Six weeks. Six dimensions. One framework.

All six (introduction)

The opening session introduces the Robot Experience Design framework and the idea that robotics is a human experience problem, not just an engineering one. You will meet Reachy Mini — a social humanoid desktop robot from Pollen Robotics and Hugging Face — and see the six RXD dimensions applied live. No code. No prerequisites.

Topics covered

• —What RXD is and why it exists
• —The six dimensions: Signal Clarity, Spatial Legibility, Perceived Presence, Failure Transparency, Interaction Fit, Recovery Design
• —How the Robot Experience Score (RES) works as a scoring instrument
• —Live demonstration: scoring Reachy Mini across all six dimensions
• —What a Robot Readiness Audit looks like in practice

Deliverable

None — this is the orientation session. Come with questions.

Signal Clarity · Spatial Legibility

How robots communicate intent — and how humans read their position in space. This week covers the signals a robot sends (lights, sounds, movement, gaze direction) and the spatial cues that tell people where a robot is going, how close it will get, and whether it is aware of them.

Topics covered

• —Signal types: visual, auditory, kinetic, haptic
• —Signal timing and the cost of ambiguity
• —Proxemics in human-robot interaction: personal space, approach angles, territorial boundaries
• —Spatial legibility: can a bystander predict what this robot is about to do?
• —Case study: consumer robots that signal well vs. ones that don't

Deliverable

Signal audit — select a consumer robot (from the Robot of the Week archive or your own environment) and evaluate its Signal Clarity and Spatial Legibility using the RES rubric. 500–800 words with scored dimensions.

Learning outcomes

• —Identify and categorise the signals a robot uses to communicate intent
• —Evaluate whether a robot's spatial behaviour is legible to bystanders
• —Apply the RES scoring criteria for Signal Clarity and Spatial Legibility

Perceived Presence

Voice, form, aesthetic, emotional readability — the dimension that determines whether people treat a robot as a tool, a character, or a colleague. This week examines how design choices shape the social register of a robot, and why personality coherence matters more than personality itself.

Topics covered

• —What Perceived Presence is and is not (it is not anthropomorphism)
• —Voice design: tone, pacing, register, and the uncanny valley of synthetic speech
• —Form factor and aesthetic as social signals
• —Emotional readability: can people tell what the robot is "feeling" — and should they?
• —The coherence test: does the robot's voice match its body, its context, and its task?
• —Case study: Reachy Mini's expressive design vs. utilitarian service robots

Deliverable

Persona brief — define a deployment context (retail, healthcare, hospitality, public space, education) and write a Perceived Presence specification for Reachy Mini in that context. Cover tone, form factor considerations, social register, and coherence rationale. 500–800 words.

Learning outcomes

• —Distinguish Perceived Presence from anthropomorphism
• —Evaluate a robot's voice, form, and affect as a coherent design system
• —Write a Perceived Presence specification for a defined deployment context

Interaction Fit · Failure Transparency

Is this the right robot for this task, in this context, for these people? And when it fails — because it will — does it fail honestly? This week pairs two dimensions that are tightly linked in practice: the match between robot capability and deployment context, and the design of failure as an intentional moment rather than an exception.

Topics covered

• —Interaction Fit: matching capability to context, task, and user population
• —Over-promising and under-delivering: the deployment gap
• —Failure Transparency: what the robot communicates when something goes wrong
• —Designing failure states: graceful degradation, honest error signals, and the difference between hiding failure and handling it
• —Escalation design: when should a robot hand off to a human, and how?
• —Case study: robots that fail silently vs. robots that fail well

Deliverable

Failure scenario map — using your Week 3 deployment context, define three realistic failure states and specify the Recovery Design for each. Include: what fails, what the user sees, what the robot communicates, and what happens next. Structured template provided.

Learning outcomes

• —Evaluate whether a robot's capabilities match its deployment context
• —Design failure states as intentional interaction moments
• —Specify escalation and handoff protocols for mixed human-robot environments

Recovery Design

The final self-paced week synthesises all six dimensions across real deployment verticals — retail, hospitality, healthcare, education, public space. You will write an interaction specification for Reachy Mini. TRA runs your spec on the actual robot and returns footage. You then document the gap between what you designed and what you observed.

Topics covered

• —Recovery Design as a system, not an afterthought
• —Full RXD synthesis: how the six dimensions interact in real deployments
• —Writing an interaction specification: structured prompts, expected behaviour, success criteria
• —Vertical deep dives: how RXD applies differently across industries
• —Observing vs. specifying: what the gap between your design and the robot's behaviour reveals

Deliverable

Interaction spec + observation report — write a structured interaction scenario for Reachy Mini. TRA runs it and sends you the footage. Document the gap between your spec and the observed behaviour. This is the direct preparation for the Week 6 capstone.

Learning outcomes

• —Synthesise all six RXD dimensions into a single deployment evaluation
• —Write a testable interaction specification for a social robot
• —Analyse the gap between designed intent and observed robot behaviour

All six

The final deliverable. TRA provides a standardised Reachy Mini session — video footage plus an interaction log. You complete a full Robot Readiness Audit: a scored RES across all six RXD dimensions with written rationale for each score. Submit your RRA, receive cohort feedback, and earn the REP credential and badge.

Topics covered

• —RRA methodology: how to structure a professional audit
• —Scoring discipline: calibrating your RES against the rubric
• —Writing the rationale: evidence-based scoring, not opinion
• —Peer review: reading and giving feedback on a colleague's audit

Deliverable

Completed Robot Readiness Audit (RRA) — full RES scoring across all six RXD dimensions with written rationale. Passing threshold earns the REP credential and Credential.net badge.

Learning outcomes

• —Conduct a complete Robot Readiness Audit on a real robot platform
• —Score all six RXD dimensions using the RES instrument with evidence-based rationale
• —Communicate audit findings to a professional audience