Design for Luxury Front-Seat Passenger Infotainment Systems with Experience Prototyping through VR

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article focuses on empowering front-seat passengers in luxury car journeys through infotainment systems and investigates how luxury can be manifested via new functionalities and interactions. It presents an experience prototyping study in which 27 participants tried out a VR-simulated design proposal for the front-seat passenger infotainment system within a travel scenario and reflected on their UX. The article suggests design recommendations to answer the user concerns and expectations revealed in the results, including the provision of enough margin of error in gestural manipulations, prevention of driver and passenger distractions, keeping up with the technology within car’s life cycle, involvement in the journey, collaboration with driver and relatedness to social network. The article underlines that these expectations expand further in luxury cars with the search for digital upgrades, infotainment content with luxury symbolic value, and subtle technology integration to the luxury car interior. It finally provides a framework with various modes showing that front-seat passengers’ expectations from the infotainment system change based on their relationships with the surroundings and the driver, and it offers design solutions to facilitate each mode.