Tom Wellings

Assessing subjective response to haptic feedback in automotive touchscreens

The increasing use of touchscreen interfaces in vehicles poses challenges to designers in terms of optimizing safety, usability and affective response. It is thought that the application of haptic feedback to the touchscreen interface will help to improve the user experience in all of these areas. This paper describes the initial outcomes of a study to investigate user responses to haptic touchscreens using a simulated driving scenario based on the Lane Change Test, along with representative use case tasks. Results indicate preference for multi-modal feedback and user acceptance of the haptic feedback technology. Effects relating to multi-modal interaction and attentional demand are also observed.

Evaluating user response to in-car haptic feedback touchscreens using the lane change test

Touchscreen interfaces are widely used in modern technology, from mobile devices to in-car infotainment systems. However, touchscreens impose significant visual workload demands on the user which have safety implications for use in cars. Previous studies indicate that the application of haptic feedback can improve both performance of and affective response to user interfaces. This paper reports on and extends the findings of a 2009 study conducted to evaluate the effects of different combinations of touchscreen visual, audible, and haptic feedback on driving and task performance, affective response, and subjective workload; the initial findings of which were originally published in (M. J. Pitts et al., 2009). A total of 48 non-expert users completed the study. A dual-task approach was applied, using the Lane Change Test as the driving task and realistic automotive use case touchscreen tasks. Results indicated that, while feedback type had no effect on driving or task performance, preference was expressed for multimodal feedback over visual alone. Issues relating to workload and cross-modal interaction were also identified.

Does haptic feedback change the way we view touchscreens in cars

Touchscreens are increasingly being used in mobile devices and in-vehicle systems. While the usability benefits of touchscreens are acknowledged, their use places significant visual demand on the user due to the lack of tactile and kinaesthetic feedback. Haptic feedback is shown to improve performance in mobile devices, but little objective data is available regarding touchscreen feedback in an automotive scenario. A study was conducted to investigate the effects of visual and haptic touchscreen feedback on driver visual behaviour and driving performance using a simulated driving environment. Results showed a significant interaction between visual and haptic feedback, with the presence of haptic feedback compensating for changes in visual feedback. Driving performance was unaffected by feedback condition but degraded from a baseline measure when touchscreen tasks were introduced. Subjective responses indicated an improved user experience and increased confidence when haptic feedback was enabled.

Tactility, craftsmanship and the NPI process

Functionality alone is no longer sufficient to sell cars. Interiors are set to become the new battleground where customers will be won and lost. Those manufacturers that are successful will be the ones that manage to embody the desires and emotions of their customers in the vehicle design and execution. The choice of materials and their inherent tactile qualities can be a powerful way of connecting with the customer and enhancing a vehicle’s appeal and brand perception. This document describes how the International Automotive Research Centre (IARC) at The University of Warwick has been working with Jaguar Land Rover, researching current knowledge and techniques relevant to Affective Design, tactility and the automotive NPI process to address these challenges.

Characterising the experience of interaction : an evaluation of automotive rotary dials

Optimising sensory product qualities is a priority for automotive manufacturers when developing human–machine interfaces, as user experience frameworks consider sensory aesthetics to be a main influencing factor of the overall judgement of product appeal. This empirical study examines whether users’ overall judgements of product appeal can be predicted from measures of non-visual aesthetic qualities. Ninety-one UK owners of Supermini segment cars assessed five examples of rotary temperature dials. Factor analysis gave four clear factors common across all samples, of which ‘unrefined loudness’ and ‘positivity/precision’ predicted up to 26% variance in the hedonic score; both factors were similarly important in the regression models. Significant differences in appeal were observed between the samples; however, there were no effects due to age or gender. Practitioner Summary: The research shows that the overall appeal of automotive rotary dials is partially predicted by their non-visual aesthetics. These findings are applicable to the design of any products where improving the user experience is a goal, as it demonstrates that user experience models are applicable to product domains other than computing and information technology.