Rethinking UX Needs Analysis for Interspecies Value Inclusion : A Research Through Design Study of Calf-Human-Technology Interaction in Agriculture

Sammanfattning

Current approaches within Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI) and More-Than-Human-Centered Design (MTHCD) propose normative visions of animals as users in interacting with technology. However, there is a lack of concrete methodological operationalization within UX to support this. This thesis aims to investigate how UX needs analysis can be extended to support interspecies value inclusion in agricultural technology, while exploring value tensions between farmers and calves in automated calf care. The research questions are as follows: 1) How does existing UX needs analysis in human-centered and MTHCD approaches support or limit interspecies value inclusion, 2) What value tensions emerge between farmers and calves in automated calf care, and 3) How can the UX needs analysis phase be extended to support the inclusion of calves as stakeholders in the design process. The study was conducted using Research Through Design (RtD) and Value Sensitive Design (VSD). Automated calf feeders (AMF) served as the empirical case and the subject was explored by semi-structured interviews and contextual inquiry, with a total of 10 participants. The results were analyzed through a reflexive thematic analysis and the major themes found were calves as experiencing subjects, technology as partial representation, animal eye and human judgement of calves’ wellbeing, and the human interpretation precedence of calves’ wellbeing. The design synthesis led to reflective tools, in the form of a calf persona and a calf user journey, two design concepts and the Reflective Framework of Calf Positions in UX and Design Practice, which illustrates how animals are constructed and interpreted within human-centered socio-technical systems. The thesis contributes on three levels. 1) Contextually, with insights in the particular case of AMF in calf care, 2) conceptually through new perspectives on calves as stakeholders and a critical discussion of human construction of animals through the Reflective Framework of Calf Positions in UX and Design Practice, and 3) methodologically through an operational extension of UX needs analysis through VSD to explicitly account for animal values and value tensions in early design phases, thereby bridging UX, ACI, and MTHCD. However, all interpretations of calf experience remain necessarily mediated through human observation and representation.