When do People Expect Effortless In-car Interactions?

Abstract

Drivers have experienced various in-car interactions due to advanced infotainment systems and digital integration in cars. The scope of in-car interaction is likely to be further expanded in autonomous driving due to the increased free time in the car for focusing on non-driving activities. When designing in-car interactions, enhancing the in-car user experience by giving drivers new abilities and providing them with effortless and intuitive interactions is a worthy goal. Hence, understanding users’ per- spectives in the early phases is the critical first step to informing the design process. Although prior studies have revealed users’ expectations and needs in an autono- mous vehicle, there is a lack of understanding of when and in which context users might most desire effortless interaction. This investigation aims to examine users’ expectations and identify themes for effortless in-car interaction. One hundred fifty participants were recruited using a purposive sampling strategy. The study consists of an open-ended online questionnaire that enquired about the context in which peo- ple desire effortless interaction within a car the most. Questionnaire responses were clustered into themes using a thematic analysis method. The study proposes a taxo- nomy of in-car contexts composed of six major themes, with 17 sub-themes, which include the following contexts: 1) switching-required, 2) emotion-underlain, 3) idle- away, 4) less-controllable, 5) time-sensitive and 6) task-oriented. The findings provide guidance regarding the critical contexts of effortless interaction, which designers can use to better understand and improve automotive user experiences.