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Social robots are emerging as an important intervention for a variety of vulnerable populations. However, engaging participants in the design of social robots in a way that is ethical, meaningful, and rigorous can be challenging. Many current methods in human–robotic interaction rely on laboratory practices, often experimental, and many times involving deception which could erode trust in vulnerable populations. Therefore, in this paper, we share our human-centered design methodology informed by a participatory approach, drawing on three years of data from a project aimed to design and develop a social robot to improve the mental health of teens. We present three method cases from the project that describe creative and age appropriate methods to gather contextually valid data from a teen population. Specific techniques include design research, scenario and script writing, prototyping, and teens as operators and collaborative actors. In each case, we describe the method and its implementation and discuss the potential strengths and limitations. We conclude by situating these methods by presenting a set of recommended participatory research principles that may be appropriate for designing new technologies with vulnerable populations. 

Design requirements can be gathered through a variety of ways; however, engaging teen audiences in design process can be challenging. We present a novel method for engaging teens in design through a social robot design challenge. Groups of teens participated in the challenge to prototype a social robot that would live in their high school and help address stress, a persistent and pervasive problem for this age group. In this paper, we present our methods and share preliminary findings. 

Today’s teens will most likely be the first generation to spend a lifetime living and interacting with both mechanical and social robots. Although human-robot interaction has been explored in children, adults, and seniors, examination of teen-robot interaction has been minimal. In this paper, we provide evidence that teenrobot interaction is a unique area of inquiry and designing for teens is categorically different from other types of human-robot interaction. Using human-centered design, our team is developing a social robot to gather stress and mood data from teens in a public high school. To better understand teen-robot interaction, we conducted an interaction study in the wild to explore and capture teens’ interactions with a low-fidelity social robot prototype. Then, through group interviews we gathered data regarding their perceptions about social robots. Although we anticipated minimal engagement due to the low fidelity of our prototype, teens showed strong engagement and lengthy interactions. Additionally, teens expressed thoughtful articulations of how a social robot could be emotionally supportive. We conclude the paper by discussing future areas for consideration when designing for teen-robot interaction. 

Today’s teens will most likely be the first generation to spend a lifetime living and interacting with both mechanical and social robots. Although human-robot interaction has been explored in children, adults, and seniors, examination of teen-robot interaction has been minimal. Using human-centered design, our team is developing a social robot to gather stress and mood data from teens in a public high school. As part of our preliminary design stage, we conducted a interaction pilot study in the wild to explore and capture teens’ initial interactions with a lowfidelity social robot prototype. We observed strong engagement and expressions of empathy from teens during our qualitative, interaction studies. 

Teens are a unique population with needs and communication styles that differ from adults and children. Methods in humancentered design were initially conceptualized with adults in mind, but these methods should be reexamined to include the needs of teens. In this experience report, we reflect on a project introducing teens to human-centered design and methods. As part of the project, our team created a website and series of videos. We conducted a usability evaluation on the videos and an accompanying website with teens to understand what worked well and how to make improvements. In this report, we discuss how we modified traditional usability methods and tailored them for a teen audience. We share takeaways including keep methods and tools lightweight and facilitation styles engaging and casual. We assert that modifying methods is a key consideration for conducting usability testing with any unique group of users.