The Interaction Blueprint: A Human-Centred Design Tool for Cognitive Human–Robot Interaction

Abstract

Robotic systems have progressed from isolated, pre-programmed manipulators to adaptive, learning agents capable of close collaboration with humans. This evolution outpaces most established Human–Robot Interaction (HRI) taxonomies and leaves design teams without a concise, human-centered method for specifying next-generation interactions. We present the Interaction Blueprint, a diagrammatic framework that merges service-design blueprinting with refined HRI concepts. Each task step is plotted on dual physical and cognitive axes and annotated across five layers—Activity, Role, Ability, Autonomy, and Authority-thereby linking user skills and decision prerogatives to robotic capabilities at the earliest design stage. The blueprint translates abstract taxonomic insights into a practical canvas for multidisciplinary teams and offers a scalable foundation for forthcoming empirical validation and metric integration.