As a Human-Centered Design (HCD) expert, I am currently a member of the aibo development team engaged in a wide range of activities as part of our mission to enhance engagement between aibo entertainment robots and their owners. More specifically, I am in charge of conducting questionnaire and interview surveys of aibo owners with a view to identifying their essential needs, defining requirements and considering specifications for new software and services, and conducting post-release usage surveys.

When developing new software and services, our first priority is to incorporate essential needs into functionality while matching them to the worldview associated with the aibo. For example, the aibo Territory function tells aibo where you do not want it to go. It was developed in response to owners who want aibo to avoid going near places with dirty floors such as kitchens and bathrooms. Instead of using the map on the app screen to define administrative areas that aibo should not enter, users place chili peppers, which dogs dislike, on the map, thus enriching their lives with aibo by telling it not to approach certain areas.

One of the most memorable moments in my work to date was when I worked on a smartphone/tablet application development team and we clarified the definition of hitherto vague usability quality standards as "Usability Damage Level Guidelines." Of course, Sony developers place great importance on ease of use, but at the time, their thinking and priorities varied from person to person, and in some cases, fixing usability issues was put on the back burner. In order to improve the situation, we believed that guidelines were needed to set common standard for prioritizing such issues.

Using ISO definitions as reference, we compiled guidelines that classified UI problems found during application development into four damage levels based on a Severity Scale measuring the extent to which the problem makes users reluctant to use the application, and a Frequency Scale measuring the extent to which the problem impacts users' overall use of services and products. In this way, we established a mechanism for taking appropriate countermeasures based on common standards. Moreover, these guidelines themselves were created by putting HCD into practice with a focus on usability while considering who would use the apps and why. Introducing this process into the app development team made all members more aware of usability from the initial development stage, improving overall app UX. The guidelines have been adopted by other projects within the company, and we have also had opportunities to present them at external expert meetings, where they have been well-received.

As a future goal, we would like to ensure the HCD concept spreads throughout the Sony Group's operating companies. HCD is a fundamental guideline for product development and is more effective when understood not only by developers, but also by all members of the product planning, design, and marketing departments. I also feel that co-creating with such team members under the guiding principles of HCD should ultimately enable us to create experiential values that satisfy the essential demands of users. It is vital to ensure users are truly happy with our products and services, not simply release them and leave it at that. For this reason, I believe I can still contribute much to the Sony Group through my HCD leadership activities.