Methodological considerations within ACI: importance of canine participant selection

Abstract

This paper outlines work that critically evaluates usability study design within ACI, specifically in regard to canine participants. Usability studies are an established interaction design tool and considered an important part of the design process. Often, a specific element or elements of user interfaces may be examined in a lab environment to learn more about users' habits. However, when ACI practitioners desire to gain similar understanding of animal users, issues may arise; for example, experimental design leveraged in animal cognition research may not be appropriate due to a baseline of training required for many canine interfaces. On the other hand, end users are not always available for exploratory or more targeted testing. This work examines canine participant selection in an effort to understand issues and potential solutions to participant selection for usability testing with canine users.