting the potential of this conceptual direction for spatial understanding, orientation and free, confident movement, the experiment reveals significant requirements for improvement of the interface and environmental mapping technologies. The final design, “Immersive Spatial Awareness,” features an improved interface with in the form of a haptic augmented reality system that enables a dynamic 360° 3D perception of the environment, primarily through touch, but supplemented with multisensory elements. While significant technological development and Human-Centred-Design is required to realise this visionary concept, the applied technologies are grounded in actual research and existing technologies that see rapid development, highlighting the realistic potential of the concept. The design is supplemented with a roadmap that details and presents the development process towards the successful application of this technology.

The Dutch metropolis of Amsterdam deals with a waste problem. Both the inhabitants and tourists in Amsterdam experience nuisance from litter. The future growth of Amsterdam will only amplify this problem. To address this, the municipality needs to increase the productivity of the Schoon department, the department tasked with keeping the public space of Amsterdam clean. Therefore, the responsible and effective introduction of a cleaning robot is researched. During a series of walk-along days, interviews, experiments and observations, I identified multiple themes, important for the job satisfaction of the Schoon employees. This knowledge, combined with observed knowledge on practical challenges caused by the design of the Amsterdam public space on the cleaning activities, translates into a number of design qualities for a future cleaning robot. The results of this research seem to indicate that this cleaning robot could best be deployed during the shifts tasked with brooming the streets and emptying the trash bins, the Veegshift and Vuilnisbakkenshift respectively. During those shifts it can potentially assist in cleaning the street using the RAVO mechanical streetsweeper and emptying trash bins respectively. Assisting during those two tasks frees up manpower that can be utilized to increase the productivity of those shifts. The findings further highlight that this future robot should not compromise the freedom experienced by the Schoon employees in how they carry out their work. Nor should this robot replace the Schoon employees, as this would remove the human interaction with bystanders, an aspect of the work greatly appreciated by the employees. The loss of human interaction might also lead to a more monotonous situation, which is the opposite of the variety enjoyed by the Schoon employees during their work. The future robot should also be user friendly, allowing everyone in the department to operate the robot. Furthermore, the robot must be able to communicate its status, intentions and possible help requests and offers to its Schoon colleagues. Overall, the introduction of a cleaning robot can improve the cleanliness of the city of Amsterdam when the design incorporates the themes important for the job satisfaction of the Schoon employees, aims at an efficient human-robot collaboration through clear communication and combines the right type of autonomy with the challenging Amsterdam environment.

This project focuses on developing design guidelines for Human-Agent Collaboration around Authority, Autonomy, and Control in the outdoor painting context. While painting as an activity is something most of us have done and understand, working professionals have a sense of pride and skill in their motions that would be difficult to replace with agents. Painters are generally conservative and wary of innovation, as they deeply enjoy the restoration process. Still, they are also a profession that finds it difficult to recruit as many people as before. This project explored how agents could support painters to work sustainably to see what possibilities exist for collaboration. Through a combination of design and research activities, a Design Fiction grounded in painting practice and focused on Authority, Autonomy, and Control was developed. The Design Fiction facilitated discussions with painters around the three themes. From these discussions, design guidelines were developed for each theme. The guidelines contributed to the project's overall goal: understanding how agentic technology could facilitate the sustainable employment of painters.

Robot systems are essentially a new species spreading around us, one that we willingly designed and introduced. Neither a natural species nor a mere human artefact. We have limited information about these smart agents. What do they want, what do you need from us, and how can we find a common ground of understanding to enhance each other through collaboration. Lely took a step into exploring these questions. As a dutch-based company with a diverse portfolio of robot solutions, Lely thrives to bring dairy farming to the future. They cover many tasks assisting farmers and cows in barns worldwide. These increasingly capable entities are no longer tools but partners so we must take the next step into carefully designing our coexistence and collaboration with these robotic systems. After extensive literature on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) and research activities with a variety of stakeholders, I developed a Robot Code of Conduct. This code guides developers into designing robotic systems delivering pleasurable, fitting and cohesive interactions. It provides intermediate-level knowledge on robot behavioural design by carrying the reader through three sets of guidelines differing in abstraction and actionability. This project contributes to the field of HRI while spreading awareness of its relevance in practice. The document contains many influential factors that are applied and tailored to designing automated solutions in dairy farming. This document sets a direction and gives concrete guidelines to steer the development of the portfolio towards a vision where all Lely systems work and communicate desirably. Where they communicate as one. I obtained positive results from assessing the content and direction of this document with developers and farmers, however, further tests would be necessary for a more precise validation of this Robot Code of Conduct. Future research would be essential to transition from bringing awareness to relevant factors, to defining more recommendations and appropriate solutions.

The aim of this project was to stimulate young children with cancer to engage in physical play to decrease the stagnation of their physical development. Children from the age of 2 to 5 are in the middle of their physical growth and development. This is also the age group with the highest risk of being diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). The disease and treatment cause stagnation in the children's physical development. The body focuses on fighting the disease and that stops the children from moving and playing because they feel weak and insecure. Therefore, the goal is to create a (home) situation in which young children with ALL can freely play, while doing therapeutically relevant movements without professional supervision. What is missing from the current solutions like exercise programs from physiotherapists is a solution that attune to children’s natural way of engaging in physical activity, namely through play. Such solutions acknowledge the child as a child again, rather than a patient. Hobble was created with the intention to hide the therapeutically relevant exercises and movements in the toy, so the children could freely play. Hobble can walk forward by means of two wheels that can be switched for others. Each set or combination of wheels changes Hobble’s behaviour and walking pattern. The result is that Hobble’s characteristics and role change, dependent on the child’s interpretation. Hobble can walk, chase, follow, stunt and get stuck. Hobble has a hard time walking straight and is intentionally clumsy so it needs help often. This stimulates locomotion and gives children a sense of control that boosts their confidence and motivation to play more. Thus, Hobble elicits therapeutically relevant movement that the physiotherapists want to seem. Ultimately letting the children play naturally like any other child while getting healthy.

Future introduction on automated vehicles (levels 3, 4, and 5) in urban traffic comes with several societal benefits, but also challenges. One of the biggest challenges that the research community expects from this introduction is the possible problems or critical situations caused by the lack of interpersonal communication between drivers and vulnerable road users in the form of eye contact or hand gestures. To solve this problem, external Human-Machine Interfaces seem to be a suitable solutions to enable AV-VRU communication. This project reviews relevant literature on eHMI design and Human-Robot interaction to identify current knowledge gaps. Moreover, generative user research was used to identify needs and wants from vulnerable road users when interacting with motorized vehicles in traffic. Predictability, perception of vehicle’s awareness, and knowing how to act around automated vehicles were found to be key elements for smooth interactions in scenarios that were considered critical by research participants, namely crossings without traffic lights and being passed by vehicles that share the road with cyclists. In order to approach the problem, an iterative design process was followed to identify the best communication modalities and modes to be included in a final flexible and multimodal eHMI design, showing the potential of abstract light patterns and dynamic projections to enable AV transparency. The final design was evaluated through a video-based experiment in which participants were exposed to a baseline condition and the same scenario with the addition of the eHMI. This evaluation showed an improvement in the experience qualities evaluated in the presence of the eHMI designed, showing overall desirability and pointing out simplicity and flexibility as crucial qualities to design external communication systems.

Daily stress is a problem that many people are suffering from. In previous research a prototype was developed to help users to identify their own stressful places and encourage them to conduct self-training exercises in those locations. This prototype is called ‘Grippy’. The goal of this project is to explore what qualities Grippy’s vibration signal should have, to appropriately warn the user of upcoming stress. Three knowledge gaps are identified. First, how the vibration strength of the signal influences the noticeability, audibility and disruption of the vibration signal. Second, what environmental factors influence the noticeability of wrist-mounted vibration signals. And third, how we could design respectful vibration signals that grab the users attention. Three experiments have been performed. Experiments one and two used 14 and 7 participants respectively to measure at which vibration strength Grippy’s vibration signals are noticeable to the user and bystanders respectively. With the insights from these two experiments, a new stress alert signal is proposed. This signal is tested in a third auto-introspective experiment. In this experiment we also explore ‘how Grippy fulfils the qualities of wearable partners in daily life’. The proposed stress alert signal is found to be discreet and respectful in most situations. These include social situations like presenting, listening and talking, but also shopping, walking, studying and playing piano. During cycling the proposed stress alert signal was not consistently noticeable. In addition, short disruptions in the environment such as arm movement and gusts of wind could temporarily distract from or mask the vibration signal. This report concludes that a continuous vibration signal at a fixed vibration strength is likely an appropriate way of alerting users in most situations, but that adaptation of the vibration strength to detect cycling like situations will be necessary.

Many people experience worry once in a while. Chronic worry can have a severe impact on people's daily life. Many things, like health conditions, social relationships, sleep quality, and work performance, are all influenced by worrying [Joseph 2017]. So, this is something we would like to address. This assignment aims to explore embodied interactions to help people reduce worries and improve their well-being. To understand what people are worried about, how they start worrying, and what people do when worrying, I designed a culture probe, with wristband, stickers, and reports. The culture probe aims to capture the moment when the users are worrying. There were 16 participants in this research, providing 90 worry reports[Appendix-2]. From the analysis of culture probe, I narrowed the scope into the design goals: Monitor people's worry level, relieve people's negative feelings, remind people who are stuck in the negative feelings and distract people when they perceive low controllability. After that, I did competitive research about mental health Apps and therapeutic robots on the market. This research is to analyze the interactions they provide, why they work/do not work. Combining with literature reviews, I came up with the interaction vision describing how the interaction should be. The most essential visions are Inviting, subtle& natural, socially autonomous, and meaningful. Then, in the ideation phase, I did two brainstorming sessions to explore interactions to relieve people's negative feelings, how to detect their worrying feelings and how to make the interaction intuitively relate to the worries. There were also two evaluation sessions in the ideation phase, which helped me develop the ideas into three concepts. In the conceptualization phase, I developed three concepts further and arranged a peer evaluation session to determine the final concept, the zen stone concept. Then I did a low-fi prototype test to find out it the idea fits the design goal & interaction vision. The result was very promising; the interaction helped the user to relieve their negative feelings. So I decided to develop the concept further with an App providing guidance. Then I arranged the final usability test and iterated the concept with some details. The final design's name is Zen stone. It can recognize the user's emotions with emotion recognition by speech software and remind the user when they are worrying, though shining and vibrating. The zen stone will mimic the user's heart rate through a sensor, helping the user be aware of their mental state. It will also provide meditation guidance to help to user calm down and focus on the moment.

Leisure is defined by the Cambridge dictionary as: “The time when you are not working or doing other duties.” During this time, people engage in a broad variety of activities. They engage in these activities because they want to and because it makes them happy in some way. Newman et al (2013) researched the underlying psychological pathways by which leisure evokes happiness. They proposed five core psychological mechanisms through which leisure promotes subjective well-being (SWB). These mechanisms are detachment-recovery, autonomy, mastery, meaning and affiliation. Which activity triggers which mechanism, can differ per person and one activity can trigger multiple mechanisms.This project focuses on the mechanism of detachment-recovery. By utilising a user-centred approach, it was found that people were not always satisfied with their leisure time, more specifically with the recovery time they spent on the couch. The dissatisfaction had two main causes. Firstly, they were distracted from the activity they were engaging in. Secondly, they spent longer on the couch then they initially had intended to. To tackle those two causes, a smart pillow was designed.The concept of a smart pillow came to fruition by using a new perspective on smart objects, the perspective of objects with intent (OwI) (Rozendaal, Boon, & Kaptelinin, 2019). Objects with intent are everyday objects that act as collaborative partners in human activity. OwI’s are a type of agent and they take advantage of the meaning of everyday things as a site for intelligence and agency. Rozendaal et al (2019) prototyped the concept of an OwI by using a wizard of Oz style of prototyping (WoZ). In this setup, the researcher acted as the sensors and intelligence of the Object. In this project, I take a step towards the design of a fully autonomous OwI by applying a data-enabled design approach (J. van Kollenburg & S. Bogers, 2019).In this project, I explore how I can apply a data-enabled design approach. I show my approach, the tools I use, the visualisations I have made and the insight I have gained. By doing this I aim to inform fellow industrial design students on how they also can apply the data-enabled design. In this process, one specific visualisation was found to be very useful. This was a 3D representation of the prototype of the pillow in which data gathered by sensors in the prototype were visualised on the 3D representations. This representation was an animation which was matched with video recordings of the usage of the pillow.

With the rise of digital technologies including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and sensor technologies, all the products we use every day are increasingly becoming ‘intelligent’. Machines, objects, and tools are slowly evolving into robots, objects-with-intent (Rozendaal et al., 2019), and agents. At the same time, their capabilities are also increasing. These capabilities come from their ability to process large amounts of data. In this digital era, how can designers create user-centric solutions by leveraging the strengths of these digitally-enabled products at an early stage in the design process? This thesis explores this topic in the context of pedestrian mobility. More specifically, outdoor mobility for people with vision impairments. When people with vision impairments travel, they must process an extensive amount of spatial information without relying on their vision. How can an agent partner with these users to make this process less demanding and thus, make it easier for people with vision impairments to travel independently? Combining these two visions, this thesis focuses on uncovering the problem areas, information needs, and desires of PVIs traveling outdoors by leveraging behavioral data. Two main user studies, both involving different types of behavioral data have been explored. Based on the exploratory research, in which physiological data was collected, two behavioral states, ‘following’ and ‘reorienting’, were identified. These two states also reflected the PVI's mental state, moments of ease, and moments of uncertainty. This inspired the initial idea for a user-aware navigation agent, which could announce different types of data depending on whether the user was ‘following’ a route or ‘reorienting’ on the route. In the evaluative research, the agent’s capability to detect the two states was tested by training a machine learning algorithm. In addition, a second evaluative user study was conducted to test the hypothesis of the information needs in the ‘following’ and ‘reorienting‘ states. The study setup was designed to generate a new type of behavioral data, which consists of the location users requested additional information. Thus, the user needs were quantified. This kind of behavioral data; one that embeds rich information about the user needs, becomes the building block of future prototypes of the user-aware navigation agent. Those iterations will then produce more data that embed further insights. This positive feedback cycle will be key to keeping the PVIs constantly in the product development loop and hopefully, result in a navigation agent that allows PVIs to easily travel safely and independently.

According to the literature, sleep deprivation is becoming more common among women between the age of 35-54. These women are easily affected by stress due to their peculiar hormonal, familial and social conditions. Their lifestyle rhythm is shifting towards a 24/7 time-schedule where there is a massive presence of technologies and stressful factors during each moment of the day. This ‘modern’ way of living has a major influence on their lives and in particular affects the sleeping preparation phase of the day (corresponding to the 2-3 hours before sleeping) when the body starts to produce the hormone melatonin that prepares in falling asleep. Maya, is a future vision on how technology could empower women who are suffering from sleep deprivation in conducting a consistent routine during the 2-3 hours before sleeping, through moments of awareness and motivation. The final design involves a journey during the 2-3 hours before falling asleep aided by different sceneries of environment within the house. To help smoothening the transition from being awake into falling asleep.

As more consumer products and services are getting intelligent and collect data about the user, privacy has become an important topic of debate in society. New rules and legislation are being implemented to safeguard the user’s privacy. In addition, from a technological perspective, developments like the creation of the seven principles of ‘privacy by design’ for systems engineering aim to ensure that privacy is embedded within the functioning of these ‘smart objects’. However, there has not yet been given much attention to creating privacy through interaction design. This project aimed to create a design approach which has the user’s control over their privacy at its core: The Privacy-Driven Interaction Design approach. Through the creation of a conceptual framework, this project started with an analysis of existing theory of Human-Computer Interaction. It proposes three design strategies for creating smart objects that give the user control over their privacy: 1 | Design smart objects with Character; 2 | Design smart objects with Expression of Presence; 3 | Design smart objects with Frictional Feedback. Through cinematic prototyping, this project explores these strategies and implements them in a case study. For the case study, two smart gloves were created which aid veterans during their therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. Both of the gloves have different characters to show the impact of the smart object’s character on the interaction between the user and the object. The smart gloves have both a conceptual purpose, which is to demonstrate how the design strategies can be implemented in a design process, and a functional purpose, which is to put the disclosure of information about the veteran’s stress levels and therapy progress in the veteran’s hand. The conclusions from the creation of the conceptual framework and the smart objects during the case study lead to a guide for the Privacy-Driven Interaction Design approach. This guide is presented in the form of a checklist with ‘design questions’ and ‘design strategies’. This report aims to present the potential of this design approach and the smart gloves for veterans. However, more extensive research is recommended to further develop both the design approach and the design concepts.