Short answer
When designing technologies that involve animals, consider their perspective as active users and design for their direct engagement and understanding, rather than treating them as passive recipients of stimuli.
- Field
- User-Centred Design
- Source
- Academic Publication (2025)
- Method
- Scoping Review
- Sample
- approx. 800 research works
- Evidence
- Strong effect
Current animal-technology interactions often treat animals as passive subjects rather than active users, limiting their potential for engagement and benefit. This user-centred design research insight is drawn from a 2025 study published in Academic Publication. Using Scoping review with approx. 800 research works, researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: When designing technologies that involve animals, consider their perspective as active users and design for their direct engagement and understanding, rather than treating them as passive recipients of stimuli.
Designing for Animal Users: A Framework for Understanding Animal-Technology Interactions
Current animal-technology interactions often treat animals as passive subjects rather than active users, limiting their potential for engagement and benefit.
Academic Publication · 2025
Key Findings
- 01Most animal-technology systems involve animals with limited potential for direct engagement or sense-making.
- 02A distinction can be made between animals as users versus subjects of interactive systems.
- 03Key design considerations for animal users include feedback mechanisms, empirical testing, and projected animal benefits.
Application
Design takeaway
When designing technologies that involve animals, consider their perspective as active users and design for their direct engagement and understanding, rather than treating them as passive recipients of stimuli.
How to apply
When developing products for pets, livestock, or wildlife monitoring, actively involve animal behaviourists and conduct user testing with the target animal species to ensure the technology is intuitive and beneficial for them.
Project actions
- 01Consider the sensory capabilities and cognitive processes of your target animal user.
- 02Incorporate feedback mechanisms that are clear and meaningful to the animal.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Comprehensive review of a broad range of literature.
- +Development of a useful framework for future research and design.
Limitations
It can be challenging to accurately gauge an animal's understanding or subjective experience with a technology.
Reliability & validity
The reliability of the review depends on the systematic categorization of the 800 research works. Validity is supported by the diverse fields covered and the proposed framework's potential for empirical testing.
Think critically
How might the ethical considerations of designing for animal users differ from designing for human users, and what are the implications for the design process?
Design Principles
"Design for animal agency: Empower animals to interact with and understand technology through intuitive feedback and meaningful engagement."
Understanding animals as users, not just subjects, is crucial for designing more effective, ethical, and beneficial technologies for them. This shift in perspective can lead to innovations that genuinely improve animal welfare and enable richer human-animal interactions.
What This Means for Your Design
When you make something for an animal, think about how the animal will actually use it and understand it, not just how it affects them.
How to use in your project
- 1.Use this research to justify your design choices when considering the needs and behaviours of non-human users in your design project.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
Paragraph starter
This research highlights the importance of designing for animal users as active participants rather than passive subjects. By considering animal agency, feedback mechanisms, and empirical testing of projected benefits, designers can create more effective and ethical technologies that foster genuine engagement and understanding for non-human users.
Source
Academic Publication
Animals' Entanglement with Technology: a Scoping Review
journal · 2025
View sourceQuestions About This Research
- What does the research say about designing for animal users: a framework for understanding animal-technology interactions?
- When designing technologies that involve animals, consider their perspective as active users and design for their direct engagement and understanding, rather than treating them as passive recipients of stimuli. Evidence: Academic Publication (2025).
- Why does "Designing for Animal Users: A Framework for Understanding Animal-Technology Interactions" matter for design?
- Understanding animals as users, not just subjects, is crucial for designing more effective, ethical, and beneficial technologies for them. This shift in perspective can lead to innovations that genuinely improve animal welfare and enable richer human-animal interactions.
- How can designers apply this research?
- When designing technologies that involve animals, consider their perspective as active users and design for their direct engagement and understanding, rather than treating them as passive recipients of stimuli.
- What were the main findings?
- Most animal-technology systems involve animals with limited potential for direct engagement or sense-making.. A distinction can be made between animals as users versus subjects of interactive systems.. Key design considerations for animal users include feedback mechanisms, empirical testing, and projected animal benefits.
- What research method was used?
- Scoping Review with approx. 800 research works.
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Strong effect, based on a 2025 journal from Academic Publication.
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- When developing products for pets, livestock, or wildlife monitoring, actively involve animal behaviourists and conduct user testing with the target animal species to ensure the technology is intuitive and beneficial for them.
- What are the limitations?
- The review's scope might be limited by the availability and accessibility of research, and the interpretation of 'engagement' and 'sense-making' can be subjective.