Postdoctoral Position in Interaction Design Research

The Department of Digital Design & Information Studies within the School of Communication and Culture at Aarhus University invites applications for a postdoctoral position in interaction design research. The postdoctoral position is affiliated with the ACUTE research project, ‘Artifact-inspired social robots: an alternative to robot cuteness for domestic robotics’, funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark.

The postdoctoral researcher position is full-time and 2-year fixed-term. It begins on 01 June 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The School of Communication and Culture is committed to diversity and encourages all qualified applicants to apply regardless of their personal background.

The ACUTE project

Most social robot designs are dominated by cute aesthetics, featuring baby-like characteristics such as large eyes, small chins, and rounded facial features and limbs. Such cute robot designs have been proven to evoke both physical and emotional responses in humans. However, despite the widespread use of the design approach, cute toy-like designs have also been found to be perceived as condescending and a source of rejection due to their child-like associations, which might not match personal perceptions or desired home aesthetics.

The ACUTE project aims to explore minimally visible social cues as an alternative way to indicate robot sociality. The project will focus on artefact-inspired robots (AIR), as an alternative trajectory to the dominant robot appearance categories: anthropomorphic (human-like), zoomorphic (animal-like), and technical (machine-like). Seeking to explore how the motion profile and visual appearance of AIR influence the formation of social expectations and ascription of social capacities. Aiming for robot designs that convey some level of social cues and ability for social coordination, but in a way where the user attributes non-human social capacities (socio-morphing), rather than human social and emotional capacities (anthropomorphising).

The project will apply a mix of qualitative research methods, with a constructive design research approach. Collecting user insights through qualitative interviews, design probes and user studies. As well as developing AIR concepts and prototypes inspired by the aesthetics of everyday objects which use movement and minimally visible social cues to indicate robot sociality.

Postdoctoral researcher position

The successful applicant will have both strong design and research skills, with a particular emphasis on qualitative research methods. The postdoctoral researcher is expected to be able to gain a qualitative understanding of how people ascribe social capacities to robots through interviews and design probes as well as transfer this knowledge to be used in the design of novel robot concepts. This is followed by a constructive design research approach, where the postdoctoral researcher is expected to take part in concept development, form giving, and prototyping of AIR robots. The postdoctoral researcher is also expected to be able to conduct qualitative lab-based user evaluations with the developed concepts and prototypes.

The successful applicant is expected to have a strong proficiency in research design, analysis, and reporting of the findings in scientific articles. The postdoctoral researcher will also take part in organising research-based project activities.

The successful applicant will work closely with the project manager, Associate Professor Majken Kirkegaard Rasmussen and Professor Johanna Seibt from the Department of Philosophy. The prototype design and development work will be supported by a research assistant. 

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