Designing and evaluating the interactive central console...

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HCI Project: Group 21

Designing and evaluating the

interactive central console system for

a car. Authors: Tom, Joe, Aaron, Alex and George

Abstract:

This research is intended to examine the current and past examples of

interactive dashboards and their related technologies. In doing so we

will analyse the advantages and disadvantages of their practical

implementations as well as addressing the epistemologies of their

design and development. The related technologies include aerial and

locomotive systems, Heads-Up Display (HUD), representations of

fuel economy and encouraging eco-friendly driving as well as the

interaction of the dashboard with social, visual and audio media.

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Introduction

Cars have been beginning to utilise digital displays on dashboards for a number of years.

While this may seem like a natural progression to make in the innovative industry of

automobile manufacturing, it is a common complaint that these systems are poorly designed

and lead many users to feel annoyed and frustrated with the way that these changes have been

implemented. There is therefore room for improvement in this area of car design and even

though the industry has started to acknowledge and work on improving this there is still areas

they have not yet capitalised on.

Definition of Problems Addressed

Traditional car dashboards make use of a combination of both digital and analogue displays

and instruments. This, combined with the common use of abstract symbols, can lead to user

confusion. Furthermore, the use of analogue instruments does not leave significant room to

display useful information, such as navigation features or speed limits that modern vehicles

enable. Further confusion is added by the large array of different systems used by different

manufacturers. Our new system will attempt to overcome some of these problems using some

of the following methods. We will design an all-digital touchscreen dashboard that will be

displayed on a LCD display. It will show a home screen displaying the controls that drivers

regularly use, such as climate control, volume and music track selection. In addition to this

the system will allow for other uses such as editing the satellite navigation (SatNav) route and

choosing music from different playlists. These options will exist in an app like display similar

to that of an iPad. Hopefully we can implement these functions in a way that that enables the

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system to become universal. This way the confusion that users experience when handling

contrasting systems can be diminished.

Review of related work

This section outlines a review of related systems and attempts at improving car dashboard

interfaces. Ranging from systems used in trains and planes to simple systems available to

download to smart phones. What follows is a summary and discussion of related interfaces.

A comparison between car, train and plane systems and how their human-computer

interaction is configured:

While at first glance the systems and interfaces used in locomotive and airline transport are

not at all similar to those within personal vehicles, there are some comparisons to be made.

All three of these modes of transport require a regulated level of safety features, they all

require a level of learnability so that their operators can master them successfully and they

need to be able to carry their passengers from A to B efficiently and with the lowest level of

inconvenience. However while some of these requirements may be similar and the method in

which they were designed can be learned from and applied to the user interfaces of cars, they

are still very different systems and this needs to be kept in mind.

The functionality and safety features of Europe’s railway infrastructure are overseen by the

European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) which sets the standard for operating

systems (Abed, 2010). This high level of regulation for such a large and diverse region

provides a platform for universal systems to transgress the borders of countries and create a

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smoother environment for both the operators and passengers. There is a similar supranational

organisation which regulates the safety benchmarks and industry policies needed to uphold

standards that airline passengers now know and expect. This regulatory body is the

International Air Transport Association (IATA). Setting this level of standards makes sense,

especially when applied to the realm of health and safety. In the context of aerial

transportation security is also an area of concern. Putting these regulations in place can

reduce the number of accidents and well as improve the quality of service given when

travelling by plane or train. The train crash that occurred on the 24 July 2012 in north-west

Spain could have been avoided had ERTMS been installed on the system involved (Marks,

2013). In this instance, a well-designed program would have overrun the driver’s command

of the vehicle to prevent a crash. The interaction between human and computer was still

present as the computer would throw alerts for the driver to read, but would be able to

intervene if they were ignored for too long.

The umbrella organisation that governs automobile regulations in the UK is the Department

for Transport. This government body, similarly to those for plane and train systems, is largely

concerned with safety features and not universal ‘infotainment’ dashboards. But one can

often find safety features within the integrated dashboards many car manufacturers produce

today. An example is Audi’s Pre-Sense Plus feature which is built-in to stop the car

automatically if it is within a certain proximity to another car or object; this system is also

available from many other car manufacturers such as Lexus, Mercedes and Mazda. While this

system cannot be manipulated by the driver, it produces warning that are displayed on the

dashboard display, moving on to more severe phases if those alerts are ignored. This feature

resembles that which would have used had the Spanish train had the latest management

system installed. A potential feature which could be used on an interactive dashboard is a

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child-lock option which can be activated with the tap of a finger instead of flicking a switch

on the inside of the passenger doors. This would give the benefit of convenience as well as

protecting the safety of a child passenger, but it would have to be ensured that the system

could not be accidentally triggered which could endanger the child.

The operating systems of planes, cars and trains are starkly contrasted in their levels of

learnability. Pilots take months to learn how to fly a light aircraft, and it takes many years to

master flying a commercial airliner. It is also difficult to learn how to operate a train, as the

Spanish accident tragically demonstrates. Compared to those two methods of transport,

learning to drive a car is almost a simple task. But weighed onto the act of operating the

vehicle is the responsibility of carrying the passengers who are with you. Again, this

responsibility is staggered with planes having the most passengers and being the most

difficult to operate and cars having the least potential people on board and being the easiest to

manoeuvre. However improvements to the learnability of a car can always be made,

including the way an interactive dashboard works and how a user can manipulate its features.

Some of these features are purely for leisure, comfort and convenience purposes such as

music, heating and Satellite Navigation, but others such as child-lock and collision avoidance

systems can be critical to the safety of drives and passengers.

There are parallels between the way that trains, cars and planes are regulated and operated

and there are also contrasts. By learning about these similarities and differences we can

uncover ways of improving the safety and learnability of automobile systems and more

specifically an interactive dashboard system.

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Head up Displays:

In car entertainment and dashboard systems presently differ from manufacturer to

manufacturer and again vary by model. The user of the vehicle may wish to change the

console or dashboard but at present their choices of customisation are limited. There are some

options that are available to enable the user to change their car to suit their personal

preferences, such as the Head Up Displays (HUD’s).

Whilst there are practical and safety reasons that an entire dashboard couldn’t be replicated in

the windscreen, it may be possible for some components to be incorporated safely and may

in-fact increase the safety levels of drivers utilising these systems. Research suggests that the

market for the Automotive Head-up Display will grow by 28.61 percent between 2012-2016,

with one of the key factors for this being customer awareness of the need for vehicle safety

(CNBC.com, 2013). Studies have illustrated that driver’s process information up to 50%

faster with a HUD compared to a dashboard mounted device, therefore reducing the amount

of time which is spent not concentrating on controlling the vehicle (BMW.com, 2014). This

customer awareness and desire for greater safety may be attributed to government initiatives,

including focused efforts to increase awareness about vehicle safety through educational

activities, in addition to driver training to promote the use and importance of safety systems

in vehicles.

A current weakness in manufacturer installed HUD’s are that they are limited to premium

cars, such as BMW whose lowest price model which includes a HUD is £19,000 and the

cheapest saloon costs in excess of £30,000. More conservatively priced cars are likely to be

equipped with HUD’s in coming years, as the technology becomes more readily available and

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therefore carries lower costs. In addition, the systems currently on the market are designed to

be GPS systems with some safety features rather than any kind of dashboard replacement.

There are presently alternatives available to built in HUD’s, which are manufactured by third

parties, rather than the car manufacturer’s themselves. Some are listed below:

Pioneer NavGate HUD - £599

The NavGate system is a ‘Visor-mounted Digital Light Processing system’ that projects the

data onto a transparent sheet of plastic within the driver’s field of view. This again is

designed to prevent the driver needing to look down at GPS. It has a turn-by-turn navigation

with lane placement as well as current speedometer, speed limits, red light and speed cameras

alerts, a clock, estimated time of arrival and distance to your destination. It also has in-built

sensors, which detect the ambient light to adjust brightness to account for differences

between driving during the day and at night; there is also a dedicated app for mobile phones

which has the ability to control the various functions, such as which the brightness function

previously described.

This HUD is a GPS system with a speedometer incorporated into it, which is projected onto

the driver’s side of the windscreen. The weaknesses of this are that currently it is more

expensive than many of the other options available in the market, which will be looked at

next, meaning it won’t be as viable for many customers.

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HUDWAY/Garmin/Sygic Smartphone apps - Free:

The HUDWAY system is an application for Smartphone users which is designed to enable

the user to focus on the road, again rather than looking away at their GPS. This system also

claims that the lack of audio commands, which drivers don’t have to ‘interpret’, is less

distracting than systems which do have audible alerts; although this is debateable as audio

can be said to be an efficient method of delivering information in instances where increased

concentration is required, such as roundabouts.

This system utilises a mobile phone which is placed directly on the dashboard and does not

require any projectors; it also does not require installation of a film on the windscreen for it

be visible. This system is considerably cheaper than the NavGate, due to the application

being free to download and install and it can also said to be more convenient due to a large

proportion of vehicle owning smart phones which are able to use this software. In addition,

the HUDWAY provides you with useful information, such as current vehicle speed, distance

to the next sharp curve, and where it is best to slow down. All dangerous turns are displayed

in red and with marks on the road helping to visually measure the distance; the distance

between each mark is equal to 50 meters (or 200 feet). Unlike alternatives such as built-in

GPS systems and sat-nav’s, the HUDWAY does not require continual internet connection for

the system to work, as the route can be uploaded prior to starting the journey; this may be

useful in areas which have low network coverage or if the user does not wish to use their

data.

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There are other alternatives to the HUDWAY app, which include Sygic and Garmin

Smartphone apps, which have varying prices and some differing features, but can be said to

be relatively similar.

General Motors Enhanced Vision System:

This is a system whereby the whole screen is manufactured and installed into the car, which

is designed to ‘augment reality’; this includes taking real world images and bringing them

into a visual environment. For example, speed limit signs will be automatically recognised

prior to driver awareness of them, and will be displayed on the windscreen. Internal cameras

are used in addition to a variety of external ones, which can alter the display depending on

where the driver is looking. This results in the system’s ability to automatically highlight

many hazards that it feels the driver has not picked up on, and so it is claimed, the GMEVS

will improve safety. This may be particularly effective at night, as this system uses the same

technology as aircraft do when landing, and can therefore be said to be reliable and due to the

stringent guidelines set out in the aviation industry, it must also be safe.

As the system is still in the testing phase and is yet to be put into mass production, it is not

possible to get reliable feedback, and so it is difficult to identify its strengths and weaknesses.

Again this system doesn’t look to replace the dashboard, but enhance the driving experience

and augment what the driver sees with use of the infrared, night vision and object

recognition.

There is anecdotal evidence from customer reviews that having the speed at eye level,

whereby it is displayed on the screen rather than within the dashboard, is safer than looking

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down to the speedo which further strengthens the aforementioned study on the subject. It can

also be surmised that excessive amounts of information being given to a driver may be

detrimental to their driving and therefore an overly complex dashboard HUD can be said to

be unsafe and does not meet the requirements of the user.

Comparison of Head up Displays:

The NavGate system can be said to have a wider range of features than the HUDWAY,

which are closer to the driver's eye line, whereas the HUDWAY is displayed on a mobile

phone on the dashboard which in itself may be a distraction. The entire windshield HUD

boasts the potential for all this and more, with the infrared and night vision aspects being

potentially very useful, and the augmentation of vision means that users who may not be

aware of a hazard, the system automatically make them aware of it.

Summary of HUD’s:

Head up displays (HUD's) offer an alternative to built in car analogue and digital dashboards

and at present are a relatively new are in vehicular technology. Where HUD's differ in

comparison to the aforementioned examples is that they are projected onto the windscreen,

whereas traditional dashboards are integrated in the interior of the vehicle, often obstructed

by the steering wheel. This can make situations such as when average speed cameras are in

operation difficult, whereby the driver must take their eye off the road to monitor the speed

that the vehicle is going. In contrast, as a HUD is projected onto the screen it may allow focus

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to be more easily kept on the road when having to monitor speed; it has also been argued that

HUD's can draw attention away from the road and so be a danger themselves.

At present HUD's have limited capabilities, usually involving a form of satellite navigation,

speed and time. It may be possible to integrate other features which the user may find

beneficial, in the future, to further cater for the users increasing requirements as technology

becomes more integral in people’s lives. It is presently illegal to use a mobile phone whilst

driving in most European and Asian countries, Australia, and some states of Northern

America (CellularNews.com, 30/1/14) without the aid of a hands free device, but often this

will only allow the user to carry out a phone call. A study carried out by the RAC found that

up to 25% of driver between the age of 17 and 24 admitted to having checked social media

sites and emails whilst driving (Williams, D., 2012), therefore it can be surmised that if it

were possible to integrate these features into HUD's, whilst still keeping the level that the

driver is distracted to a minimum, that it could beneficial in reducing risk. One method in

which this could be achieved is through voice commands, which are already successful for

other systems in vehicles, such as accessing contacts and making phone calls, or in the

example of the Mercedes S class which is voice controlled for almost all features, except

driving the vehicle itself. Therefore it can said that it may be possible to update a status, send

a text, tweet or email or locate some music to listen to on the journey, without having to

physically touch or look at a mobile phone or the car's centre console and lower the risk of

undertaking these tasks which have previously shown to increase the risk of causing an

accident, regardless of their legality in being performed.

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An Analysis of Human Interaction with vehicle consoles and Dashboards:

Presently in car entertainment centres and centre consoles predominantly use buttons and

dials as a means for the user to interact with the interface, with a small number of higher end

models produced by BMW, Audi and Mercedes utilising touchscreens. When using

touchscreen consoles for media playback, it has been found that swipe gestures, which

involve continual contact with the screen, were the least distracting method for interaction for

the driver, whereas using buttons on the touchscreen was next and the kinetic method,

whereby the user swipes the screen and the menu continues to move which is dependent on

how quickly the user moves their finger on screen, was the most distracting (Lasch &

Kuajala, 2012). Therefore it may be possible to employ a touchscreen system, which employs

either a buttoned or swipe approach, whilst keeping distraction to a minimum and usability as

a core requirement.

It has been proposed to use hand gestures, similar to that utilised by the Xbox Kinect system

and a small number of Samsung Smart televisions, as an alternative method of interaction

with the system; the purpose of which is to reduce the amount of distraction the driver is

exposed to (Rahman, et Al. 2011). This system has been found to be perceived as appealing

by users and therefore may be easy to get new users to adopt; it is also possible to surmise

that car manufacturers will be able to utilise it as a marketing technique to increase their

sales. This proposed system has also been found to reduce the level of distraction the driver

has and is therefore a possible alternative to using traditional methods of interaction with in

car media systems (Rahman et. Al. 2012).

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Voice controls are already presently used by many different car manufacturers such as Honda

and Audi for control of mobile phones and SatNav systems, and recently both iOS and

Android have incorporated their systems in vehicles in an attempt to make it less distracting

for the driver to use their devices whilst in control of a vehicle.

New Systems in Car Dashboard Technology:

Apple is presently entering the car dashboard market, with manufacturers such as Ferrari,

Mercedes and Volvo looking to incorporate the systems into their vehicles.

(GadgetShow.co.uk, 2014) .The system which is called CarPlay allows iOS devices to be

integrated into the car’s dashboard, with features such as Siri, which allows users to use voice

commands to control the mobile phone or tablet, being available. The use of voice control

within the vehicle environment has been shown to be less distracting to drivers in comparison

to scrolling or buttons, although it has also been argued that performing tasks such as

listening to emails or text messages through the car’s system can increase the workload on

the drivers brain to a higher level than talking hands free on a mobile phone, and therefore

may increase the likelihood of having an accident (DailyMail.co.uk, 2014).

Google also has a system called Open Automotive Alliance, which may rival CarPlay,

whereby Android devices can be similarly integrated into the vehicle dashboard

(GadgetShow.co.uk, 2014). The Open Automotive Alliance consists of vehicle manufacturers

Audi, GM, Honda and Hyundai, in addition graphics card developer to Nvidia. With both of

these systems relying on the users’ mobile phone choice, it may result in users purchasing

vehicles which have the system suitable for their mobile phone or users purchasing mobile

phones which have the system their vehicle has. It may be more convenient to have a system

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which does not rely on the mobile phone market as this could complicate the consumers’

choice when purchasing either a mobile phone or car. In addition to the Apple and Google

systems for mobile phone integration in cars, Microsoft have a similar system which is used

in Ford vehicles under the guise ‘Sync’, which has less functions but still allows voice calls,

texts and emails to be made and received.

Mitsubishi have created a concept which utilises rear projection LCD which makes the

dashboard components look three dimensional; the system still supports touch interactions

(YouTube.com, 2011). The system looks to be fully customisable for each user, which could

result in the dashboard changing for each individual using it. This could bring car dashboards

more in-line with mobile phone and personal computers which allow each user to customise

the interface that they are interacting with to their own requirements and so allow the

dashboards to hold a higher level of utility for each user.

With the increased prevalence of smart technology within vehicles, drivers will be presented

with more distractions than were previously within the car environment. It can be surmised

that using swipe gestures may be the least distracting method of interaction when utilising a

touch screen system, but using voice commands can be said to be less distracting than this

method; although voice commands can still be said to hold a high level of distraction for the

driver and therefore it may be safer to not utilise systems which put additional strain on the

brain, when the user is driving.

A smartphone app called Dash looks to integrate the mobile phone with the car dashboard

and console, where it differs from Apple and Androids offerings is that it takes information

from the car rather than allowing use of the smartphones features when utilising the vehicles

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interface (TechCrunch.com, 2014). It looks to offer all the standard features offered presently

by competitors, such as speed and fuel efficiency, but also has additional features that will

automatically call emergency services when it recognises there has been an accident and to

also allow control of in car systems; for example the air conditioning or windows. The app is

also able to recognise car error codes, which at present either require a garage to analyse,

which will have financial implications or for the user to purchase a diagnostic machine and

connect to the vehicles system themselves.

Representing energy efficiency in current vehicle dashboards.

Current vehicle dashboards have made attempts to deliver drivers with information that will

help them understand how much fuel, or even electricity, they use in a given trip. For

example most modern cars are able to inform drivers of the average mileage they achieved

since the user last pressed the trip reset button on the dashboard. A modern dashboard should

ensure that drivers have access to all of the energy consumption data that a car records, and

should be able to access this data in an easily accessible way.

Tesla motors, an innovative California based manufacturer of electric cars, have been leading

the field in producing sophisticated in car systems which deliver driving data to users in an

accessible way. Their most recent model, the Tesla ‘Model S’, features a vertically mounted

17” screen in the centre console. This screen size allows the model S’ operating system to

display an energy consumption graph that plots the energy consumption over the course of a

journey. This gives users an ability to analyse their driving style and assess when they were

driving in an energy intensive manner. In order to improve upon this visualisation of data, our

design could incorporate an ability to plot acceleration data over a map of a particular

journey. This would allow for drivers to see at which points in a particular route they used a

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significant amount of energy, encouraging them to reconsider their

driving style if repeating a particular journey. Similarly, our design

could incorporate social networking features which allow users to

upload their driving statistics; as a result of this drivers could

compare their driving style on similar journeys. Car manufacturers

could incorporate an Xbox live style points system which rewarded energy efficient drivers

with ‘achievement points’ for being efficient drivers along particular routes.

Other manufacturers have incorporated driving style indicators in the vehicle instrument

panels which inform users how aggressively they are accelerating and braking. For example,

Renault offer a warning light in which green indicates measured, economical driving, yellow

indicates a need to adopt a calmer driving style, and orange indicates that the driver is driving

too fast. Furthermore, Renault incorporates a gear change indicator (number 1) which

recommend when a driver should change up or down.

The 2012/3 model BMW 7 series incorporates an ‘ECO pro’ mode which informs drivers of

the increased range they have gained as a result of driving efficiently. This is particularly

relevant in electric cars in which ‘range anxiety’ is a common problem as a result of the

limited range and long charging periods of electric vehicles. Moreover, the system

recommends when drivers should alter the force they put on the accelerator based on real-

time driving information such as data drawn from the in-car map. For example, if the vehicle

is approaching a hill the car will suggest removing pressure from the accelerator so that the

vehicle will gain the most economic benefit from coasting down the hill. The BMW system

also offers an ‘Eco Pro routes’ option which will recommend the most energy efficient route

for a particular destination.

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Finally, Volvo have piloted integrating traffic light data into their range of heavy goods

vehicles; when approaching a light that is red/about to turn red the truck instrument panel will

recommend that the driver avoids ‘hard acceleration’ in the approach to a red light. This

helps to avoid these HGVs coming to a full stop, which Volvo claims leads to energy

efficiency improvements of between 10--15% lower fuel use.

Analysis of User Requirements

This section of the report attempts to define several different users and the scenarios of tasks

that they would like to complete. This exercise has been carried out in order to further

understand what different kinds of people expect from the kind of system we are trying to

develop and design.

Company Car Driver

Background - Mary, Company Car Driver

Age: 28

Occupation: Loss prevention manager

Employer: Bathroom World

Technology level: Frequent user of internet,

office applications, mobile phones and tablets

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Main Points

-Wants to reduce the time spent commuting

-Wants to be able to effectively communicate while driving

-Wants to be ensured she meets the company driving efficiency targets

Pain Points

-Varied commuting distances - frequently driving to new stores

-Often driving long distances at rush hour - avoiding traffic is important

-Navigation system doesn’t interrupt audio systems

-Finds navigation system unintuitive, menus are difficult to navigate and required options are

often hard to find

Goals

-Ensure that company fuel targets are met

-Ensure that time is not wasted in operating navigation system

-Ensure that phone calls are made during most appropriate part of journey

Scenarios

-Needs to see live driving style feedback

-More intuitive and easy to read navigation system

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Description

Mary has just started her fourth year working as a loss prevention manager for the specialist

bathroom retailer Bathroom World. Mary’s day-to-day job is to travel around the country to

ensure that Bathroom World stores are complying with the company’s loss prevention policy.

Mary lives in central Birmingham, where the company is based, but her work covers a large

region which includes Wales, the South-West and the Midlands.

Mary has been put under considerable pressure by her managers to reduce the cost of her

driving, as her expense claims for fuel costs have shown that she is among the least efficient

drivers in the loss prevention team. Furthermore, loss prevention managers have been told

that they have to increase the number of stores they cover in a week as the team is being

downsized as a cost-saving measure.

As Mary spends a significant amount of her job driving, it is particularly important that

Mary’s vehicle navigation system is intuitive and easy to use, especially as she often

commutes to new stores. Time wasted as a result of a hard to use system costs the company

money. Mary finds the current system to be overly complicated. She often finds it difficult to

see what the next driving instruction is, as the mapping and route information display is

cluttered. Moreover, the option to get the navigation system to alter the route based on live

traffic information is hidden a number of stages down a menu. Furthermore, as the navigation

system is a standalone system, which does not integrate with the car stereo or communication

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systems, the satellite navigation commands are often not audible as other audio in the car is

not automatically interrupted.

Mary finds it difficult to determine what causes her driving style to be less economical than

the other loss prevention managers. Her current vehicle details the estimated mileage for a

trip, but does not offer any live driving-style tips.

Mary likes to utilise her commuting time by making phone calls to her colleagues at the

company headquarters, in order to reduce the amount of calls she has to make when back in

the office. She would like her phone to be integrated into the car systems without being too

distracting. Mary likes to restrict phone calls while driving to simple stretches of her

journeys, such as motorways. However, when driving on busy city centre roads Mary likes to

concentrate on driving, especially when driving a new route. Mary would like if her

navigation system could recommend a time to schedule calls for a particular journey, for

example on a Journey from Birmingham to Bristol, the navigation system would recommend

that phone calls could be made on the leg of the journey that crossed the M5. Mary often

finds it difficult to see who is calling her while driving as her dashboard does not display the

contact picture and name etc.

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Older Driver

Background:

Name: Mike Jones

Age: 87

Occupation: Retired

Former Profession: Teacher

Technology/Driving level:

Mike does not use any 'modern' technology in everyday life. He has never used a computer or

mobile phone as never felt need to 'move with the times. He struggles with anything other

than rudimentary television settings, and many of his kitchen appliances are very dated.

Driving level is competent but drives slowly and very carefully to compensate for reaction

time slowing.

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Main Points:

-Drives short distances, with multiple potential routes that vary in time due to traffic.

-Does not have any technological aptitude, and is not interested in learning many new skills.

-Doesn't drive every day, but has certain social events he wants to attend.

-Drives slowly, so getting caught in traffic can mean he misses these events.

-Enjoys eating at local pubs and restaurants.

-Enjoys radio for news channels and Classic FM.

Goals:

-To drive safely and comfortably over short distances without having to learn much about

new technologies.

-Lessen importance of reaction time due to technology automatically taking up slack.

-Wants to avoid traffic in local areas, as needs to be prompt for Bowls meetings.

-Would like to be able to more safely drive in inclement weather, especially at night.

Frustrations & Pain Points:

-Lacks confidence turning into oncoming traffic means that heavily prefers turning left.

-Gets confused easily with new technology and doesn't feel learning about new technology

will be of much use.

-Traffic jams when attending Bowls club often makes him late.

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Scenario:

-Mike has to drive to Bowls club at 6PM every Wednesday, but this can often be disrupted by

traffic. As Mike drives slowly to compensate for his reaction time slowing this can mean he

misses the start of the match which frustrates him.

-Mike wants to drive to a local restaurant at midday on Saturday, but doesn't want to drive in

traffic.

-Mike has to drive in inclement weather conditions to pick up his wife from the train station.

Description:

Mike is an 87 year old retired English teacher, who lives in Melton Mowbrey with his wife of

62 years Barbara and their dog Red. He attends weekly Bowls club with ex-colleagues which

is 12 miles away from his house near the school he taught at for 35 years. He also drives his

wife to local pubs and restaurants regularly but chooses times when traffic will be lighter as

he doesn't enjoy driving in heavy traffic. He doesn't feel totally confident driving, and as he

realises his reaction time is not as strong as it used to be which means he drives more slowly.

This can leave him vulnerable to driving in traffic, as he does not feel confident turning into

oncoming traffic and feels the extra awareness of his surroundings can be overwhelming.

Every Wednesday at 6pm Mike has to drive to his local bowls club, which is 12 miles away

from his home. As the club in nearer Leicester, he can sometimes come into contact with

traffic from commuters coming home. There are multiple potential routes, and Mike often

struggles to judge which one will have the least traffic as it can change depending on a

variety of factors.

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Mike and Barbara regularly eat out at different local pubs and restaurants, often without

planning or knowing where they are going to go before they leave the house. This can be

dependent on the weather, as well as driving factors such as how far Mike is willing to drive.

Traffic is also a key consideration here, as Mike does not want to drive in it so a restaurant on

a route with little to no traffic is key. As they often do not choose a restaurant prior to leaving

this can present a problem, where they have to try and predict the traffic. Mike often gets

quite stressed about this, which in turn worries Barbara.

Barbara goes down to visit her sister around Christmas time, but Mike stays home to look

after their dog. Mike drives to pick her up from the local train station, but due to the time of

year the weather is very difficult to drive in; visibility is a big issue, as Mike is struggling to

pick up road signs, which means he has to drive very slowly. This is stressful for both Mike

and Barbara and in future she may have to get a taxi or organise someone else to pick her up.

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Professional Driver

Background:

Name- Trevor Price

Age – 35

Occupation – Professional van driver

Technology Level – Comfortable with basic technology, for example with the basic functions

of smart phones and satellite navigation systems, but not completely computer literate; is able

to surf the internet but not comfortable with internet shopping.

Main Points:

-Uses technology to aid in the location of drop off points for parcels, and also utilises it to

locate café’s and petrol stations for breaks and fuel, but is on a pay as you go mobile phone

which has high data costs.

-The van which he drives is tracked to ensure that he is not taking unauthorised breaks or

using the van out of hours for personal use.

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-The van is also tracked to dissuade drivers speeding, as the company wishes for their drivers

to be as economical as possible whilst also delivering on time and to not break traffic laws

which have the potential for liability to fall back on the organisation; a bonus is given to

drivers who achieve an above average level of economic driving and who deliver packages

on time. It has been shown that stopping and starting again at traffic lights decreases

economy.

Goals:

-Trevor wishes to make deliveries on time and drive economically in order to be given the

monthly bonus.

-Be able to stay in touch with his family and friends whilst carrying out a job that has little

interaction with other people.

-He wishes to know how many deliveries he has remaining for that day and the time, and

distance required in being able to return home when his consignments have been completed.

-He requires to know how much of his allotted breaks he has remaining, which amount to 1

hour a day; these breaks can be taken all at once or divided up as the driver wishes and can be

taken at any location along the route.

-When taking a break he wishes to utilise local amenities such as café’s and service stations.

Frustrations & Pain Points:

-Trevor spends long periods away from his family and friends and is often required to start

and end runs at unsociable times due to the distances required to be covered.

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-He is occasionally required to stay away from home if the location is a great distance away

due to legislation limiting driving to 10 hours and the amount of time on duty to 11 hours

within any 24 hour period.

-When delivering to densely populated areas such as Birmingham and London, traffic can

cause him to make deliveries late or in an order which takes longer than it could if he had

been automatically redirected.

-Trevor became a vegan after meeting his wife who insisted she would not marry someone

who ate meat.

Description:

Trevor lives with his wife of 6 years and his 4 year old daughter who is starting school in

September. His wife has been unable to work due to being responsible for their daughter

whilst Trevor works, but will be returning to part time work once their daughter has started

school; this will mean Trevor will be able to work less hours as there will be additional

income in their household. He has been employed in this role for 4 years and was previously

a lorry driver, but changed to van driving once his daughter was born as lorry driving

required him to travel across both the country and Europe which meant he would not be able

to spend time with his family.

Scenarios:

-Trevor has 10 packages to deliver, 2 of which are long distances apart, and therefore he

wishes to know the quickest route to deliver all 10 within his maximum of 10 hours of

driving in order to be able to return home. This could be achieved by utilising a system which

automatically calculates the most efficient route, taking in to consideration traffic and all the

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delivery locations. This system may be expensive to create, but would allow the drivers to

make the maximum amount of drops in any work period and also reduce the amount paid in

wages to employees.

-A monthly bonus for economic driving and completing all scheduled deliveries is on offer

to drivers and Trevor wishes fulfil the requirements of the bonus to be able to use the money

towards a holiday. This could be achieved by integrating a system which displays the level of

economy being achieved, which utilises a gauge on the dashboard and allows the driver to

match their driving style accordingly. The system could also synchronise with traffic lights

and calculate where the next red light will be on the present trajectory and allow the driver to

reduce or increase speed in order to avoid having to stop and restart again, and therefore

increase fuel efficiency. This system would result in the organisation having to pay Trevor a

bonus, but this would not be greater than the value saved in fuel and the cost of implementing

the system.

-There are 15 parcels given to Trevor, out of which 10 have been delivered by 12:30pm. As

he is allowed to take a break whenever he wishes, so long as all parcels are delivered within

his maximum 11 hour shift, he chooses to take the entire one hour period at once and wishes

to find a café which serves vegan food, which can be hard to locate. This could be achieved

by using a system which calculates the time required for the remaining deliveries which also

be used to locate a specific location of the drivers choice and including the time taken as a

break in this. This system would allow for the employees needs to be catered for which may

increase their morale and so their efficiency when working.

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Younger Driver

Background

Age: 17

Gender: Male

Occupation: Student

Technology level: Very comfortable with technology using digital software daily for music,

entertainment and work.

Driving level: Just passed his test.

Main points

-Wants to be able to utilize his music collection whilst driving, as well as entertainment

system for passengers.

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-Wants to be able to connect to the internet in his car.

-Primarily drives short distances with friends but takes the occasional longer road trip.

-New driver meaning parents want to ensure his safety.

-Poor sense of direction and little experience means he doesn't really know how to get

anywhere.

-Not used to driving in bad conditions or in the dark.

Goals

-To get to his destination on time without getting lost, therefore needing to be directed due to

his poor sense of direction.

-To ensure entertainment for himself and his passengers throughout the journey.

-To control the entertainment and comfort systems in the car with minimal effort and minimal

distraction.

-To be prompted to perform safety critical tasks which he may forget due to his inexperience.

-To be able to split cost of journey between friends.

Frustrations and pain points

-Confusing in-car entertainment system with unnecessary amounts of controls, options and

information.

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-Too many separate and disperse technologies throughout the car such as heating/air con

system, sat-nav, speedometer and music system.

-Difficulty understanding road signs and planning route.

-Confusing warning signals within the car and unnecessary information given such as oil

levels.

-Often gets distracted by having to control his in-car media.

-Long distance driving can be boring and uncomfortable.

-Not knowing the cost of petrol per journey making it difficult to split petrol money between

friends.

Scenarios

-Driving to college every morning, picking up four friends from their houses on the way and

driving home at the end of the day.

-Taking road trips to cities for the weekend for nights out and driving back the next day. -

Involving driving in unfamiliar places and on unfamiliar roads.

-Driving to work on Saturdays and to the gym/football in the evening, again picking people

up along the way.

-Driving to Europe over the summer and road tripping around Western Europe with two

friends.

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Description

Joe is a 17 year old college student from Peterborough, he commutes to college Monday to

Friday picking up four friends along the way. He also uses his car to drive to work on a

Saturday, picking up work colleagues along the way.

As a big music fan, it is important for Joe and his friends to be able to listen to music whilst

they are on their journeys, Joe finds the music and entertainment systems annoying in cars

due to the unnecessary amount of controls, options and information given. Sorting out his

music and choosing a song can also be a major distraction when driving, he would therefore

like to be able to do this quickly and safely. It would also be ideal if his passengers could

control the entertainment system whilst he drives.

Joe is new to driving and therefore often forgets to perform safety critical tasks such as

turning his lights on and indicating, Joe would like a system that reminded him to do these

tasks, or even a system that automatically did them for him. Another issue that comes with

this is his poor knowledge of the roads and lack of sense of direction, this means he needs a

car with an intelligent navigation system that requires little attention so it doesn't distract him

from the road too much, it needs to give him as little information as possible whilst still

getting him to his destination.

For longer journeys Joe finds comfort and entertainment important, when visiting cities and

road tripping to Europe it is important to have an easy to use central system to control the

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climate and comfort of the car. Information such as how much petrol he has left is less

important, he is more concerned with how long he has to go until he runs out, and which

petrol station he must use if he is to not run out of fuel.

Joe often drives with passengers, it is important that they split the cost of their journeys, he

therefore needs to know how much each journey has cost him so he is able to split the cost of

the journeys evenly between his friends.

Having several different systems in the car to perform non-driving tasks such as a satnav,

music player, heating system and comfort systems can often be distracting, especially when

driving with a car full of friends. Therefore, it would be useful for Joe to have one centralized

system where all of this can be controlled from, he does not need unnecessary information,

such as what track number he is on or how far into a song he is. Nor does he need to know

how much oil is left in his car, he just needs to know when he should refill it.

Driving to cities for various nights out and road tripping around Europe means that Joe often

drives the day after a night of drinking. It is important that he does not drive whilst over the

legal drink drive limit, it would be useful for Joe if his car could tell him when he is, and is

not, safe to drive.

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Commuting Driver

Background

Name: Nick Nicholson

Age: 37

Occupation: Insurance broker in Manchester City Centre

Home: Buxton (30 miles from work)

Driving level: Experienced

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Technological competence: Moderate. Nick has an iPhone 5 that he uses for everyday

applications, some games and social media. Nick also uses standard office applications like

word processing, email and excel spreadsheets.

Main Points

- Nick likes to eat lunch at a variety of difference places within the proximity of his work as

break and to experience the broad range of culinary delights offered in Manchester.

- He usually gets the family's weekly shopping from Waitrose on the drive back from work on

Monday evenings. His wife Beatrice either texts him or messages extra items to add to the

normal list during the day.

- It sometimes takes Nick a while to get used to new things: e.g. it took him about two weeks

to get the hang of his iPhone when he first got it.

- Nick has got into the habit of never reading the manual for a new product he buys which

can lead him to difficulties when an unexpected scenario needs the said product to carry out

an unusual task.

Description

Nick moved out of Stretford in Manchester when he and his wife had saved up enough

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money to buy a country house in Buxton. This is because their new home was in a better

school catchment and they also thought a countryside atmosphere would be a better

environment to raise their three children in. However this does mean that Nick now has to

commute for around an hour to get to work, without factoring in the traffic problems around

the Greater Manchester area.

While Buxton has been a great place to raise their children, many of the best amenities and

services are still in Manchester. This means that as well as working 9-5 Nick also has to run

errands in town before or after work to collect items and solicit services from the businesses

in Manchester. Apart from the scheduled errands he has to run, Nick is also notified of extra

tasks by his wife at home. His wife works part-time in a local estate agents in Buxton but also

has to attend to the children's needs so does not have time to complete these tasks as well.

While Nick does work in a high-paying job the cost of living is always increasing and he is

always looking for money to save in order to afford the family's annual holiday and so they

can spend more on their children. One of the more significant bills is that which he spends on

petrol. Nick thinks he drives efficiently most of the time but would like a system that notifies

him if he is able to modify his driving behaviour to save on petrol.

Nick's current car does have a basic interactive dashboard utility, but it does not included

satellite navigation and he mostly uses it to stored music playlists and podcasts for his long

commute to work. The car displays driving information like speed and revolutions digitally

and has removed most of the traditional gauges. At first he thought this was novel and

futuristic but now slightly misses the conventional method of displaying this information.

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The car that Nick uses is predominantly for work and functional journeys as everything he

needs is within walking distance when he is at home in Buxton on the weekends. As most of

the chores have been completed during the week Nick likes to spend his free time with his

children and using the car as less as he can.

Goals

- Get to work safely and comfortably, while being entertained by audio material stored within

the interactive dashboard.

- Commute to work along the most optimal route possible according to traffic.

- Cut the journey time as much as possible still still being able to drive in an eco-friendly

manner to save on petrol costs.

- To not forget an errand that Beatrice has requested of me.

Frustrations & Pain Points

- Unexpected traffic jams adding an extra 30 minutes to the commute.

- Getting home to realise you forgot to pick up the specialist ingredient for the evening meal.

- Having to eat lunch at the same boring old sandwich shop before realising there is a great

Italian-style cafe just around the corner.

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- Incompatibility between the car's systems and his iPhone's so that files cannot be

transferred.

Scenarios

- Nick is about to leave work to go home. Just as he gets into his car Beatrice texts him

asking to get some shampoo from the supermarket. Nick then connects his phone to the

dashboard system, flags the text message which is displayed on his to-do list. He is also able

to mark a supermarket on his route home.

- On his way to work in the morning, the car's satellite navigation system alerts him of heavy

traffic on his normal route. It suggests several alternate routes that will bypass this traffic.

- In the middle of driving to work, the car notifies Nick that he should change up a gear in

order to maintain fuel efficiency.

First Generation Prototypes

Rationale

These first generation prototypes involve sketches of the entire dashboard as well as

alternative systems for the different classes of users. Our rationale was to take three broad

classes of users – Younger, Professional and Older Drivers – and design contrasting

dashboard interface models around the needs and expectations expressed in the

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persona/scenario exercise. This will help to form an idea of what we want our second

generation prototype to be compose of. Once these prototypes have been assessed and

evaluated, we can move on to thinking about the best way to further develop the prototypes.

Dashboard Overview

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Interface Panel

41

Heads-up Display (HUD)

44

Older driver’s model

46

Professional driver’s model

47

Older driver’s model (Version 2)

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Younger Driver’s Model

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Description and Evaluation of First generation prototypes

Evaluation of Professional Driver’s model

Prototype 1 aims to meet the requirements of the professional driver we discussed earlier. As

a key user requirement of the company car driver persona was increasing efficiency we will

also reference the review of current work relating to efficiency in passenger vehicles.

The prototype aims to surface the correct amount of information for a given driving situation.

The prototype envisages a large screen at the top of the dashboard, which extends beyond the

steering wheel. The section of the screen behind the steering wheel will function as the

instrument panel, while the rest of the screen can be dedicated to displaying a map. Below

this screen, in the centre console, is the secondary function screen. This is where the user will

adjust settings for the dashboard. and operate secondary functions such as the climate control

and media systems. We chose to focus the interaction on this screen, as is is not obstructed by

the steering wheel, as is at a comfortable height to touch. Despite this, we envisage all of the

dashboard being touch enabled. This will allow the user to easily get to the settings they wish

to alter. For, example if the user touches the speed display on the instrument panel section of

the primary screen, the secondary function display will display a settings menu for that

function, allowing the user to alter settings such as the units used and whether a speed limit

warning is enforced. If the user touched the map, the navigation menu would display on the

secondary function screen, if the user touched one of the fan outlets the climate control

settings would be displayed and so on.

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For example, the prototype does away with displaying the rpm of the engine in most

situations as this is unnecessary information. Instead the instrument display gives the driver

an indication of when to ‘shift up’ or ‘shift down’ a gear at the optimum time, which varies

depending on whether the car is in a ‘sport’ or ‘efficient’ mode. The choice to eliminate the

traditional engine rpm counter saves a great deal of space, allowing for more relevant

information to be displayed.

The instrument display prioritises readability over sticking to traditional analogue

instruments. The speed is displayed in a large font to ensure that the driver can determine

their exact speed at a glance. Below the current speed, the car displays the speed limit for the

current road. This information is obtained from a 3g/4g connection present in the vehicle.

Rather than displaying a fuel gauge, the instrument panel displays the estimated remaining

range of the vehicle. This ensures that drivers can plan a fuel stop at an appropriate point in a

journey. As the instrument panel is context-aware, if the fuel is running low, the panel will

inform the driver of the distance to the nearest petrol station. The user can ask the car to

navigate to this destination either by voice command, or by selecting the station using the

secondary function panel in the centre console.

The instrument panel integrates with the users devices, and is capable of displaying the media

playing of the user’s phone, and will display the optimum time to make a call scheduled in

the user’s calendar. For example, in the prototype, the dashboard is recommending that the

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user calls Dan in 10 minutes. The dashboard would recommend that the driver should make a

phone call on a simple stretch of road such as a motorway, which in this case is ten minutes

away.

Evaluation of Older Driver’s model

The prototype is very simplistic in design, as this fits the user’s needs perfectly. The user

wanted a relatively low tech dashboard, as he did not want to have to learn any new

technology to drive his car, whilst still being aided in driving as it is important for his social

life. The minimalist style I believe keeps only crucial features on the dashboard, whilst still

providing driving aids. Clearly features that other users would find useful such as climate

controls, Bluetooth controls and window controls would only confuse and clutter up the

dashboard here.

The prototype primary centred around the SatNav system, which automatically calculates the

quickest route taking into consideration traffic. This is because Mike's user requirements

found this to be the biggest impediment to his driving experience. This requires minor

technical understanding, merely inputting the address of the destination, and will provide a

real improvement to the driving experience. It should reduce the amount of traffic

encountered by Mike when he drives to his social events, which is the primary negative

experience he has whilst driving. To mitigate the amount of technical understanding required

for Mike, the keyboard is a physical object rather than a touch screen. This is because

keyboards are often easier to use than touch screens for typing due to their responsive nature.

The SatNav is a head up display, as I feel that taking his eyes off the road at this stage of his

driving is not something that Mike feels comfortable doing. However to ensure that the HUD

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is not to much of a distraction it is a very simple SatNav with no other features other than the

correct route and audio instructions.

The only other feature on the prototype is a radio control, which has been included due to

Mike’s enjoyment of classical music and news programs. The interface is very simple,

displaying the radio station, song/program name, a dial to find new stations and pre-

programed channels. As this interface has been standard issue on many cars for a number of

years, there is no new technical understanding required for this.

I believe that the potential flaws with this prototype are that it still does require technical

knowledge, even if the amount has been factored into the design. This means that it is by no

means perfect for the user requirements, however in order to improve his driving experience

he will have to improve his technical capability somewhat. The HUD may also be distracting

to Mike, as he hasn't driven with one before which may actually cause more of the problems

he was hoping to avoid. The HUD and glow in the dark buttons could potentially cause glare

inside the car, which may reduce visibility outside.

Evaluation of Younger Driver’s model

The prototype meets certain requirements of the new driver persona. Having a heads up

display on the windscreen enables the driver to drive without taking their eyes off the road,

this meets the users goals of a safer driving experience. The prototype also rids of the

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annoying unnecessary warning signal such as oil levels and petrol remaining, instead it

replaces these with a much more usful system which tells how many miles is left to go before

a refuel is needed, this integrates with the satnav to indicate when the driver needs to stop at

the next station.

The satnav is simple only indicating what the next move that needs to be made, the editing of

the route is controled in the central system on the dashboard. The satnav in the prototype is

ideal for new drivers as well as experienced drivers as it is a head up display meaning it is

already in their line of vision when driving, the same can be said for the speedometer, for

simplicity this is an anolgue stlye digital speedometer as these are easier to monitor speed.

Drivers, especially first time drivers, need to ensure they control their speed, they are often

concerned that they will accidentally break the speed limit, because of this the speed limit is

displayed in the center of the speedometer, this will then flash in red if the speed limit is

being broken.

This design has tried to rid cars of the unnecessary controls in the central dashboard panel, it

has done this by making it a touchscreen interface much like a large iPad, this has simple and

large controls for doing only the necessary things a driver wants to do such as choosing a

song, changing the volume and altering the heating. It also has a clever function that

calculates the price of petrol used per journey making it easier for car sharers to split the cost

of journeys. This touch screen can then be swiped across in order to access other functions

such as monitors showing all angles of the car to assist with parking and another to change

the settings of the car and key in where the driver wants the satnav to take them. This is a

54

good system as it ensures only vital controls are visible when the driver is driving but the

more complex controls can be accessed when the driver is stationary in order to edit aspects

of the car such as the satnav or entertainment system.

However, the dashboard is not without its drawbacks. A touch screen system for the

dashboard controls could potentially be dangerous for the driver to use whilst driving, it

would need to be a very responsive touch screen in order for it to respond to the drivers touch

immediately so they did not have to take their eyes off the road in order to operate it. To

ensure this is the case the final model would have to be as responsive as an iPad, audio

confirmation that the drivers 'click' has successfully performed a task should be implemented,

as should a vibrating response so the driver can feel that their 'click' has worked.

Another drawback of this system could be distraction, by having the sat nat on the

windscreen the drivers may be distracted from focusing on the road, as such it should be

insured that the brightness of this system is able to react to the conditions outside, when it is

dark the display should be dimmed so it does not create a glare distracting the driver.

Practical evaluation - Interviews

In order to evaluate the three low-fidelity prototypes the method of interviewing real users

has been employed. Two users from each class defined earlier – professional, older and

younger drivers – were asked to simulate their usage of all the prototypes produced. From

this evaluation we shall be able to create a plan for the development of the second generation

55

prototype.

It is worth mentioning that conducting a ten minute interview with two users per prototype

class in itself may not be reliable. This is due to the fact that people generally own cars for

years, allowing plenty of time for them to find the advantages and disadvantages of the

interactive dashboard system they are using (if there is one in their vehicle). Therefore a

simple series of interviews is not truly representative of the total user experience that would

occur with using on of these systems for an extended period of time.

We need this evaluation to have elements of validity and reliability so that the results can be

applied to the final design with confidence. For us to make the study valid and reliable there

must be continuity in the way the users are directed to 'use' the system before a set of

standard questions are asked. The interviewer will have the opportunity to expand on a

question if it is necessary but it must remain within the topic of the original question.

The user will first be asked to simulate the use of the system that correlates to their own class

(e.g. a delivery man will be asked to use the prototype tailored for professional drivers). After

they have completed this task they will be asked to use the system that catches their eye the

most, before taking on the third and final model. Once all three prototypes have been

dissected by the user they will be asked a variety of questions that are specified below.

From the answers to these questions we shall derive strength and weakness points for each of

the prototypes in order to draw conclusions as well as a plan for the next and ultimate

prototype.

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Questions:

- Q1: Which design do you feel most suits you as a driver and why?

- Q2: Could this design be improved in any way?

- Q3: Which design did you dislike the most and why?

- Q4: Did a particular design look more attractive to use than any of the others? Why?

- Q5: Are there any features in any of the designs that you did not like? Why?

- Q6: Do you think there are any features that we forgot or ones that you would include?

These questions are purposefully ambiguous in relation to the class of the prototype

corresponding to the users. This is because we are attempting to see if the user can tell that a

certain design has been built around their supposed needs. These questions are meant to test

the overall usability of the system as well as the specific features included and whether these

features are relevant to the user being interviewed.

User Profiles and Interview Transcripts

Interview No. 1

Name: Henry Bean

Age: 48

Occupation: AA Driver

User class: Professional driver


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“If I was on shift driving in my van I would prefer the first dashboard [Professional driver's

model] as it has a SatNav set up for the main options. A decent SatNav already built into the

van would definitely be a bonus.

There are also ways to get your phone or mp3 player to connect to the system which would

be great to play whatever you wanted on the way to a call. While most cars have either an

audio jack or Bluetooth, most rarely have both easily available to connect.”


“I feel that if the system was fully interactive it would be great. If you could pick and choose

what and where you wanted certain options like on an iPhone it would more like most

technology you can buy today.”


“I hated the third one I looked at [Older driver’s model] because it was too simple with not

enough features compare to the first two. You might as well have a traditional console with

knobs and buttons rather than a touch-screen with that one.”


“I think the SatNav on the first design appealed to me the most as I really like using them. It

also seemed like a more straightforward thing to use rather than the second system [Younger

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driver's model]. It was a lot less jumbled and it was obvious what things I had to press to do

what I wanted to do.”


“The features I found on all three designs were quite similar. I thought that the calendar

application on the third design was pointless. Why would you use that when you have those

kind of things on your phone or at home? I also did not think the the entertainment option

was necessary as surely you just just play things off your iPhone or something.”


“If there was an option for AA to create an application for call-outs that would be a perfect

addition to the console. I think that links back to the interactive criticism I made earlier on”.

Interview No. 2

Name: Lyndsey Fell

Age: 20

Occupation: Student

User class: Younger driver


“I'm in between the first [Professional driver's model] and the second [Younger driver's

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model] screens that I chose to look at. The first one has a built-in SatNav that I always use

when driving somewhere unfamiliar but the second one has apps for Facebook and Twitter

that would be great when I'm stuck in traffic or waiting to pick a friend up from somewhere.”


“If the the first one had some kind of social media portal button it would make it attractive to

a lot more people as you don't often get that convenient choice to browse in a car. But I guess

that could be a bit dangerous if someone decided to post a status on a motorway!

The same sort of thing applies to the second model as well as I think it could also have a

SatNav included. That would make the two screens pretty much the same though.”


“I wasn't too sure about the third screen [Older driver's model] because it didn't have any of

the apps that I liked in the first two. It seemed quite basic and I think it was just like the first

two but with less of the good apps and a layout focussed on volume and radio settings. You

could get to these options by the touch of a button in the first two.”


“I still can't decide between the first and second designs but I think the immediate display of

the SatNav in the first screen seemed particular appealing to me. Having said that I also really

liked the availability of Twitter in the second one.”

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“Well I've already said why I didn't like the third one, but I thought the volume settings on

both the first and second could have been more user-friendly. Having to press a button to be

redirected to more specific volume and sound control seems like a bit too much as on a

normal car turning up the sound is only a touch away.”


“I think being able to download and put on your own features to the screen would be an great

feature in itself. It would be like having an iPad in your car for the passenger to muck about

with.”

Interview No. 3

Name: Stanley Motherwell

Age: 73

Occupation: Carpenter (ret.)

User class: Older driver


“I preferred the third design [Older driver's model] as it was less cluttered and also because

its focus was on radio instead of playing your own digital music. There was also the option to

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use SatNav but it was after you had pressed button and not always on the screen.”


“I would like it would if you could change the air conditioning settings straight away instead

of having to go to a button menu but that is only a small problem I suppose. There was also

the annoyance of having to slide the volume to turn it up instead of turning a dial but again,

this is a minor point.”


“I thought that the second design had too many distracting elements in it. I think that having

things like Facebook available to use while driving is quite dangerous and might not get past

health and safety measures.”


“The one that I chose first was the most attractive and I chose it first on the premise that it

had radio set to normal with all the buttons to would conventionally expect on a car's central

console. It was also because, at first glance, it looked like the most intuitive design to use

with the fewest buttons and the most obvious purposes for those buttons.”


“I mentioned the potential downside of using Facebook in a car earlier. Apart from that I

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disliked the the way that the other two designs were more full of buttons and I found it

confusing to know which one to press when trying to turn up the heating, for example.”


“I liked the calendar option in the third design so you can remember the appointments and

social events you have for later in the day but I think a reminder system to go with this would

be useful so wouldn't have to go into the calendar to check all the time.”

Summary and Results

From the interviews undertaken we can deduct some points to take on to the development of

the second generation prototype. The following are general points that related to the answers

of the users and how they interpreted the designs of the models:

- Users tended to go for the design that was catered towards them, with the excpetion of

Lyndsey who also like the design geared towards professional drivers.

- Users were inclined not to like features that were taken from convential car dashboard

layouts (volume, climate control etc) and hidden behind screen buttons.

- Younger and professional drivers did not like the older driver's model and the older driver

did not like the young and professional driver's models.

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Second Generation Prototype

Evaluation of tools for constructing the prototype

We decided that a combination of tools would be the best way for us to produce an in-depth

and clear second generation prototype. There are a variety of tools we could potentially have

used and I will evaluate their strengths and weaknesses and explain why we ended up using

the process we did. The process we eventually used was to used Microsoft PowerPoint on

the new Office 365 to stitch together images we felt illustrated what we wanted our prototype

to look like. Powerpoint also allowed us to design certain features and then illustrates what

those features did, for example if a button is pressed what action occurs.

There were however other tools that we could have used such as Microsoft Paint, LibreCAD,

Balsamiq Mockups, Adobe Photoshop or even a hand drawn version but we felt that these

had weaknesses that would have devalued our project which will be explained in due course.

Microsoft PowerPoint:

We used PowerPoint as a way of linking together parts of our prototype, so that if a button

was pressed on the dashboard we could then show what event occurred. We used PowerPoint

as we didn’t require any animations or graphics and in addition to this we were very familiar

as a group with PowerPoint’s functions, which saved time for the group as it minimised any

new skills we had to learn. We found that the photo editing software on Powerpoint was more

than adequate for our needs, meaning that we could remove features we didn’t like whilst

keeping those which were useful. We could also retouch, change the brightness and shading

on photos whilst combining them with the features we had designed in other programs to

make the prototype have a strong synergy. A slight issue with this tool was that we found that

some images would become pixilated when we increased their size.

Alternative tools:

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Balsamiq Mockups:

During our research for potential tools we came across specific prototype design software,

two examples of which are Balsamiq Mockups and MockupBuilder. They appeared to have

the potential to be very useful for neatly producing certain aspects of our prototype. We also

additionally liked the the ability of all members of the group to edit the document from a

central web page as it meant we could all have input on the design without the need to share

updated files around. Finally the fact it had a features we wanted to use as part of the design

kit was very useful as we could quickly design a Sat Nav which had all the features required,

and was very professional in appearance. In addition to this the free trial version of Balsamiq

Mockups lasted one month, meaning we had ample time to produce our second generation

prototype before it ran out. This meant we didn’t have to purchase any software but still

could produce a high quality piece of work. However upon us trying to begin using these

design software we discovered that certain aspects took a long time, and were often difficult

to get our exact specifications correct. This meant that instead of taking a long time to teach

ourselves about the software, we moved onto Powerpoint as it was already familiar to us and

still had many strong features.

LibreCAD/AUTOCAD 360

Another tool we considered to create any aspects of our prototype that didn’t currently exist

on other products was LibreCAD or AUTOCAD 360. These enable the user to create features

that do not already exist by drawing them ready for production. The strong points of

LibreCAD was that it was free to use, and whilst not the most feature heavy CAD software

would still have had enough for us to produce our prototypes. It seemed to have been

designed to be accessible, which was made it very useful for our prototype. Another CAD

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option for our group was AUTOCAD 360, which was certainly more feature rich than

LibreCAD and could be argued that it would have enabled us to make more detailed

prototype. However the downside to this would have been that it is a more complex system,

which could have taken up to much time to learn. Additionally it costs money in comparison

to LibreCAD which is free of charge, which is an obvious bonus.

The reason neither of these CAD options were used by our group was that after researching

existing products we realised that examples of all the features we required currently exist on

other products. This made designing our own versions of, for example, icons was not a

productive use of time.

Presentation Software:

We also could have used Microsoft Paint to synergise our prototype, however we felt it didn’t

compare to Powerpoints number and quality of features as well as being harder to manipulate

photographs in. In addition there is no way to link together files, which meant that we

couldn’t show what a button did when it was pressed.

PopApp is another type of presentation software which could have been used to link together

sections of our prototype, however it is far more complex and would have taken far too long

for what we required the software to do which is comparatively simple tasks.

Second Generation Prototype Description

The final prototype was constructed using the online Balsamiq application. We chose this

computer-aided design (CAD) program as it simulates the Android operating system that is

very commonly used at the moment. By making this choice we are attempting to ease the

transition for users from their everyday hand-held devices to the interface that would be in

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their car. This increases usability and saves time for the user. All Figures included within this

description are included within Appendix A after the main report.

Home Page

This screen (Figure 1) is what the user will see when they first sit in their car. We have tried

to keep the design and layout simple so that it is easier for the user to see where they should

press in order to complete the task. Keeping with the tangent of continuity there is a bar are

the top with options (Home, Navigate, Phone, Apps & Settings, Media, Energy and Cameras)

that are permanent regardless of the path your take in the interface 'directory'. This increases

the convenience for the user if they want to complete a task but don't want to keep pressing

'back' to return to the main menu before going where they need to go.

Immediately below this tab is the SatNav, including a route map with directions. There is also

essential information and options for media, volume, energy consumption, communications

and heating. These are all displayed on the home page so that the user may manipulate the

console rapidly without having to go through separate sub-menus. The information displayed

is the bare minimum that user needs to make in order to choose the options to make.

Navigate Page

Pressing the button for Navigate on the orientation tab expands the information and options

available for the SatNav system (Figure 2). The user has the choice of searching for a location

as well as a microphone icon to initiate voice recognition (expanded upon later). The map

displayed has a few more features in this page as the user is able to specify points of interest

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and a plus and minus for zooming in and out. After the map are options to change the route

(e.g. to a more eco-friendly version), view a summary of the directions, the map’s visual

configuration (satellite imagery on or off) as well as live traffic updates.

The main features of the navigation page are followed by another tab at the bottom for extra

functionality of the SatNav. These functions include Current Route, Explore, History,

Favourite and Navigation Settings.

Voice Recognition

When the microphone icon is pressed a panel appears that notifie

Designing and evaluating the interactive central console...

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