Emotional Design of Children's Intelligent Companion Products

Based on User Experience

Lujun Ren

1,2 a

, Khairun Nisa Mustaffa Halabi

and Hui Ma

City University Malaysia U.C.I. Education SDN. BHD. (457626-U), U, No. 8, Jalan 51A/223,

Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan,Menara City, Malaysia

School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei, China

Keywords: Intelligent Companionship, Product Innovation, User Experience, Emotional Design.

Abstract: Driven by the development of artificial intelligence technology support, artificial intelligence technology has

greatly improved the quality of people's lives, and the form of interaction between robots and people has

become diversified.The field of service robotics has come into focus in relation to people. This is because

preschool children are highly malleable in terms of their mental development, character formation, intellectual

development and physical fitness.The knowledge, learning, communication and perception of smart

technology in children's smart products are gradually entering everyday life and bringing a technological

innovation to education.To enhance children's experience in using the product by making it intelligent for

preschool children. We study the attitudes, habits, expectations, functional requirements and pain points in

the process of using children's companion robots.Combining the research method of user experience, it

elaborates the user experience design of children's intelligent products, considers its design direction, and

discusses the necessity of emotional design for children's products.Based on the concept of emotional design,

the emotional design principles for children's products are proposed; the importance of emotional design

principles in children's product design is also demonstrated through specific examples. The design strategy

with both practical value and reference value is proposed.

1 INTRODUCTION

In recent years, as the AI-enabled movement has

brought innovation to various industries, cross-

discipline smart hardware is constantly creating a

market hotspot for products. many internet companies

have begun to focus on children's consumer groups

and devote the majority of their company's market to

children's companion smart products. However, due

to the different capabilities of each company, the

products they produce are uneven. These instrumental

products are usually designed without taking into

account the specificity of children's identities, and

still cannot escape from logical loopholes, resulting

in problems such as blurred user orientation, serious

product similarity, and lack of novel function settings

and interaction methods, leading to poor product

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4568-7822

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1940-8519

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5633-6836

practicality. Nowadays, design is increasingly

emphasising real communication between people and

products during use. By combining intelligent and

emotional design, we are exploring emotional design

methods for intelligent companion products that meet

the characteristics of children's users.

2 THE CURRENT STATE OF

DEVELOPMENT OF

CHILDREN'S COMPANION

ROBOTS

The number of new marriages in China reached

13.469 million in 2013, which will likely usher in

China's fourth 'baby boom'. With the opening of

324

Ren, L., Mustaffa Halabi, K. and Ma, H.

Emotional Design of Children’s Intelligent Companion Products Based on User Experience.

DOI: 10.5220/0011924100003612

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Automation, Information and Computing (ISAIC 2022), pages 324-329

ISBN: 978-989-758-622-4; ISSN: 2975-9463

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

China's two- and three-child policy, this will further

increase the number of infant boomers in China.

Nowadays, children-related products are also their

main concern in the market. They want these products

to be more than just essentially functional, they

should be emotionally charged, so that children and

the products seem less alien to each other, thus

promoting the healthy development of children's

bodies and minds. This will inevitably lead to a boom

in children's electronic educational products, with

spending on children's education becoming a priority

in household spending.

According to developmental psychology research,

the formative years of infants and toddlers can be

divided into two stages: 0-3 years old for infancy, and

3-7 years old for early childhood. The period of

growth and development from infancy to early

childhood is a period of initiation where children

learn while playing, and therefore more

companionship, interaction and quality education

should be given to children to help them develop

physically and mentally. In order to compensate for

the time parents have to spend with their children due

to work, companion robots may be the perfect product

to neutralise the lack of parental companionship and

the need for guidance.

According to a study published by the

International Federation of Robotics, in 2017, the

total number of robots using service categories in

individuals or households increased by 25%

compared to the overall figure for 2016, with the

entertainment category of companion robots rising by

12% compared to 2016. August 2018 survey data

statistics at the Big Data Research Centre indicated

that children's companion robots were the most

popular compared to other categories of robots the

highest level of attention, at 35.4%. In 2018, sales of

intelligent companion robots for preschoolers

reached $2.52 billion, up 55.5% compared to

previous comparisons.

In 2016, scholar Zhu Hongxuan practiced

modelling design for children's companion robots on

the basis of emotional design theory and characterised

existing robots on the market. It also carried out the

innovative design of the head and facial expression of

children's companion robots, which provided a

theoretical and practical basis for the development

and design of children's companion robots( Zhu

HongXuan，2009).

In 2017, scholar Zhang Yixin proposed that

emotional companionship plays a crucial role in the

process of children's growth. Secondly, it summarised

the relevant characteristics of children as well as

analysed and summarised the characteristics of

children's companion robots currently on the market,

and finally, on the basis of the above research, it

carried out innovative design and functional

improvement of children's companion robots, filling

the shortage of children's robots in terms of emotional

expression design( Zhou TianCe，2017).

The main problems with the current domestic

children's electronic products in China are that they

are not well targeted, do not have a strong selling

point or a strong sales system, are behind in product

development, and have a wide range of functions,

among others. In terms of their functions, we have

divided them into four main categories, namely

learning-based entertainment; entertainment-based

education; and pure education and learning, pure

entertainment.

The rapid development of intelligent robots, many

brands have emerged in the market, but few brands

are doing well in this area, most of which are not well

known to us, which on the one hand illustrates our

shortcomings in intelligent robots, but also illustrates

the opportunities contained in this area, while as high-

tech products even few companies will invest. Some

of the companies that produce intelligent children's

companion robots are slightly more familiar, such as

Fluorite, BUDDY, BUDDY and Amwell.

Based on research and market feedback, this

article selects the four robots that are currently selling

and popular, namely Ying Shi RK2pro, BUDDY

Robot, BUDDY Robot and Amwell. The four robots

are compared and analysed in terms of their

appearance, materials and colours, interaction,

expressions and interface styles.

(1) Appearance features. The BUDDY robot is

designed to imitate the round and friendly shape of a

cute bean, with fluid curves and a futuristic egg-

shaped design, which makes the robot look round and

cute, and has a simple shape and fewer decorative

lines on its body. Cartoon fun. The head shape is

round and simple, the body is cylindrical, rich in

shape, etc.

(2) CMF（color，material&finishing） design. The

research found that because ABS material is safe,

strong and tough it is not easy to break, so the

children's companion robots on the market are mainly

made of ABS. The colour scheme is relatively simple,

with white and grey as the main colours. The Pudding

Doudou robot is green and blue in colour, while the

Amwell robot is relatively rich in colour scheme, with

white as the main colour, and grey and gold for the

Emotional Design of Children’s Intelligent Companion Products Based on User Experience

325

face, tail and wheels, enriching the product's sense of

hierarchy. Unlike the above three robots, the BUDDY

robot is mainly made of environmentally friendly

materials, and the overall colour scheme is mainly

white, supplemented by black and grey; private

custom colours. All are fixed and unchangeable.

(3) Form of interaction. This Fluorite RK2pro,

BUDDY robot and Yingjia (Amwell) three robots

mainly through the head display and limbs and wheel

movements to interact with the user. The four

BUDDY robots' interactive behaviours are mainly in

the form of voice interaction and voice feedback

functions, due to the lack of hands and limbs. The

interactive behaviour of the BUDDY and BUDDY

robots is manifested in autonomous interaction,

which will actively talk and communicate with the

user, and can sing and play games together, etc.

Through these interactive behaviours to increase the

emotional connection with the BUDDY robot. The

interaction form of Yingbao RK2pro and Yingjia

(Amwell robot) is relatively single and traditional,

mainly voice interaction and visual feedback, which

is not much different from the other two robots.

(4) Expression style. The robot's lively and

interesting expressions can bring it closer to the user

and increase the user's desire to communicate with it.

Therefore, all four of these robots have their own

expression style settings. Yingbao RK2pro and

Yingjia (Amwell robot) have a simple expression

level, a minimalist style and a single form of

expression. The RK2pro and Amwell robots have a

more uniform expression style and do not show many

changes in emotion.

(5) Interface style. The interactive interface of

children's companion robots is also an important way

of expressing emotions, and the interactive interface

styles of BUDDY and BUDDY robots are more

typical. The interface of the BUDDY robot, on the

other hand, has a more technological feel and is not

suitable for preschoolers.

3 USER EXPERIENCE-CENTRED

DESIGN

The concept of user experience first emerged in the

field of human-computer interaction in the 1940s (

Dong S H,WangJ, Dai G，1999), based on usability

and user-centred design (UCD) ( Prentice Hall PTR，

2001). User experience encompasses the whole

process of user interaction with a product throughout

its lifecycle( Luo Shijian, Zhu Shang Shang, Ying

Fangtian，2010). Enhancing the user experience can

greatly increase the utility and satisfaction of the user

when interacting with a product The combination of

emotive design and child companion robots

transforms.

User experience consists of two main

components: the user and the experience; the user is

the target group of the product design, and the user

experience is how the target group feels about the

product. The term 'experience' has been studied and

elaborated by scholars around the world from ancient

times to the present day. Richard Kluger first

proposed the concept of user experience in his book

The Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Contemporary

Literature and Philosophy, in which he argued that

experience is everything that a person perceives in

person( Li Tiebin ， 2011) , and that personal

perception includes human sensation, memory and

reflection. The experience of the perceptual system is

the primary experience, and the memory and

reflection of people about things will continue the

primary experience obtained by the perceptual

system. The sense of experience that users acquire is

often continuous, and the sense of experience that

users obtain when using a product is not only the

visual attraction they see and the sense of functional

operation, but also the emotional experience triggered

by the product, and this continuous experience is

more likely to form the user stickiness of the product.

The term experience is also mentioned by B. Joseph

Pine II and James H. Gilmore in The Experience

Economy, where they give the following explanation:

Experience is the sensory perception that arises from

the consciousness of a person when he or she reaches

a particular level of emotional, intellectual, physical

and mental well-being( Tang Di，2008). Experience

means to experience and validate in person (Fan

Fuyan,Qu Shuangwei,Gao Yun，2016) , to experience

with the body and to validate feelings mentally(Wang

Yichuan，1989) . Bill Moggridge (designer of the

world's first laptop computer) of IDEO, the famous

American design firm that first proposed user

experience as the core of product design, once defined

product experience as “the ritualistic, dramatic nature

of the interaction between a person and a product and

the sensations brought about through the senses of

sight, sound and even taste (Mou Feng， 2006-Jodi

Forlizzi.Scott Hudson，2003 ) .

In addition to enhancing the usability and overall

user experience of the product, there are other

advantages for users and designers.

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Dray identifies the advantages of implementing a

user-centred approach(Dray,S，1995), which include

the following.

-Reducing faulty design

-reducing the cost of after-sales service for products

-Reducing initial training costs and avoiding re-

occurring training.

-Reducing productivity loss and speeding up

acceptance when introducing new systems.

-Focusing on the tasks that must be done, rather than

how to use the system.

-Reducing user backlash and increasing satisfaction.

-Reducing the need to make subsequent

amendments because user needs are not met.

-Reducing user learning difficulties and reducing the

need for educational training.

-The system's functionality can be fully utilised

-Providing quality of service.

-Increasing user satisfaction.

-Increasing usability.

-Increasing user acceptance.

-early detection of design problems

-reducing documentation and product support

requirements.

-Increased productivity.

-Reducing development costs.

-Increasing the sense of achievement of the

development team.

4 DESIGN PRINCIPLES AND

EMOTIONAL DESIGN OF

CHILD COMPANION ROBOTS

The current children's companion robots need to be

improved in terms of emotional design, and it is

important to dig deeper into children's emotional

needs and to study the shape and form and color

matching of children's companion robots.Will use

questionnaire research research means, questionnaire

research on children aged 3-6 years old, the research

population is concentrated in the new youth between

the ages of 22-35 years old, in the form of appearance

prefer round and lovely form, so that users use the

affinity easy to accept the use, more manifest the

inclusiveness of science and technology and sense of

technology.In terms of color, bright and vivid colors

can better attract children; in terms of functional

requirements most people believe that the

communication function of language is one of the

most basic and necessary functions that such products

should have.

4.1 Design Principles for Children's

Companion Robots

After analysing children's behaviour and the factors

that influence it, their psychological development and

the psychological characteristics of their perception

of form and colour, the principles and methods for

designing children's companion robots are

determined on the basis of safety, fun, ease of use,

modularity and educational aspects, ensuring that the

design methods and principles are in line with

children's physiological, psychological and

behavioural development.

The perspective of children, from the aesthetics of

the product, functionality, comfort, social and cultural

trends, and other factors, in the psychological desire

to meet the user's emotional needs.

Children's companion robots play an important

role in the growth and enlightenment of children, and

are children's playmates. As a vulnerable group,

children are more susceptible to harm caused by

unreasonable product design, both physiological and

psychological, with physiological harm being the

most intuitive and visible. Safety design is the first

factor to consider in the design process of children's

companion robots, and the following principles are

summarized for reference.

4.1.1 Fun Design

Children's products only have sufficient fun to win

and attract the interest and attention of children, other

functions of the product can play a role, and the fun

of the children's companion robot is mainly reflected

in the design of the function, mainly life companion

function and education and fun.For the life

companion function, the children's companion robot

can accompany children to play, gossip and time and

space dialogue with their parents; the fun and

education function, the children's companion robot

has an open source nature, according to the

characteristics of children at different ages for the

design of games, educational resources, fully ensure

that children can happily interact with the children's

companion robot for learning.

4.1.2 Easy-to-Use Design

Children's physiological cognition, psychological

cognition, and behavioral style cognition are still

immature, so there are limitations to the cognition of

people, things, and behaviors.The easy-to-use design

of the children's companion robot is mainly reflected

Emotional Design of Children’s Intelligent Companion Products Based on User Experience

327

in the interaction and use of the way, in terms of

button control interaction, a variety of functional

buttons are designed in obvious locations, and has the

characteristics of resistance to rough use, children

often appear in the same button pressed multiple

times, according to this situation, each button is

designed using a cycle of different functions；In terms

of voice interaction, there is no wakeup word design,

so children can interact with the robot at any time. As

for emotion sensing, the robot has a high-definition

camera, and as long as it is on, it can record slight

emotional changes in children and upload them to

parents' cell phones in the form of emotional change

charts. Parents can learn about their children's

emotional changes after work and make the necessary

companionship and education.

4.1.3 Modular Design

Modular design is the ability to put together some

individual modules of a product and combine them

into a subsystem that can accomplish a specific

function. At the same time, this subsystem can also

be combined with other module elements of the

product in a variety of ways through some

standardized module parts, and can constitute a new

system to accomplish a broader range of functions,

and different systems have a wide variety of

functions.Modular design is also known as a design

method in the category of green design, which

implements the concept of low carbon and

environmental protection and can meet the different

needs of different markets. This design method

requires high precision, stable performance compared

to other products, and low cost, which can be

recycled.Modular design has three main

characteristics: (1) Each part can be a finished

product and can perform specific functions. (2) Each

module has a standardized interface and can be

interchanged. (3) The modules of different functions

can be common and can enrich the functions of the

product to a certain extent.

4.1.4 Educational Design

The main feature of puzzle sex is to develop the

intelligence of school-age children and cultivate their

interest, which is the dual property of entertainment

and learning. It allows children to learn through play,

learning through play, to achieve true education and

fun, can greatly enhance children's interest in learning,

coordination, cognitive level, intellectual

development, and improve the efficiency of children's

learning.School-age children are a key period of

intellectual development, which can develop

children's hands-on skills and stimulate creative

thinking for brain development. It stimulates

children's creative thinking and promotes brain

development.An excellent educational electronic

product can not only stimulate their awareness of the

unknown, the desire to understand the outside world

and themselves, so that they grow in knowledge, but

also improve children's thinking, observation,

memory skills, in the invisible growth of school-age

children's wisdom.The educational nature of

electronic products is not only in the product

additional educational functions, but also through the

product itself and the direct interaction of school-age

children to achieve the educational effect of the brain

and hands.

4.2 Emotional Design Factors for

Children

With the progress of society, people have higher and

higher requirements for products, which are no longer

just a material form, but a medium of communication

with people. Designers should treat products as

"people" or "friends" and give life to them.Designers

should learn to consider from the perspective of

children, from the aesthetics of the product,

functionality, comfort, social and cultural trends and

other factors, psychologically seek to match the

desires of users and meet their emotional needs.

(1) Aesthetics

Aesthetics belongs to the instinctive level of

emotional design, is the user in the choice of

electronic products, product appearance, color,

material and other intuitive impression, it is the

primary factor to determine whether the product can

be accepted by children. Children due to

psychological, physical and other factors, the choice

of electronic products are relatively simple, often

staying in the first sense.

(2) Comfort

The comfort of electronic products is mainly

reflected in children's interface operation when using

electronic products, whether the appearance design of

the product is in line with ergonomics, color contrast,

etc. It is also a subjective feeling of the user, which

affects the behavioral development of children in the

process of growth.

(3) Social and cultural trends

As children in the new century, they have good

conditions and educational atmosphere, they pay

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more attention to the spiritual freedom needs and

open-mindedness. They follow the progress of the

times, social and cultural trends, and pay more

attention to the need for electronic products to meet

their spiritual and emotional needs. They are open-

minded, imaginative, easily disturbed by external

factors, more sensitive to the change table of social

and cultural trends, and good at following such fast-

paced changes.

4.3 Emotional Entertainment Function

Analysis

The relationship between art and life is described in

the Introduction to Art as "art is the product of social

life embodied in the minds of men. Although art is

derived from social life, it is higher, more intense,

more concentrated, more exemplary, more fanciful,

and therefore more universal than the usual social life

(Zheng Jinyan ， 1999), which also confirms the

psychological need of the ancestors to make toys and

have fun even in the harsh conditions of production

in ancient times. In the United States, one of the most

important parts of education is that every child enjoys

a joyful childhood and becomes a happy, productive

person in the future, and there are many patterns of

behaviour, emotional experiences and so on that are

developed during childhood and have a profound

impact on a person's life.

For the children's companion robot, the functions

in the entertainment scene include: children's songs,

fun quizzes, children's stories, tongue twisters,

interactive games, recording functions, appreciation

of dance, etc. But these entertainment functions are

not only for children to play and entertain, in the

process also contains a link to education in which, as

the saying goes, is to teach and play, in the

entertainment experience the fun of learning, to

cultivate the child's work and play It is a fun and

educational experience, and develops good thinking

habits.

5 SUMMARY

Based on the user experience under the children's

intelligent companion products emotional design

research, analysis of school-age children user design

needs, good design is always the pursuit of good

demand, is will put the user first.This paper explores

the real needs of children with user-centered design,

applies user research methods to the field of children's

products, explores and analyzes the physiological,

behavioral, and cognitive characteristics of children,

fully considers the factors that affect children's

experience, and makes the corresponding user needs

of children's products the guide for product design in

order to truly design intelligent interactive products

that meet the real needs, habits, experiences, and

expectations of children.Combining the design

principles of emotional design with design methods

to form an emotional design study of children's

intelligent companion products based on user

experience.

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