Automated Vehicle Handover Interface Design:Focus Groups with Learner,Intermediate and Advanced Drivers

Conditionally and highly automated vehicles will require drivers to take control as a result of a non-emergency,such as a geographical,terrain,capability or design boundary.It is anticipated that these events will provide the driver with a sufficient amount of time to prepare themselves for the transition of control.This study explores conditionally and highly automated vehicle transitions of control by asking how drivers of differing skill levels(learner,intermediate and advanced)approach the task of designing an interface responsible for making transitions safer,more usable and more efficient.Three focus groups generated detailed designs for vehicle-to-driver transitions in an 1-h and a 10-min“out-of-the-loop”scenarios and transitions from driver to vehicle.Results show great variation in the approaches taken by each skill group(e.g.,the reliance on visual interfaces for awareness assist and viewpoints on issues such as multimodal displays).Customization was a common theme throughout,with drivers desiring the option to adjust alert timings and modalities in which information is displayed.This paper presents these designs along with a detailed comparison of group designs and implements distributed situation awareness theory to discuss findings and draw conclusions.

Usability Assessment of Steering Wheel Control Interfaces in Motorsport

In order to assess the usability of steering wheel control interfaces in motorsport,it is necessary to employ a set of appropriate methods.The method selection process first involves identifying the relevant motorsport-based usability criteria.The unique factors associated with context of use in motorsport are then defined.These are employed to synthesize a set of key performance indicators(KPIs)that require specific analysis.The first KPI relates to error rates;these should be minimized,particularly under high cognitive load on the primary.The second KPI involves task times;these should be minimized not just to reduce distraction,but also to improve competitive performance.The third KPI states that usability should be optimized to minimize visual distraction.The fourth KPI advocates the minimizing of interface task load to reduce the effect on the primary task.The final KPI states that interface functionality should be easy to learn and recall.The KPIs provide clear goals to guide the identification of the most appropriate methods for each aspect of usability.Methods categories are devised and sets of appropriate methods selected based on the KPIs.These then combine into a toolset with an associated application process with the overall goal of providing a means by which motorsport interfaces may be both analysed and improved.

Constraining Design:Applying the Insights of Cognitive Work Analysis to the Design of Novel In-Car Interfaces to Support Eco-Driving

The design with intent(DwI)toolkit assists designers in creating novel designs and interfaces.DwI,however,is not constrained to any degree,making it impossible to know whether the produced designs adequately account for users’needs.In contrast,cognitive work analysis(CWA)is a human factors research tool that seeks to map a system and account for users’needs,yet does not provide clear guidelines for progressing such analysis into workable designs with which users can interact.This paper seeks to present a proof-of-concept investigation to demonstrate that DwI can be suitably constrained and validated by insights gained from CWA.CWA,in turn,benefits by having a suitable toolkit for progressing insights.Two teams of individuals without design backgrounds were able to develop mock-up in-vehicle interfaces aimed at reducing fuel use.The teams were able to use DwI toolkit to articulate the genesis of their ideas,which in turn could be directly linked to system needs identified within CWA.