An Exploratory Design Workshop to Elicit what Feels Natural when Interacting with an Automobile’s Secondary Controls

Simon Ramm,Joseph Giacomin,Alessio Malizia,Bennett Anyasodo

doi:10.1080/14606925.2018.1395228

Simon Ramm, Joseph Giacomin + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2018.1395228

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Abstract

Exploratory design workshops were conducted using five participatory methods with 10 automobile drivers in order to understand what characterizes natural-feeling interaction with automobiles’ secondary, comfort, and infotainment controls. Hands-on, artefact-focused methods were selected for their potential to understand these familiar but characteristically silent and private interactions. ‘Think Aloud’ analyses, flexible modelling, breaching, focus groups, and ‘future fictions’ were conducted in an immersive automotive workshop using real automotive controls. Some sessions took place in a parked automobile. Grounded theory thematic analysis suggested a framework with 11 themes: Familiarity and predictability, Driver in full and ultimate control, Communication with reality, Weighty physical sensations, Cabin comfort and sanctuary, Uncluttered cabin architecture, Low visual demand, Low cognitive demand, Humanlike partnership, Humanlike sentience and learning, and Humanlike verbal–auditory communication. Natural-feeling interaction may be more likely perceived in an automobile, system, or individual control that exhibits as many of the 11 themes as appropriate.

Highlights

Some evidence suggests that automobile drivers’ current user experience may be perceived as confusing and cluttered (e.g. Meschtscherjakov et al 2011), distracting (Wynn, Richardson and Stevens 2013), or disconnected (Walker, Stanton and Young 2006)
In order to explore the characteristics of natural-feeling interaction between automobile drivers and their secondary, comfort and infotainment controls, an activity-based exploratory design workshop used five artefact-focused methods to elicit the perceptions of ten automobile drivers
The data was analyzed into 11 themes using Thematic Analysis

Summary

Introduction

Some evidence suggests that automobile drivers’ current user experience may be perceived as confusing and cluttered (e.g. Meschtscherjakov et al 2011), distracting (Wynn, Richardson and Stevens 2013), or disconnected (Walker, Stanton and Young 2006). Technology is fundamentally changing the nature of the driving task (Banks, Stanton and Harvey 2014a) through ‘drive-by-wire’ and a plethora of intelligent driver support systems which together could almost be described as a ‘self-driving car’. Successful interface design requires deep understanding of how humans perform tasks (Jaspers 2006) but the private, silent and often unconscious execution of driver-automobile interactions makes this very challenging. Cognitive and quantitative approaches to driver-automobile interaction dominate the literature, essentially ‘human performance testing’, but these risk underestimating human emotions, moods, needs, and values systems (Gomez, Popovic and Bucolo 2008). Automotive user interface development is often informed by simulator studies which can poorly recreate real world scenarios and contextual factors (Meschtscherjakov et al 2011)

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