An Empirical Study on the Interaction Between People and Smart

Pillows

Qiuhua Li

, Lintao Tang

and Huizhen Xu

Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University, Haidian District, Beijing, P. R. China

Fair Friend Institute of Intelligent Manufacturing, Hangzhou Vocational & Technical College, Zhejiang, P. R. China

Keywords: Human Computer Interaction, Interdisciplinarity, Consumption Values, Interactive Design.

Abstract: Human-computer interaction is a human-centered methodology, it serves to better meet the needs of users and

improve user experience. Pillow as a necessity of life, in the upgrading of consumption, is developing into

intelligence. This essay applies the theory of consumption value, and adopts an interdisciplinary approach to

explore users' demands for functional value, social value, emotional value, cognitive value and situational

value of smart pillows. Two methods: ethnographic interview and co-design were used to summarise the smart

pillow's user persona and customer journey, and to generate an innovative interaction design scheme. The

research results can promote the development of interdisciplinary, and encourage people to follow the human-

centered principle through innovative interaction design, thus providing people with a better lifestyle. Under

the current multi-context social culture, interdisciplinary knowledge integration can meet the multi-

dimensional consumption value of users and make innovative interaction design more scientific. At the same

time, the innovative interaction design of user participation enables the product to bridge the gap between

users and designers.

1 INTRODUCTION

According to research data, the market size of China's

sleep economy will exceed 400 billion yuan in 2021,

and it is expected to exceed one trillion yuan in 2030

(Wenli, 2022). The sleep economy has huge market

potential. The driving populations of the sleep

economy are the insomniac and the sub-healthy

population. In the rapidly developing economic

environment, poor sleep quality, difficulty in falling

asleep, and easy to get sleepy have become the top

three troubling sleep problems of the generation. The

sleep economy and health concerns are driving the

demand for pillows. Pillows, as a necessity of life, are

closely related to sleep. Pillows are getting more and

more attention. Pillows can affect cervical health and

sleep quality, a comfortable pillow is very important

for sleep. Human-computer interaction is a human-

centered methodology, it serves to better meet the

needs of users and improve user experience.

The theory of consumption value is a research

hotspot and core subject in the field of marketing

management, which has important significance and

value in the aspect of user demands. Consumption

value theory explains the reasons why users buy

products or services. It is a relatively complete

consumption value framework, which determines the

functional value, social value, emotional value,

cognitive value and situational value that affect users'

behaviors (Sheth et al., 1991). The theory of

consumption value requires "human-centered", which

applies an interdisciplinary approach to product

innovation, and integrates sociology, psychology,

anthropology, design, and other disciplines to co-

create with multiple disciplines. Under the

developing trend of intelligence, household products

are being upgraded intelligently. Based on the theory

of consumption value, what do users demand in terms

of the functional value, social value, emotional value,

cognitive value and situational value of smart pillows?

This study consists of exploratory investigations

to determine interactive innovation opportunities for

smart pillows, and three research questions are

proposed to achieve the research objectives:

 What is the persona of the smart pillow users.

 What are the interactive innovation demands

for smart pillows, based on the theory of

consumption value.

Li, Q., Tang, L. and Xu, H.

An Empirical Study on the Interaction Between People and Smart Pillows.

DOI: 10.5220/0011951600003612

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Automation, Information and Computing (ISAIC 2022), pages 465-470

ISBN: 978-989-758-622-4; ISSN: 2975-9463

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

465

 What innovative product interaction design can

be carried out to make the smart pillow provide

better interactive experiences for users.

2 METHODOLOGY

2.1 Methods in this Study

This research adopts interdisciplinary research

methods, applies the knowledge of anthropology,

sociology, design, and integrates research and

practice through innovative product interaction

design in the way of “research through design”

(Manzini 2015). Two methods: ethnographic

interview (Spradley, 2016) and co-design (Kohtala et

al. 2020) were used. A total of 12 samples were

analyzed and a scientific quota was set for the

composition of the samples (Babbie, 2013).

Ethnographic interviews were conducted in a one-

to-one manner, which eliminated group pressure and

made the information provided by participants more

authentic. During the interview, the host can observe

and obtain the participants' behavior habits, usage

scenarios, and needs for pillows. In addition, the host

can understand the real life of the participants,

establish empathy for them, and gain insight into the

relationship between the behaviors and attitudes of

the participants.

The contents found in the research are recorded

and analyzed to gain insight into users' values and

lifestyles. The value appeal and hidden needs

associated with the smart pillow are captured in every

detail of the participants' lives. In the research,

participants from different backgrounds not only put

forward their expectations for smart pillows, but also

discussed the future possibilities of innovative

interaction design through collaborative design.

Participants contributed many ideas for innovative

interaction designs for smart pillows. This study

follows design ethics and is carried out with the

consent of the participants. Design research and

interaction design should be human-centered, take

“goodness” as the principle, and use “goodness”

methods to make people’s lives happier.

2.2 Sampling

Considering the different demands of users for smart

pillows based on factors such as age, gender, identity,

income, type, and price of the pillow, this study

adopts non-probability sampling, as Babbie (2013)

refers as quota sampling, and carries out reasonable

distribution of each characteristic. The participants

include students, white-collar workers, middle and

senior managers, etc. According to Nielsen's

experience, in some qualitative studies, more than 80%

of the problems can be found with 8 samples, while

in quantitative studies, statistically significant results

can be obtained with 30 samples. This study uses a

qualitative approach to explore the new demands of

users. The samples are shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Samples of pillow users in the research.

2.3 Ethnographic Interview

The interview process consists of eight steps: (1)

research objective determination, (2) research method

design, (3) user quota making, (4) sample recruitment

and screening, (5) interview outline design, (6)

execution of interviews, (7) hypothesis verification,

(8) result analysis.

The interview outline mainly consists of five parts.

The first part is the warm-up and self-introduction of

the interviewees. The purpose is to introduce the

objective of this study, establish a harmonious and

friendly atmosphere, and understand the sleeping

habits and concepts of the interviewees. The second

part is pillow usage habits and purchase motivation,

aiming to understand users' usage habits of pillows

and the sleep-related products that they own, in order

to understand users' purchase scenarios of pillow

products. The third part is the purchase process and

consideration factors, the purpose is to understand the

information acquired channels of users, to clarify the

purchase decision-making process and users' factors

of concern. The fourth part is the evaluation of pillow

usage, the purpose is to understand users'

expectations, satisfactions, and pain points of the

pillow, and understand users' pillow using habits. The

fifth part is the testing of the pillow's function and

material requirements, to understand users'

preference for the pillow's function, material, and

shape, also to explore users' unmet expectations.

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3 DATA ANALYSIS

3.1 User Persona

The father of interaction design (Cooper, 2004)

proposed the concept of user persona, which is a

virtual representation of real users and a target user

model based on a series of real information. A user

persona is a fictional, specific, and focused

description of a target user. Domestic scholars have

also studied and developed user persona. Currently,

the commonly used concept of user persona refers to

the characteristics of a group that integrates buyers

and users, and describes the target user. The

descriptive elements include age, gender, family

structure, educational background, and other

demographic characteristics, as well as emotions,

attitudes, behaviors, preferences, motives, goals, pain

points, habits, and other factors. That is, the user

persona is used to express clearly what kind of

"person" the user is.

Figure 2: User persona.

Based on the information obtained from the

investigation, the user persona of the smart pillow is

summarized (see Figure 2). The users of smart

pillows are mainly young and middle-aged, and their

core demands for the pillows are focused on health,

spine protection, and comfort. They come from better

economic backgrounds and possess higher

consumption capacities. In terms of life status, they

are under great pressure to balance their family life

and career. In terms of health, they often have

problems such as lack of energy, insomnia, easy to

wake up, poor sleep, shoulder and neck pain,

headache and so on. They are more inclined to invest

in health and expect technology to improve their

health. Because there are growing amounts of sub-

health problems such as shoulder and neck muscle

strain and cervical curvature change, they have a

higher demand for pillow sleep monitoring and

massage functions. In terms of consumption concept,

they pay attention to material safety, scientific and

comfortable design, and they pursue new functions

and new technologies to improve the quality of life.

In purchasing decisions, they care most about the

products and brands, and pay more attention to the

pillow fitting for cervical spine support, hoping to

improve sleep and health through intelligent

functions. They prefer brands that focus on sleep and

have technical expertise.

3.2 Customer Journey

Customer journey (Kalbach, 2018) is an effective tool

to analyze the interaction between users and products.

The basic elements of customer journey include user

behaviors, goals, emotions, pain points, contact

points, key moments, satisfactions, and improvement

opportunities. In the abductive analysis of customer

journey, it can focus on core contact points such as

key moments to explore the potential demands of

users and find new opportunities. Customer journey

can systematically analyze user demands and

behaviors. The user persona and customer journey

have become two commonly used tools. Under the

collaborative design with users, the user persona and

customer journey can be efficiently summarised,

providing rich information input for the abductive

reasoning of product interaction innovation, and truly

realizing user-demand based product innovation.

The customer journey of smart pillow can be

divided into four stages: demand generation,

information research, product evaluation, purchase

and use. In the demand generation stage, there are

three reasons that drive users to buy new pillows. The

first reason is that the original pillow can becomes

dirty and wore out over time, with poor comfort，

support, and so on. The second reason is that users

have problems with sleep quality and health, so they

buy healthier and more comfortable pillows to

improve it. The third reason is that the pillow in the

An Empirical Study on the Interaction Between People and Smart Pillows

467

function, material, design and other aspects of the

launch of new products, attracting users to buy it.

During the search information stage, users mainly

learn about pillow information through e-commerce

platforms, official websites, content platforms, and

physical stores. Expert evaluation, KOL

recommendation, sales volume and user reviews also

have a great impact on users. In the purchase

evaluation stage, user will evaluate and compare the

following functions of the pillow, including moderate

softness and hardness, breathable design, anti-mite,

anti-microbial, height regulation, sleep monitoring

and massage function, etc., which are the

embodiment of comfort and professionalism of the

pillow. Users trust well-known brands, because it

speaks for the products’ value and ensures their

quality. In terms of pillow appearance and material,

users prefer rectangular-shaped, memory cotton-

made and gray-colored designs. At present, the

pillowcase is mainly made of pure cotton, and users

pay more attention to the color of the pillowcase.

White, gray, and yellow are preferred by users. With

the development of the cultural and creative industry,

there are more and more pillows printed with cultural

and creative patterns, which improve users' sense of

pleasure and are also favored by them. In the stage of

purchase and use, more and more users purchase

products on the e-commerce platform, because it has

abundant products and affordable prices. In the use of

pillows, if the pillow brings users experiences beyond

their expectations, they are more likely to recommend

it to their friends. In the interview, it is discovered that

the pillow is generally used for 2-3 years. Most users

dry the pillow regularly, but rarely wash the pillow

inner with water.

4 FINDING

Consumption value theory explains why users buy

one product rather than another. When users choose

products, they will compare the consumption value of

different products and choose the product that can

provide them with the highest consumption value. In

the theory of consumption value, functional value

refers to the basic function or physical properties of a

product. Emotional value refers to the emotional

experience that a product can bring to consumers,

which comes from the feeling or affection caused by

the product. Social value means that a product can

connect consumers through social groups, improve

social status and shape social image. Cognitive value

refers to the product that can bring freshness to

consumers, satisfy their curiosity, and pursuit of new

knowledge or novelty psychology. Situational value

refers to the choices consumers make when facing

certain situations. A product can temporarily provide

greater functionality or social value, changing the

behavior of consumers.

The application of consumption value theory is

based on internet big data and investigation, this essay

summarizes users' demands for the functional value,

social value, emotional value, cognitive value and

situational value of smart pillows (see Figure 3).

Users' functional value demands for smart

pillows mainly include moderate softness and

hardness, breathable design, anti-mite and anti-

microbial, and height regulation.

Users' emotional value demands for smart pillows

mainly include rectangle shape, memory cotton

filling, and gray in color.

Users' social value demands for smart pillows

mainly include brand, which not only guarantees

quality but also symbolizes identity.

Users' cognitive value demands for smart pillows

mainly include high sales volume, which can bring

trust.

Users' situational value demands for smart pillows

mainly include sleep monitoring or cervical spine

repair.

Figure 3: The consumption value of smart pillows.

Based on users' demand for the consumption

value of smart pillows, this study carried out the

innovative interaction design of smart pillows (see

Figure 4). The core features of the innovative

interactive design of the intelligent pillow are sleep

monitoring and height regulation. Sleep monitoring

can record health data such as sleep duration, deep

sleep, latent sleep, heart rate, and respiratory rate,

providing users with sensory health monitoring and

scientifically improved sleep. Height regulation is

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innovatively realized by the way of pulling rope,

which is convenient for users to easily adjust the

height according to their individual conditions and

obtain a comfortable sleep experience. In addition,

the innovative interactive design also meets users'

other consumption value needs, such as moderate

softness and hardness, rectangle shape, high-quality

memory cotton material, and so on.

The product innovation interaction design based

on the consumption value theory can provide users

with multi-dimensional value experiences. By

meeting users' demands for functional value, social

value, emotional value, cognitive value and

situational value, it avoids the limitations of product

innovation design carried out from a single

perspective. Under the current multi-context social

culture, interdisciplinary knowledge integration can

meet the multi-dimensional consumption value of

users and make innovative interaction design more

scientific. At the same time, the innovative interaction

design of user participation enables the product to

bridge the gap between users and designers.

Figure 4: Innovative interactive design for smart pillows.

5 DISCUSSION

5.1 This Study Solves Three Problems

Household intelligence is a big development trend,

smart pillows are becoming more and more popular.

Through two research methods of ethnographic

interview and collaborative design, this paper

analyses and summarizes the consumption value

demands of users for smart pillows. In the future, we

will continue to conduct research to obtain more

research results. This study addresses three questions:

 What is the persona of the smart pillow users.

 What are the interactive innovation demands

for smart pillows, based on the theory of

consumption value.

 What innovative product interaction design can

be carried out to make the smart pillow provide

better interactive experience for users？

5.2 Contribution to Knowledge

This paper has two main contributions to knowledge.

First of all, it has enriched the knowledge of the

application of consumption value to interactive

innovation design, which is conducive to help

designers systematically understand user demands. It

provides knowledge reference for future research and

practical application. Secondly, a new combination of

research methods is adopted to provide a new method

for the study of interactive innovation design. The

integrated application of ethnographic interview and

collaborative design, as well as the summary of the

user persona and customer journey, is conducive to

insight and analysis of the potential demands of users.

5.3 Value of the Method and Future

Research

The interaction design based on user demand is the

guarantee for the success of innovation. The

interaction design of new products of traditional

enterprises is usually carried out by experience. With

the development of experience economy, users have

more and more demands for products. The interaction

design of new products should not be conducted

solely based on the experience of designers

subjectively. Instead, more consideration should be

given to the ideas of users and they should be allowed

to participate in the process of interaction design of

new products. In the past practice of innovative

interaction design, the method of user participation is

rarely used. Adhering to the human-centered

An Empirical Study on the Interaction Between People and Smart Pillows

469

principle, it is of great significance to invite users to

participate in product interaction design.

Innovative interaction design has changed

people's way of life, re-designed the relationship

between people, and also re-designed the relationship

between people and things. In order to better meet the

demands of users, the application of consumption

value theory in design requires interdisciplinary

methods and user participation design. Products

designed based on consumption value theory provide

users with multi-dimensional value experiences.

In the future, relevant research can be carried out

continuously to track the interaction between people

and smart pillows, discover user needs, and provide

information basis for innovative interaction design. In

addition, the method of this study can be applied to

the study interaction between people and other

products, such as smart refrigerators, vacuum

cleaners, smart phones, smart doorbells and so on.

6 CONCLUSIONS

The demand for smart pillows is driven by the sleep

economy, consumption upgrades, intelligence

developments, sub-health conditions and so on. The

theory of consumption value has important

significance and value in the aspect of insight into

user demands. Consumption value theory explains the

reasons why users buy products or services. This

essay adopts an interdisciplinary approach to explore

users' demands for the functional value, social value,

emotional value, cognitive value and situational value

of smart pillows.

Tow methodologies of the ethnographic interview

and co-design are adopted in this study. Based on

users' demand for the consumption value of smart

pillows, this study summaries the user persona and

customer journey of the smart pillow, and generates

an innovative interaction design scheme. The product

innovation interaction design based on the

consumption value theory can provide users with

multi-dimensional value experiences. This study not

only enriches the knowledge of interaction design,

but also promotes the development of

interdisciplinarity. The esearch results can encourage

people to carry out interactive design following the

human-centered principle.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research is supported by Tsinghua University

Initiative Scientific Research Program.

Program Number: 2021THZW.

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