Designing in-vehicle infotainment systems: understanding driver mental models and system use

通用汽车加拿大公司是加拿大主要的汽车制造商，在安大略有许多工厂和研究中心。对该公司具有战略重要性的是其车载信息娱乐系统系列。信息娱乐系统是车辆中的硬件和软件的集合，用户通过图形用户界面与之交互。这些系统提供各种功能，包括音频和视频娱乐、智能手机配对、导航系统和车载气候控制等。由于传感器技术的增加，信息娱乐系统已经变得越来越先进，提供了更多的功能。然而，用户界面设计并不总是支持司机的能力，充分理解和利用该系统提供的好处。此外，与这些系统的混乱交互可能会增加驾驶员分心的风险。通用汽车加拿大公司表示有兴趣通过对驾驶员如何探索，学习和使用这些系统的研究来扩展其关于人类与信息娱乐系统互动的知识。为了实现这一目标，多伦多大学的人为因素和应用统计（HFASt）实验室将帮助设计和进行焦点小组访谈和调查，以了解哪些信息娱乐设计元素支持准确的用户心理模型的形成，即，哪些设计元素使人们能够充分了解他们的信息娱乐系统的能力。HFASt实验室拥有人因工程方面的专业知识，并在研究驾驶员行为、驾驶员注意力分散和车载信息系统设计方面拥有丰富的经验。从该项目中获得的见解将扩展通用汽车在开发以用户为中心的信息娱乐界面方面的专业知识，这些界面直观并限制驾驶员分心。我们的目标是，这一初步合作将为HFASt实验室和通用汽车加拿大公司之间的未来合作铺平道路，更具体地说，为车辆系统的设计开发特定领域的理论（例如，自动控制）以及它们与驾驶员如何学习和使用这些系统的关系。

GM Canada is a major Canadian automotive manufacturer, with many plants and research centers in Ontario. Of strategic importance to the company is its line of in-vehicle infotainment systems. An infotainment system is a collection of hardware and software in vehicles that users interact with via a graphical user interface. These systems offer a variety of functionalities, including audio and video entertainment, smartphone pairing, navigation systems, and in-vehicle climate control just to name a few. Due to increases in sensor technology, infotainment systems have become increasingly advanced with a greater number of functionalities offered. However, the user interface design has not always supported the driver's ability to fully comprehend and utilize the benefits offered by this system. Further, confusing interactions with these systems might generate increased risk for driver distraction. GM Canada has expressed interest in extending its knowledge about human interaction with their infotainment systems through a research based understanding of how drivers explore, learn, and use these systems. To achieve this goal, the Human Factors and Applied Statistics (HFASt) Laboratory at the University of Toronto will help design and conduct focus group interviews and surveys to understand which infotainment design elements support the formation of accurate user mental models, i.e., which design elements enable people to fully understand the capabilities of their infotainment systems. The HFASt Labratory has expertise in human factors engineering and has had extensive experience researching driver behavior, driver distraction, and in-vehicle information system design. The insights gained from this project will extend GM's expertise in developing user-centered infotainment interfaces for vehicles that are intuitive and limit driver distraction. It is our aim that this initial collaboration will pave the road for future collaborations between the HFASt lab and GM Canada, more specifically, to develop domain specific theories for designs of vehicle systems (e.g., automated control) and how they relate to how drivers learn and use these systems.