Improvisational Participatory Storming: A Toolkit of Improvisational Design Methods for Human-Robot Interaction

Key findings from this study

• The authors propose that theatre-based participatory design methods can effectively engage vulnerable populations in human-robot interaction design when structured with appropriate safety mechanisms and participant roles adapted from drama therapy and applied improvisation practice.
• The study demonstrates that tabletop role-playing game safety tools can be successfully repurposed to mitigate psychological and emotional risks in improvisational participatory design activities.
• The framework establishes that context-specific constraints and explicit design objectives should determine which theatre-based activities are selected within an IPS workshop, rather than applying all available techniques uniformly.

Overview

This work addresses the design gap between theatre-based methods in human-robot interaction and the need for participatory approaches when working with vulnerable populations. The authors present Improvisational Participatory Storming (IPS), a novel theatre-based participatory design method that integrates perspectives from human-robot interaction, theatre, drama therapy, and applied improvisation. IPS enables community members to directly contribute to robot interaction design through structured improvisational activities rather than requiring designers to role-play stakeholder perspectives.

Methods and approach

The research synthesizes knowledge across four distinct disciplines: HRI, theatre practice, drama therapy, and applied improvisation. The authors developed IPS through collaborative engagement with academics and practitioners across these fields. The methodology establishes seven core contributions: a three-section workshop structure, integration of tabletop role-playing game safety tools to manage risks in improvisational activities, specification of design objectives addressable through IPS, context-specific constraints determining which theatre-based activities to employ, seven participant roles for IPS engagement, key dimensions characterizing IPS activities, and three sequencing strategies for scaffolding participation across workshop phases.

Results

The authors establish a comprehensive framework for conducting theatre-based participatory design in human-robot interaction contexts. The IPS toolkit provides concrete structural guidance through its three-section workshop organization and identifies how safety mechanisms from tabletop role-playing games can be adapted to mitigate risks inherent in improvisational design activities. The framework articulates explicit design objectives that IPS activities can address and delineates context-specific constraints that determine which theatre-based design approaches are appropriate for particular interaction design challenges. The specification of seven distinct participant roles and key activity dimensions enables flexible adaptation to varied community settings.

Implications

IPS addresses a critical methodological gap in participatory design for human-robot interaction by providing a structured approach that prioritizes direct stakeholder involvement in theatre-based design activities. The integration of drama therapy and applied improvisation principles alongside established HRI design practices creates a methodological bridge that accommodates vulnerable populations who may be inappropriate subjects for designer role-play while maintaining the interactive and creative benefits of theatre-based design. The adaptation of tabletop role-playing game safety tools for improvisational design contexts demonstrates how established practices from adjacent fields can be repurposed to manage emotional and psychological risks in participatory design settings.

The framework's emphasis on participant roles, activity dimensions, and participation scaffolding provides practitioners with actionable guidance for operationalizing IPS in varied community and institutional contexts. By establishing explicit connections between design objectives and theatre-based activities, the work enables systematic selection of appropriate methods for specific human-robot interaction design challenges. The toolkit's multi-disciplinary foundation positions IPS as a model for cross-domain methodological synthesis in participatory design research, suggesting broader applicability beyond human-robot interaction to other fields requiring community-centered design with vulnerable or marginalized populations.

Scope and limitations

This summary is based on the study abstract and available metadata. It does not include a full analysis of the complete paper, supplementary materials, or underlying datasets unless explicitly stated. Findings should be interpreted in the context of the original publication.