Steering into the Future: Automotive Technology Design
Mobile design has matured and developed significantly since the 2007 release of the first iPhone, and through years of refinements, mobile technology has integrated into our daily lives. The automotive industry is experiencing a similar change. Technology is introducing new gadgets to our cars, such as detailed statistics outlining the mechanical status of your car, blind spot indications, automatic parallel parking, built-in media apps, and of course, self-driving cars. All of these things increase the pleasure associated with driving a car, but can distract drivers from navigating safely. This post will consider how automotive technology has influenced user interface design and how this impacts the in-car user experience.
As technology continues to evolve, so does design.
At Pivotal Labs, designers constantly have to re-evaluate design conventions as technology evolves. For example, the iPhone 6 Plus’s larger screen size necessitated a new feature called Reachability that allow users to comfortably reach the top of their screens by tapping on the home button.
Over time, various practices became the basis of UI design best practices, and that’s no different for in-car user interfaces. When the industry decided to place LED screens onto car dashboards, the user experience needed to be re-evaluated to integrate old technologies with the new.
Re-evaluating UX, Starting with our Senses
When considering the in-car user experience there are two aspects to take into account, both of which relate to human senses. The majority of information is transmitted through vision and touch. Since these senses are crucial for the safe operation of an automobile, it is important to know their limitations and take into account necessary safety procedures.
Reachability Limitation
Careful consideration must be placed on reachability limitations, as well as the amount of time that a user’s eyes can be taken off of the road. The driver is constantly alternating interaction between the steering wheel and the gear shift mechanism. When interacting with elements of the vehicle located outside of the green zone, the driver not only takes their hands off of the steering wheel, but also shifts their focus away from the road ahead. As a result, we want to design interfaces that require the least amount of effort to operate. The more effort it takes to reach certain things in the car, the more attention is taken away from the road.
Visual Limitation
The effort and reachability of certain points in a car is only one of the distractions that new technology introduces. There are also visual limitations which need to be considered. Mobile UX design doesn’t share many of these visual limitations, since we can usually view the majority of the screen without obstructions.
In contrast, drivers using in-car app interfaces experience many more visual limitations. The most important factor to note is that a driver has to maintain a clear view of the road at all times. In this scenario, the natural region is where the driver maintains full visibility of the road without having their vision impaired. The stretch area diverts the driver’s attention to various important visual cues displayed in the dashboard interface, such as the speed of the vehicle, malfunction signals, etc. In this area, the driver still has peripheral vision of the road but is able to quickly glance at information related to the functions of the vehicle.The out-of-reach area, which the driver must take her eyes off the road to view, is below the steering wheel and spans across the interior of the car.
What is considered good car UX?
Designing a good user experience for in-car apps is definitely is not a walk in a park. Finding and maintaining the sweet spot between visual and reachability limitations for every use case scenario is like balancing on a string. Some certain actions requires more focus than others, and vice versa.
When considering these visual and interaction limitations, good car UX is closely related to well-designed automobile UI’s. A blog post by Teehan + Lax about the state of in-car UX points out the huge deficiency in good UI design for all types of car brands. By understanding the limitations in the natural and stretch areas for a driver, automobile UI designers can note the importance of placing certain elements and controls in these regions.
The Breakthroughs
Creating a seamless and safe experience for a driver is not a simple task. As mentioned previously, interaction interfaces have to be combined with visual indicators. Many promising solutions are emerging, as companies like Navdy resolve these issues using voice and gesture control.
Matthaeus Krenn posted a car UI prototype that removes intangible control elements and integrates touch gestures, giving the driver the ability to control critical features without taking their eyes off the road.
There is no doubt we are at a crossroads of a new era of driving. Technology has enabled us to do much more in our daily lives than ever before. As vehicles are becoming more connected to our devices, providing the right user experience will help integrate these technologies safely and effectively into the future.
