Drones for medical supply deliveries - Designing Intuitive Interfaces for Nurses Managing Drone Deliveries

Abstract

With a focus on optimising the user experience for nurses, this Master’s thesis investigates the design of interfaces for managing drone take-off and landing operations. The research aims to identify critical factors essential to the design of such interfaces in the context of medical staff handling drone deliveries. Through a service design process, including data collection, thematic analysis, co-design workshops, prototyping and user testing, key insights were gathered. Eight key factors (KF1-KF8) were identified to guide designers and stakeholders in the development of interfaces for drone operations. These factors cover a range of considerations, including minimising mental effort, ensuring safety during drone interactions, addressing challenging climatic conditions, establishing trust in humandrone interaction, considering attitudes towards drone use, maintaining information balance, emphasising clarity and simplicity in the interface, and providing flexibility in managing drone deliveries. The conclusion acknowledges the uncertainties surrounding the feasibility of implementing drone services in Sweden, mainly due to regulatory limitations, and highlights the need for further research to assess the actual improvement in nurses’ working conditions. Overall, this research provides valuable insights for the development of interfaces tailored to optimise the user experience of drone operations, while also highlighting areas for future research.