Collaborative robots are an indispensable element of both industry 4.0 and industry 5.0, the latter of which gives special emphasis to the human facet of the human-robot collaboration. To facilitate such an interaction, attention should be given to the design of the cobot, including its interface, which enables communication with the user. Programming through the interface and performing a task with the robotic device are responsible for the user experience (UX), which comprises both pragmatic and hedonic aspects. In order to design the most positive experience for users, their perspectives must be considered, which is achieved through the identification of UX goals. In this respect, a systematic review was conducted to revise the UX goals present in the literature. The following seven UX goals were identified: safety, relationship, usability, inspiration, flexibility, efficiency, and accomplishment. These findings represent the first systematic categorization of UX goals for the specific design of cobots, that should empirically be tested.

The use of collaborative robots in industries is growing rapidly. To ensure the successful implementation of these devices, it is essential to consider the user experience (UX) during their design process. This study is aimed at testing the UX goals that emerge when users interact with a collaborative robot during the programming and collaborating phases. A framework on UX goals will be tested, in the geographical context of Portugal. For that, an experimental setup was introduced in the form of a laboratory case study in which the human–robot collaboration (HRC) was evaluated by the combination of both quantitative (applying the User Experience Questionnaire [UEQ]) and qualitative (semistructured interviews) metrics. The sample was constituted by 19 university students. The quantitative approach showed positive overall ratings for the programming phase UX, with attractiveness having the highest average value (M = 2.21; SD = 0.59) and dependability the lowest (M = 1.64; SD = 0.65). For the collaboration phase, all UX ratings were positive, with attractiveness having the highest average value (M = 2.46; SD = 0.78) and efficiency the lowest (M = 1.93; SD = 0.77). Only perspicuity showed significant differences between the two phases (t(18) = −4.335, p = 0.002). The qualitative approach, at the light of the framework used, showed that efficiency, inspiration, and usability are the most mentioned UX goals emerging from the content analysis. These findings enhance manufacturing workers’ well‐being by improving cobot design in organizations.