Our paper was accepted by HRI 2026
Our paper Aligning Task Goals before Execution: Insights from Diverse User Groups into Human–Robot Communication in Domestic Settings has been accepted at HRI 2026.
- Title
- Aligning Task Goals before Execution: Insights from Diverse User Groups into Human–Robot Communication in Domestic Settings
- Authors
- Lesong Jia, Yang Ye, Breelyn Styler, Na Du
- Abstract
- Integrating domestic robots into everyday life requires not only reliable execution but also prior alignment of task goals between humans and robots. While prior research has examined input interfaces and feedback strategies, it has largely focused on objective performance metrics and often overlooked user variability. To address this gap, we conducted a survey study with 113 participants across four groups: adolescents, younger adults, older adults, and wheelchair users. The survey captured participants' expectations of future robots (roles, embodiments, and concerns) and their preferences for instruction delivery and robot feedback before execution. Our results reveal both shared and group-specific patterns. Across groups, participants prioritized efficiency in instruction delivery and reliability in robot feedback. Regarding group differences: adolescents emphasized efficiency, wheelchair users valued transparency, and older adults may benefit from additional explanations of novel interaction technologies. Based on these findings, we derive stage-aware, context-sensitive, and group-adaptive design principles and recommendations to guide future robot interfaces.