A key challenge in social robotics is identifying the design features and social mechanisms that sustain long-term engagement with robots. Although mounting evidence suggests that end-user customization is a vital aspect of robot ownership “in the wild”, empirical research on this phenomenon and its psychological outcomes remains sparse. In this mixed methods study, we surveyed 113 robot owners and conducted semi-structured interviews with 13 more, providing a holistic perspective on customization practices among long-term users. Our findings show that customization is highly prevalent among robot owners, with quantitative results indicating that customization indirectly predicts robot attachment through self-extension and psychological ownership. Our interviews furthermore reveal a vibrant culture of customization in online and offline robotics spaces, which is sustained by strong community networks. Together, these results underscore the central role of customization in fostering enduring engagement with companion robots. Through customization, users imbue their robots with personally significant identities, form deeper attachments to them, and reinforce their own individuality as robot owners. Customization also embeds owners within a broader community of robot enthusiasts, promoting social connections, creative practice, and sustained use. Given its prevalence among robot owners, we conclude with recommendations for how robot designers and researchers can leverage customization to set the stage for long-term and personally meaningful human–robot bonds.

The social robotics community is increasingly embracing human-centered techniques to design robots that align with users’ needs, preferences, and lived experiences. However, given the known challenges of incorporating laypeople into a design process, little empirical work has tested whether these techniques generate robotic concepts that are accepted and understood by a wider audience. In this mixed-methods online study, we examined how laypeople perceived and evaluated robots that were created through human-centered design. Fifty-two participants assessed a set of laypeople-created healthcare, education, entertainment, and telepresence robot designs according to how successfully each design signaled its intended use case. Our findings demonstrate that layperson-designed robots efficiently communicated their use context. Thus, low-level creative prototyping with end-users can be an effective way of eliciting strong initial design concepts as part of the human-centered design process, though this is influenced by the robot’s application domain. Furthermore, we showcase that simplistic robotic designs are sufficient to cue diverse affordances, highlighting the importance of matching a robot’s appearance to its intended use case. Our findings contribute to the study of human-centered design within social robotics, assessing the tools and activities end-users need to be able to meaningfully contribute to robotic design.

To facilitate easy, seamless, and dynamic interactions between humans and social robots, it is important that the robot’s physical appearance gives clear cues to its affordances. However, little is known about what underlying concepts and assumptions shape laypeople’s perception and understanding of different robotic embodiments. To explore what robot-inexperienced users expect robots in different application domains to look like, we drew on Research through Design principles to pilot a tangible design kit with which laypeople could prototype robot designs. 27 participants with no background in robotics were asked to design robots for four different application domains. These participants were then further interrogated about their design choices in structured qualitative interviews. The resulting designs primarily ranged from mechanical to humanoid in appearance, though several animal-like entertainment robots were also created. The inductive thematic analysis of participant interviews revealed complex opinions on anthropomorphism in robotic designs and stressed social robots’ potential for customization and accessibility. Our findings provide qualitative insight into the beliefs that underlie laypeople’s understanding of robotic design in different contexts. Furthermore, we piloted a design toolkit that allows laypeople at any level of creative ability to design and critically reflect on robotic concepts and embodiments.