Robot use cases for real needs: A large-scale ethnographic case study

Abstract

Abstract This article discusses the process of developing robot use cases using large-scale ethnographic observation as a starting point. In particular, during 296 hours of ethnographic observation of the workflows at seventeen departments at Odense University Hospital, 607 processes were described and subsequently annotated. The ethnographic method provided rich, contextually situated data that can be searched and categorized for use case development, which is illustrated on an example use case, describing the process and illustrating the type of data elicited, discussing the problems encountered and providing downloadable tools for other researchers interested in similar approaches to use case development.