Why Do They Refuse to Use My Robot? Reasons for Non-Use Derived from a Long-Term Home Study

• Published in: 2017 12th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI pp. 224 - 233
• Main Authors: de Graaf, Maartje, Ben Allouch, Somaya, van Dijk, Jan
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY, USA ACM 06.03.2017
• Series: ACM Conferences
• Subjects: Applied computing; Applied computing > Law, social and behavioral sciences; Applied computing > Law, social and behavioral sciences > Psychology; Data collection; Discontinuance; Domestic environment; Domestic robots; Encoding; Human-centered computing; Human-centered computing > Human computer interaction (HCI); Human-centered computing > Human computer interaction (HCI) > Empirical studies in HCI; Human-centered computing > Human computer interaction (HCI) > HCI design and evaluation methods; Human-centered computing > Human computer interaction (HCI) > HCI design and evaluation methods > User studies; Human-robot interaction; Interviews; Longterm use; Non-use; Rejection; Resistance; Robots; Shape; Technology acceptance; Waste materials; domestic environment; discontinuance; domestic robots; long-term use; technology acceptance; non-use; rejection; resistance
• ISBN: 9781450343367; 1450343368
• ISSN: 2167-2148
• DOI: 10.1145/2909824.3020236

Research on why people refuse or abandon the use of technology in general, and robots specifically, is still scarce. Consequently, the academic understanding of people's underlying reasons for non-use remains weak. Thus, vital information about the design of these robots including their acceptance and refusal or abandonment by its users is needed. We placed 70 autonomous robots within people's homes for a period of six months and collected reasons for refusal and abandonment through questionnaires and interviews. Based on our findings, the challenge for robot designers is to create robots that are enjoyable and easy to use to capture users in the short-term, and functionally-relevant to keep those users in the longer-term. Understanding the thoughts and motives behind non-use may help to identify obstacles for acceptance, and therefore enable developers to better adapt technological designs to the benefit of the users.