Titulo Estágio
Human-Centered Design of In-Vehicle Interfaces for Enhanced Situational Awareness in Connected Vehicles
Local do Estágio
DEI/VRLab
Enquadramento
The increasing integration of Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) technologies in modern cars is transforming the way drivers interact with their vehicles and surrounding environments. While these technologies offer significant potential to improve road safety—particularly in complex and high-risk scenarios such as overtaking or pedestrian crossings in low-visibility areas—their effectiveness hinges on the quality of their Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs). Poorly designed interfaces can overwhelm, confuse, or distract drivers, potentially introducing new safety risks.
To mitigate these issues, Human-Centered Design (HCD) methods have become crucial in the development of in-vehicle systems. HCD emphasizes iterative design based on users’ needs, tasks, and contexts, ensuring that technology complements rather than complicates the driving experience. The standards ISO 9241-210 (user-centered design), ISO 15008 (visual information), and ISO 15006 (auditory information) provide foundational guidelines for creating in-vehicle systems that are usable, intuitive, and aligned with safety objectives.
This thesis will explore the application of HCD to the design of HMIs for connected vehicles, focusing on two use cases with clear safety implications: overtaking maneuvers and pedestrian crossings in low-visibility situations. By involving users throughout the design process—from initial concept generation to prototyping and testing—the project aims to create and evaluate HMI solutions that improve drivers’ situational awareness while minimizing cognitive load and distraction.
The research will be conducted as part of the broader ADSafeVANET project, which aims to enhance vehicular safety through augmented driving technologies and secure vehicular networks. The outcomes of this thesis will feed into the project's overall goal of designing safer, more connected driving environments.
Objetivo
The main objective of this thesis is to apply Human-Centered Design methodologies to the development of HMIs for connected vehicles, focusing on safety-critical scenarios. The expected outcomes will contribute both to academic knowledge in HCI and to practical developments in intelligent transport systems.
Specific objectives include:
1. User Needs Analysis:
Identify drivers’ informational needs and perceptions of risk in the context of overtaking and pedestrian crossing scenarios using connected vehicle data.
2. Design of Multimodal HMI Concepts:
Develop a range of interface concepts using visual, auditory, and possibly haptic feedback to convey situational awareness information in a clear, non-intrusive manner.
3. Application of HCD Principles:
Apply iterative HCD methods (as defined in ISO 9241-210) throughout the process, from ideation and prototyping to evaluation.
4. Compliance with Standards:
Ensure that the proposed interfaces conform to relevant ISO standards for in-vehicle information presentation, including ISO 15008 and ISO 15006.
5. Evaluation of Usability and UX:
Conduct laboratory-based testing of prototypes using VR simulations or digital mockups to assess usability, user experience, and potential distractions caused by the interfaces.
6. Recommendations for Implementation:
Generate a set of design recommendations and insights that can guide future development of HMIs for connected vehicles in real-world deployments.
Plano de Trabalhos - Semestre 1
- Conduct a literature review on HCD in automotive contexts, focusing on previous work in connected vehicles, driver distraction, and situational awareness.
- Study and summarize the key ISO standards relevant to in-vehicle HMIs: ISO 9241-210, ISO 15008, ISO 15006.
- Review prior work from the ADSafeVANET project, including the use cases of overtaking and pedestrian crossing in low-visibility areas.
- Define the design requirements based on the two core use cases.
- Prepare research protocols and consent forms for user research, with ethics approval if required.
- Conduct user research through interviews, surveys, or focus groups to understand drivers' perceptions and needs regarding safety information presentation.
- Analyze user data and translate findings into personas and use scenarios.
- Begin early ideation of interface concepts using sketching, storyboarding, and scenario walkthroughs.
- Use design tools (e.g., Figma) to produce low-fidelity mockups of multiple HMI variants (e.g., visual alerts, auditory cues, haptic signals).
- Refine selected concepts through informal testing with users (paper prototypes or Wizard-of-Oz).
- Begin writing initial chapters of the thesis (Introduction, Related Work, Methodology).
Deliverables for First Semester:
- Annotated bibliography and standards summary
- User research findings and personas
- Set of low-fidelity interface concepts
- Interim thesis document
Plano de Trabalhos - Semestre 2
- Develop interactive prototypes of selected HMI concepts using tools like ShapesXR, Unity or Figma.
- Integrate the designs into a VR driving simulator
- Design and pilot a usability test protocol based on ISO 9241-210 and ISO 15007.
- Conduct formal usability and user experience evaluations of the prototypes, collecting both qualitative and quantitative data (e.g., SUS, NASA-TLX, UEQ).
- Analyze test results and iterate the design based on feedback.
- Finalize and document the design iterations.
- Write final chapters of the thesis, including results, discussion, and conclusions.
- Prepare any publications or presentations
Deliverables for Second Semester:
- Interactive HMI prototypes (high-fidelity)
- Usability testing report and evaluation results
- Final written thesis
- poster or paper submission for conference/journal
Condições
The student will have access to all the computational resources necessary to carry out the work.
A workspace at CISUC (Centre for Informatics and Systems of the University of Coimbra) will also be made available.
There is the possibility of funding in the ADSafeVANET project (task T2).
Orientador
Jorge C. S. Cardoso
jorgecardoso@dei.uc.pt 📩