Hands Free Spotify Interface
By Sarah Hammond, Arturo Gonzalez-Galindo, Sam Brockman, Michael Mallory, Bridget Pavlick, and Denise Blumenstein
Getting to Know the Problem
When our group began brainstorming around the concept of screen addiction, we were especially drawn to the tangible, physical danger this addiction posed during use in a car. Particularly within our age group, cell phone use within cars is all too casual and commonplace.
To start, we scoured the web, trying to find some quantitative data on the problem we were approaching. The data reinforced our initial perception: cell phone use in cars continues to be a staggering problem. According to the National Safety Council, cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that at any given time, over 660,000 people are using their cell phones while driving. One out of every four car crashes is a result of phone usage, six times more likely to cause a crash than driving drunk.
Also, it is not that millenials are failing to recognize that cell phone use is dangerous. According to a AAA report, 94% of teens believe texting while driving is dangerous. Regardless of this, 35% of those teens said that they continue to do it anyways.
Taking this research into the context of user centered design, our group distilled that cell phone usage while driving was inherently a design problem. The users understood the dangers, but a desire to interact with one’s phone is undeniably built into the product’s core. No law or scary statistic will be able to counteract this desire to interact. Without a design solution that can allow safe interaction while driving, crashes will continue.
We began to research how others have approached the concept of creating safe ways to interact with technology while driving. The concept of “hands free” was especially common, proving in line with information we had read about manual distraction, which cited that taking one hand away from the wheel decreases reaction time and increases risk. Another common theme in safe technology interaction is voice commands. Voice commands almost entirely eliminate manual distraction, as voice commands are often launched from a button on the steering wheel. With this in mind, we moved on to talking to real people about the problem.
User Research
Going into user interviews, we took a step back, allowing the research that we had gathered to frame our context without influencing our ability to fully listen to and truly understand users.
Emily, 19
How many times would you estimate that you pick up your phone during a 5–10 minute car ride?
5–10 minutes? Probably like 5 times.
Why do you find yourself picking it up?
Usually to change music, or because I saw the light of a notification.
What applications do you use to change music?
Spotify.
Do you use Siri on your phone?
Rarely. It seems to usually be too difficult.
Why do you say it’s difficult?
Well when I’m in the car, because the button is too small. It’s too hard to find it.
Do you feel safe when using your phone in the car?
No. Every time I use it, it’s painful that I can’t resist. I wish I used it less.
Are there any other thoughts you’d like to share on phone usage in the car?
Yeah. I think it’s a big problem and obviously I know how dangerous and unsafe it is. But you know we live in a world today where it’s really hard to resist. I wish there were better ways to make it easier, because we do need to use our phones, you know?
Sophi, 19
How many times would you estimate that you pick up your phone during a 5–10 minute car ride?
About twice.
What do you find yourself doing when you pick it up?
Usually changing the song, or checking it if I hear a noise or a ding or something.
Do you typically use Siri on your phone?
No.
How is your phone connected to your phone in terms of music?
An aux cord.
What music application do you use?
Spotify.
How do you change the song in your car?
I swipe up from the bottom and click next.
How safe is it to use your phone in the car?
Usually I’m at a stop sign, or stop light or something. Or if I do, it’s for a hot second. I am like kind of scared though. I know I shouldn’t be doing that, but I try really hard not to do that.
What do you think would cut down your phone usage?
Hmm. I think that’s something that depends on the car, because some cars you’re able—like when you’re holding the wheel—you can press a button on your wheel that changes the song, but I don’t think that works with my aux cord when it’s plugged in. Some cars might have it that way. My car doesn’t have it that way, so that would be a good thing, I think. If that was available.
Are there any other thoughts you’d like to share on cell phone usage in cars?
Just probably don’t do it. [Laughs]
Undercover Car Research
For the last few weeks of this project, all of our group members began to make a point of observing friends’ phone usage during car rides. The hands-on qualitative and quantitative research was staggering. Of 13 car rides observed, the millenial driver picked up their phone at least once in every single ride. On average, the driver picked up their phone about three times in a 5–10 minute ride. Most of these were to change the music playing.
Considering some key user-centered design concepts, we created a persona to help us to better understand the temptation.
Meet Jon
Jon is a 21 year old male. He is currently enrolled at the University of Illinois. He drives to school every morning. For the long drive, he rarely listens to the radio with its commercials and unpredictable song choices. Instead, he subscribes to Spotify monthly on a student discount, giving him access to essentially unlimited amounts of music to stream directly to his phone. He is particular about what songs he wants to hear in the morning and tends to type searches into Spotify while driving on a regular basis. His phone is connected to his car with an aux cord, with no bluetooth capabilities or control buttons on his steering wheel. When he wants to change the song, he has to pick up his phone and manually search with one hand, looking down in short bursts. Jon knows how dangerous typing and driving is, but he wants on-demand music, and he is confident in his ability to still be careful while searching for music. Jon needs a safer way to skip and search for songs on Spotify while driving.
Jon fits our primary user group. He is within the age range of under 25, and often runs into the dangerous temptation of cell phone usage while driving.
Brainstorming
In beginning brainstorming, our online and user research drove our exploration of form and function. We began to play around with the idea of a universal hands-free Spotify controller that could be attached to a steering wheel, limiting physical interaction with one’s phone and cutting down on manual distraction. Listening to insights from our user interviews was important, as we distilled the commonly used functions that this should include from our user research.
We narrowed the function down to include controls for skipping forward and backward, as well as voice controls.
Prototyping
To explore and develop form, we first made a variety of paper prototypes.
We recruited people in our target age group to test these prototypes.
We decided upon a slim, linear form, because it is the most universal in being able to fit upon various steering wheel shapes and curvatures. We also decided to narrow down the buttons to skip forward, skip backward, and one central button for play/pause that you could hold to launch voice commands. Narrowing down the number of buttons limited surface area, allowing the piece to fit a larger variety of steering wheels’ curvatures. It also simplified and streamlined the design, so the user would have less cognitive distraction while figuring out which button was which while driving via touch.
Final Form Exploration
After extensive paper prototyping and testing, our group settled upon this final design. We found it to be successful in limiting manual distraction away from driving, as the adhesive back could attach to the surface of any steering wheel. Holding the button in the center launches a Siri voice command user interface that is integrated into the Spotify app, allowing hands-free commands. The device connects to the phone via Bluetooth and directly controls the app, allowing song skipping and voice commands directly through the app. This allows the device to work with all types of car to phone connections, including auxillary cords and Bluetooth.
We also developed the user interface for the Siri voice command system and Bluetooth connection.
The first time you get into your car and open Spotify with your Hands Free Control device within range, your phone will ask to connect. From that point forward, your device will automatically connect when you are within range.
We also considered incorporating the idea of connecting Spotify to the iPhone’s built-in accelerometer, limiting the function of the application to hands-free only when moving above a certain speed. This function could be disabled by saying “I’m not driving” via voice command. This would further discourage phone usage while driving.
Evaluation
Our solution is certainly usable and feasible. Many of the features that we suggested already exist successfully in various forms. Our main task was consolidating the most successful of these features and applying them to the untapped market of Spotify. The solution was crafted with our target age group and users in mind, easy to install and use in any car.
We measured our success mostly by the feasibility of our solution, as well as the ability of it to allow safe technology interaction. Our hypothesis grew and evolved throughout the process, driven mostly by our user interviews and analysis of the persona. Originally, we were hoping that strictly a voice command user interface would solve the unsafe Spotify use in cars, but we realized throughout the process that keeping phones out of the hands of drivers in general would be even more effective.
Our group definitely enjoyed being able to apply user centered design concepts we have learned about and defined in class, particularly paper prototyping. Our classes often encourage us to create rough prototypes, but we honestly very seldom do. It was valuable to actually use rough prototypes to think through ideas and possible forms. It was also fun to create the renders of the possible product and user interface, because we all agreed that we would want to actually install one in our cars. I would honestly rate our group 9 or 10 out of 10. We truly enjoyed distilling a viable, helpful solution from the users’ information and suggestions.
Sources
https://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/cause-of-accident/cell-phone/cell-phone-statistics.html
https://www.maggianolaw.com/car-radios-distracted-driving-accidents/