User-centered design is an increasingly recognized and valued technique in the design of healthcare interventions and particularly AI-enhanced systems. It involves (1) understanding the environment in which a proposed system will be used and the needs of the end-users; (2) evaluating the needs and applying theory to system design; (3) refining the usability of the prototype through end-user testing and (4) evaluation of the novel system in the target patient population and setting. As part of the process of developing the behaviour of the robot system, we aimed to understand the needs of children, caregivers, and healthcare practitioners (HCPs), regarding the use and utility of a social robot in the emergency department (ED) at Stollery Children’s Hospital and The Hospital for Sick Children. For children and caregivers, we will characterize (a) their experience during painful procedures in the ED, (b) their knowledge and concerns about a social robot, (c) robot features to support child engagement. For HCPs we will characterize (a) their experience managing children’s procedural pain and distress, (b) their perspectives surrounding the integration of technology, more specifically AI and robots, within the pediatric ED setting and (c) the potential behaviour/functionality of the robot that would best support HCPs work.