Master´s thesis Understanding and Designing for User Intent in Industrial AI Interfaces

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Your role and responsibilities

As agentic AI-based knowledge and decision support systems become increasingly advanced in industry, they operate with greater autonomy and proactivity than traditional tools, taking independent actions based on user intent rather than providing solely recommendations.

This fundamentally changes how control room operators interact with distributed control systems (DCS), shifting from explicit commands to expressing intentions, goals, and constraints something the AI must interpret and act upon. The "articulation barrier" describes the difficulty operators experience when translating complex operational knowledge into interactions the system can meaningfully act upon. When operators struggle to articulate their intentions clearly, the AI may misinterpret objectives, leading to misaligned actions, reduced trust in the system, and diminished interaction efficiency.

This master's thesis investigates how industrial operators formulate, communicate, and refine their intentions when interacting with advanced agentic AI systems, and how user experience design can reduce the articulation barrier. You will design guidelines for intent-supporting interaction in control room environments, with an option to focus alternatively on mobile operators working in the field.

Recommended research questions are (can be some of the following):

• How can interfaces proactively support intent formulation without increasing cognitive load on users?
• How to support going from intentions into actionable insights?
• What factors are important to consider when designing for user intent in an industrial environment e.g. noise, different light conditions, safety aspects, risk of information overload, stressful situations?
• How can users be motivated to give additional information when desired?
• How should AI agents’ communication style change during different types of situations, e.g. the operator has a lot to do or too little, the user needs to work in several different systems etc.?
• (if the thesis has focus on use in a control room) How can user experiences be designed for an information- and system-intensive environment?
• (if thesis has focus on mobile use) How can mobile user experiences be designed to support effective AI interaction outside of the control room?

Details:

• Spring 2027, commonly between Jan-July
• 30 ECTS/högskolepoäng (hp)
• 1-2 students
• In Västerås. Possibility for hybrid workplace

Your responsibilities

• Conduct a literature review covering how to support user intent communication and interaction with an agentic AI system in an industrial context
• Do user research through interviews, workshops, contextual studies, or discussions with ABB experts and/ or end users
• Identify user needs, pain points, and use cases
• Formulate and summarize important factors to consider during design to lower the interaction barriers
• Investigate relevant market solutions for the industrial market, designed to support capture of user intent during interaction
• Develop concepts and user experience visions for future human-agent interaction with focus on user intent
• Create interactive mid-fidelity prototypes demonstrating selected concepts and use cases
• Evaluate concepts with users or domain experts and collect feedback
• Summarize findings and provide design recommendations for intent-supporting human-agent interaction

Your background

We are looking for motivated master's students interested in designing future industrial user experiences and digital solutions.

Candidates could have:

• Academic Background in one or more of the following fields:
  • Interaction Design
  • Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
  • User Experience (UX) Design
  • Industrial Design Engineering
  • Human Factors Engineering
  • Computer Science
  • Cognitive Science or Cognitive Systems
  • Media Technology
• Interest in user-centered design, digital product development, and emerging technologies
• Ability to conduct qualitative user research and translate findings into requirements, concepts, and design recommendations
• Experience creating prototypes and visual concepts using tools such as Figma or similar.
• Ability to work independently and creatively in an exploratory research environment
• Interest in industrial automation, process industries, AI-assisted systems, or industrial digitalization is considered a strong merit

More about us

Recruiting Manager Dawid Ziobro, [email protected], will answer your questions.

Apply with your CV, academic transcripts and a cover letter in English. 

We look forward to receiving your application!

A future opportunity

This role is part of our talent pipeline, which means it’s not currently open, but we’re always looking for curious minds, bold thinkers, and people who want to make an impact.

Click Apply to express your interest and be considered for future opportunities that match your experience and aspirations.

At ABB, we welcome people from all backgrounds and believe that diverse perspectives help us build a cleaner, smarter future.

Apply today or visit https://www.abb.com to learn more about how we help run what runs the world.