PRE2022 3 Group12/User interview

The aim of conducting the user interview is to gather information for specific design choices. Firstly, it is desirable to know for developing a card-game strategy and training the object recognition algorithm to know which card game should be focussed on for the design. Therefore, it will be asked how familiar the users are with uno, crazy eights or memory. Furthermore, it would be useful to know much the elderly value winning in a card game and whether winning is related to enjoyment. This feedback can be used to integrate a difficulty system in the algorithm.

Both the primary and secondary users, the elderly and caretakers respectively, will be interviewed. Before the interviews, the users are asked to sign a consent form for recording the interview. The interview questions are shown below and will be conducted in Dutch to match the target group's native language.

Elderly (primary user) questionnaire

1. Hoe vaak speelt u kaartspellen?
2. Heeft u ooit pesten/Uno/memory gespeeld?
   • Hoe vaak speelt u dit spel? (omgevingscondities? met specifieke vrienden?)
   • Past u de regels wel eens aan? (als dat gebeurt, op welke manier?)
   • Zou u het moeilijk vinden om een nieuwe spel te leren?
3. Wat vindt u leuk aan kaartspellen?
   • Vindt u het belangrijk om te winnen met een kaartspel?
4. Hoe zou u willen dat de interactie met een robot eruit ziet?
5. Bent u geïnteresseerd om een kaartspel robot te gebruiken?
6. Wat zou u weerhouden van het spelen van een kaartspel met een robot?
   • Heeft u moeite met het gebruiken van hedendaagse technologie en waarom?

Care givers (secondary user) questionnaire1

1. Aan welke eisen moet de robot voldoen om om te kunnen gaan met ouderen?
2. Welke eigenschappen heeft de robot nodig om goed te kunnen communiceren met ouderen? (Denk aan stem, gezichtsuitdrukkingen)
3. Wat moet de robot allemaal zelf kunnen doen tijdens een kaartspel? (kaarten schudden, uitleg)
4. Hoe zou de robot om moeten gaan met winnen en verliezen?
   

Affinity diagram

In total, six users where interviewed. Every interview has been analysed and an affinity diagram has been created to get an overview of the interview data.

Affinity diagram of the user inetrviews. Key information is split into the categories user, game and robot.

Interviews

Interview 1 – Elderly person - Jeanne Halters

Do you often play games (with others)?

“No, because I am just alone.”

When/where do you mostly play?

“At home, on the iPad or on my phone when there is nothing fun to watch on the television.”

Do you mostly play games with others or by yourself?

“Mostly by myself.”

Do you often play in the same group(s)?

“From time to time, not that often, I play some board or card games with a friend of mine.”

With how many do you often play?

“With only two people, me and my friend.”

What games do you mostly play?

“Board games like Monopoly and card games such as ‘Jokeren’ and ‘Duizenden’ and I sometimes play the card game ‘Pasjansen’ when I am on my own.”

Do you often play the same games (in the same groups)?

“Yes, I always tend to play the same games.”

Why these games specifically?

“Because we like those games and because we both know these games and don’t need to learn the rules before we can play.”

Do you play those games according to official rules? Or do you have a locally defined ruleset? Or do you not have an official ruleset?

“No, we use our own rules. But, when we play we always use the same rules.”

Do you sometimes play new games?

“No.”

Do you experience difficulties when learning new games?

“Yes, I am 73 years old. So, learning new games is not that easy anymore.”

What would these difficulties be?

“It is hard to get a hold of the rules. So, it takes at least three explanations of the same rules before I understand them and a game can be played. Hence, I would rather play a game I already know.”

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you did not have enough players to play a game? Or potentially when playing alone?

“Yes, because I am alone quite often.”

Why do you play card games?

“To pass time.”

What do you look for in card games?

“The main goal of a card game when I am playing with someone else is having fun and being able to have a conversation with someone. A secondary goal is then to try to win the game of course. On the other hand, when I am playing a game alone, it is just to pass some time and try to have some fun by doing my best to win.”

What is enjoyable about playing card games?

“Catching up with my friend with a cup of coffee or tea while playing them or trying to win when I am playing alone.”

** explain our design**

While this is our design, if you were to play against a robot, how would you like this interaction to be?

“That I can speak to it and that it then takes its cards.”

So you would like to lead the game?

“Yes, I think that would be nice. I would like, if it would be able to respond to my statements in some way.”

To what extent do you want communication with the robot? Voice interaction, visible decision process, etc.

“I think that is a very hard question because I do not know what is possible. Of course, I would like it to act as close as possible to a human, by having a conversation for example, but I do not think that is possible. It will probably only be able to communicate about the card game instead of other things. Personally, I think voice interaction would be the best way to communicate. However, for people who are hearing impaired a screen would be a better option, of course.”

This robot is a newly designed technology. Do you expect many difficulties in using this product?

“Yes, I think I would be a bit scared to use it at first because I do not know how it works yet.”

What would be the main problems that you think you would face?

“That it won’t do what it needs to be doing, *laughs*. What exactly would go wrong? Maybe, that it would take eight cards instead of seven at the beginning of a game of ‘Pesten’.”

What would be design choices that we would need to incorporate in the design? Lightweight battery life, playing difficulty setting,…? (feel free to mention later if anything comes up)

“It needs to look nice, it should be colorful. It should be lightweight because most elderly people cannot or are not allowed to lift heavy. Also, it should be rechargeable, if it would use batteries that would make it too expensive to use. It might be nice that it will be able to play multiple games.”

Let’s say we focus on the robot being able to play one game, would you then like the robot to be designed with a focus on winning from you or would you like it to let you win sometimes?

“It should both win and let me win. It should be a bit random, as it would not be fun if I would only win or the robot would only win each time.”

What do you think of a robot who uses a win/loss ratio to decide which strategy it is going to use during a game? (Explain win/loss ratio)

“Yes, that would be perfect I think.”

What difficulties do you face with more day-to-day technologies, phone, mail, internet,...?

“Not many difficulties to be honest. For an elderly person, I am quite experienced with those technologies I think. And, when I do come across a difficulty, I always ask a grandchild to help me. But, playing with a robot seems a more difficult thing to do.”

How much assistance do you expect when you would use the robot? (to explain the rules, activate the robot)

“Using the robot seems a very hard thing to do to me right now. So, I think I should get an explanation on it at least three times.”

Would a rewatchable explanation Youtube video be a good solution for this?

“Yes, that would be nice, with a complete instruction.”

Would you use this robot? / do you think such a design would work?

“It should have one on/off button, which can be pressed when I want to play with the robot and no further difficult steps should be needed. The on/off button could be either physically or digitally by using an app, for example.”

How long/ often would you use such a product?

“I don’t really know to be honest.”

But would you use the product?

“Yes, I would at least try it, I am open for that. If it works properly and in the cases I am alone, I would probably try to play some games with the robot a few times. How often I will use the robot really depends on how good the robot is designed.”

**Thank you for participating**

Summary - interview 1

This elderly person who tends to play card games alone or with one other friend is still a bit skeptical about playing a card game with a robot, but is open to it, especially when playing with a friend is not an option. She says that the robot should be able to express itself by using both voice interaction and a screen. Also, it should be a colorful, appealing robot. In addition, the robot should be lightweight and both cheap and easy to use. In order to use the robot, no additional steps after turning it on should be needed.  

Interview 2 – caregiver - Brigitte Halters

Do you often play games (with others)? When/where do you mostly play?

“Not that often, most of the time I play it when I am on holiday. So, I think it will be about two or three times a year.”

Do you mostly play games with others or by yourself?

“With my husband and/or my kids.”

Do you often play in the same group(s)?

“Yes.”

With how many do you often play?

“About two to four people.”

What games do you mostly play?

“Monopoly, RIsk, Pesten, Uno and Mens erger je niet.”

Do you often play the same games (in the same groups)?

“Yes.”

Why these games specifically?

“Because the kids specifically like these games and because those are the ones we have with us when we are on a holiday.

Do you play those games according to official rules? Or do you have a locally defined ruleset? Or do you not have an official ruleset?

“Not always, I often do not exactly know what the official rules of the games are and hence we just play the game with the rules we always use.”

Do you sometimes play new games?

“Yes, sometimes.”

Do you experience difficulties when learning new games?

“Me personally not, but it can take a bit longer when trying to play new games with the kids.”

What would these difficulties be?

“The kids do not always have the patience to sit down and concentrate on learning the new game.”

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you did not have enough players to play a game? Or potentially when playing alone?

“Yes, sometimes a game needs to be played with four people, but we were with too few people.”

Why do you play card games?

“To have something to do when having a drink on a holiday. So, mainly to relax”

What do you look for in card games?

“I like it when the game does not require too much of a strategy because I can then focus more on having a conversation during the game.”

What is enjoyable about playing card games?

“Having a chat and doing something fun with my kids while teaching them things such as dealing with losing a game.”

** explain our design**

While this is our design, if you were to play against a robot, how would you like this interaction to be?

“First of all, it should be as safe as possible and it should be as clear as possible.”

To what extent do you want communication with the robot? Voice interaction, visible decision process, etc.

“I think both voice interaction and a screen for communication would be nice, as in my experience with working with elderly people it cannot be clear enough.”

This robot is a newly designed technology. Do you expect many difficulties in using this product?

“Yes, definitely. I think that most elderly people will not be that eager to use it in the beginning. Hence, I think other people, more acquainted with the product, should help them with getting used to using this product. People like me, for instance.”

What would be the main problems that you think you would face?

“I think some elderly people might not want to use it at all as they are too stubborn to try new technologies, they simply think it is not needed although they are bored.”

What would be design choices that we would need to incorporate in the design? Lightweight battery life, playing difficulty setting,…? (feel free to mention later if anything comes up)

“It should definitely be safe and very clear about what it is doing and when it is the opponents’ turn. Also, I think it should look a bit human-like or appealing to use for elderly people in some sort of way. I think letting the robot use a win/loss ratio which gets reset each time the robot use turned on and off is the best way to design the robot, as in that case multiple elderly people in a care home are able to have a fun experience with the robot.”

What difficulties do you face with more day-to-day technologies, phone, mail, internet,...?

“Me personally, none. However, when working in the care home I often need to help elderly people who have difficulties with their phone when trying to contact one of their (grand)children and television which does not work for some reason.”

How much assistance do you expect when you would use the robot? (to explain the rules, activate the robot)

“I think I, as the caregiver, should get an instruction in any form, which I can then use to help the elderly people to use the robot. I think this is the best way to do it, as I do not think the elderly people in the care home will be able to figure it out on their own. Some of them might, but most of them won’t.”

Would you use this robot? / do you think such a design would work?

“Yes, I think it would work. Some elderly people like to be on their own and/or cannot get out of bed due to their illness(es)/inabilities, I think especially those people will really like this. Also, some ”

How long/ often would you use such a product?

“Me personally, not that often, but together with the elderly people who want to use it, probably quite a lot, helping them to use it.”

**Thank you for participating**

Summary - interview 2

This caregiver does not play card games herself that often, but knows that a lot of elderly people in the care home she works at like to play card games. She says that the robot should be as safe as possible, as clear as possible about what it is doing during the game and it should be appealing for the elderly people to interact with. So, it shouldn’t look scary. She thinks that especially elderly people who like to be on their own and/or cannot get out of bed due to their illness(es)/inabilities would like to use this robot. In addition, she thinks she will be needed when the elderly people want to interact with the robot during the first few times to help them with understanding how to play with the robot, explaining things such as turning it on and off.

Interview 3

This participant was not directly in the target group of elderly people but does work with and comes in contact with them regularly. Because of this the interview was taken both as ‘elderly’ and later as someone who can tell how elderly would answer and behave. This participant does play games but plays physical games almost exclusively with others and at home, this because games were mostly played to spend time and for conviviality and distraction. As others are not always available or busy with their own games or work, card games are played more often than board games as they usually have a shorter playtime, quicker game rounds and a clear winner, which is not as important as winning a big game, which makes them easier to just sit down and play. Games played often include; crazy eight (‘pesten’), toepen, yaniv and shithead. While they play these games according to ‘official rules’ these games often don’t have well defined rules and people play them in their local group’s variant. On the question If they have found themselves in the situation where they did not have enough players for a game they answered that they would just play another game that is playable with fewer players. After hearing about the concept and aimed design they said that the best implementation would of course include as much as possible; lights, voice, etc. but that a screen and simple display would likely work as well, and also be more feasible. While not expecting much difficulties with the robot, as long as it functions correctly and as expected, a problem that was expected would be how to handle cheating and/or mistakes, both from the robot as well as the opponent. The other design choices that would be most important would be an easy and clear design that is straightforward to use and operate. According to this participant the elderly people were actually more fanatic, competitive and monotonous than you might think. They are more focused on winning or mutual competition, and wouldn’t really be interested in new games or new players. As well as usually playing the same games; bridge or belote (‘klaverjassen’). These games in particular as they are the games they used to play when the where younger and have thus played many time and still do. In order to work with elderly the participant said that the robot needs to have a clear communication, easy to understand display/screen, as well as an clear and easy to understand design. It was expected that they could actually think it’s funny, something that could easily be enhanced with the design. Creating a nice design, not with lights but perhaps with an old fashioned look, roses or something, and shape. They are a bit skeptical so for the gameplay it should be clear they are playing against a fair robot, one that makes roughly the same decisions. They probably also want to shuffle the deck themselves as well but it would probably be better if it has the capabilities to do so. For gameplay and win loss ratio there should be difficulty levels, that way there are some differences between games. This also allows them to win, the robot definitely doesn’t have to always lose but it should be able to lose games now and then.

Interview 4

This participant hardly ever plays card games, and only read tarot cards now and again. This is mostly done alone but sometimes with a friend. This means the more card game oriented questions had little use. This participant however did tell that if they were to play a card game this was probably out of boredom. It was also said that while not really having a problem with learning a new card game after an example, the explanation itself was hard to learn form as it was hard for them to ‘visualize’ it. When talking about the design they said they would like a interaction as close to human interaction as possible. In a way that challenges you but also allows you to challenge the robot. It would also be best if the robot can make and take a joke and be somewhat playful. They also thought that a voice would work great as communication as it would help to make it stimulating and interesting. This participant said that having a bit of a lower voice was preferred over a higher pitched voice. Other things to improve its attractiveness could include some movement. But according to the participant the most important would be an attractive appearance, using a more round shapes instead of squares. Some problems mentioned would be that the robot would become boring, something that could be improved if it was playful, than it wouldn’t be as much the same. This participants also regularly works with and thus comes in contact with elderly people, because of that some more questions about what they would think were discussed.it was said that they also play card games out of boredom but that it was more in an entertaining way, since they are not as mobile and thus sit down and play games for company. Games they mostly play would be patience or bridge for the more active and competitive elderly. Two important characteristics that kept coming back and are thus important for the robot would be patience and seriousness. It needs to be attractive but also friendly and calm. The elderly would need more guidance when learning a game and would need more tries and time to get something right. Furthermore it needs to be serious, it needs to play seriously and also needs to take turns shuffling, in a divided turns way. It also needs to let the others win of course. Ideally it should notice when someone gets agitated and stimulate them, for example by losing a round, if it doesn’t it probably just gets hit or thrown away after a while. When asked about elderly cheating the participant answered; elderly, specifically those with dementia, might become a bit childish. So more focused on winning and more inclined to cheat. Best would be if the robot could notice this and again if it is relaxed and can take a joke.