Designing a Service Robot for Intuitive Public Interaction

CLIENT CASE

In the often uncharted lands of robotics, selecting the best form-factor and interaction is not always straight forward. To help our client create a unique and intuitive design for their service robot, we took an experience-driven approach to answer these questions. The result is an industrial design and HRI system created to facilitate a pleasant and effortless interaction for the end users.

Client

Confidential

Year

2025

Deliverables

Concept Development, Industrial Design, HRI

Challenge

The client approached us to design their new service robot, developed for customer interaction and navigation assistance, for example in airports. The goal was to shape the robots form factor in a way which was unique and avoid typical screen-focused designs. At the same time, the design also had to facilitate intuitive interaction with customers. Our core challenge was therefore to balance innovation with clarity in the design, both on the physical side and in the human-robot interaction.

Solution

By analyzing competitors, context and user journeys we set the grounds for the robots character and interaction. Following extensive form exploration with the client, we reached a final result. The design utilizes an ambiguous form, communicating its social role without overpromising on its capabilities, as a more human-like design might. With an interaction point in the actuated head, the design also facilitates intuitive and socially engaging interaction, without relying primarily on a tablet.