Driver Cognition & the Sense of Time

DriverCognition&the

Sense of Time

National Institute of DesignDriver Cognition and the Sense of Time

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Kshitish Purohit Transportation & Automobile Design PGDPD 07

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ForewordThis project was proposed owing to sheer fascination with the concept of time, and an interest to experiment. ‘WHAT???’ was one question, ‘how do I incorporate this fascination of time with transportation design?’ was another. I had nothing more than a vague answer to these questions while starting, and I knew that I was signing up for a tough task.

From the moment of commencement of the project, I knew there was a huge amount of literature study required. Firstly, I wanted to get a clear textbook under-standing of driver cognition. I soon realized what I had read during Ergonomics & System Design projects was just a meagre percentage of what I had signed up for. Second, I realized it was extremely necessary for me to get hold of philosophical as well as psychological aspects of ‘time’. Textbooks, hence, had to be supplemented with discussions with batch mates, seniors and peers. Third, the project deliverables under the Ford Foundation funding scheme included two research papers, publish-able in design journal(s). This meant that my theoretical foundation had no excuse for lapses. Lastly, I wanted to understand methods used in design research and felt the need to work around marrying qualitative, quantitative and simulative research tech-niques. At the end of a rather prolonged literature study phase, I was proud of myself on two accounts: a) for managing to get a grip on the above mentioned points and b) for spending more time in the library than my two years at NID combined!

Mid-way into the literature phase, it was agreed upon between me and my project guide that my first paper could be a complete review of literature followed by a pilot study to set a research framework. The second paper could, then, be in-depth research and analysis concluding into design blueprints, which were the other deliver-ables for my project.

The pilot studies were carried out in three parts. The first one was to get an understanding of how different drivers perceived time. What ‘time’ meant to them, had a direct bearing on their driving behaviour, and this helped me select a user group for further detailed study. The second part was a market study, where the

current Indian four-wheeler market was studied with respect to safety features/inter-faces available. The aim of this study was not to analyze vehicle safety, but instead, to understand the average perception of safety amongst the Indian population. Also, this study would give the threshold level that any new design should meet, and take off from. The third study was a road study, where the four most accident-prone road stretches of Ahmedabad were studied and analyzed as to what factors contributed to accidents on Indian roads.

Combined, the three pilot studies gave a picture of ’whom to design for’, ‘what to design up from’, and ‘where to design for’. In other words, this helped de-fine a broad context for further detailed studies to be carried on.

Henceforth, the task was getting clearer. I figured that to reach a conclusion, all I needed to do was follow the research, and narrow down the context at every step. So this time, I started with the vehicle – selecting what type of vehicle was a slightly confusing task, but once the vehicle was selected, the driver would automati-cally fit in. The options were passenger car, bus and truck. Going ahead with a truck would mean social weight in the project, but the logistics involved were many and too difficult to control – at least alone. The final call was between the passenger car and the bus, and attractiveness bias got the better of me and the passenger car was selected as my vehicle for further study. This automatically gave me my user group – the cab driver.

The detailed study was carried from a pure systems perspective. The first aspect of study was a cab agency. The sub-system was built around the most com-mon task at a cab agency – booking a cab. At each node, informational needs were mapped. As support case studies, a hierarchy of cab services was made and higher end services (Meru) were studied for comparisons and possible design interventions.

The next aspect of study was the vehicles employed by the cab agencies. The most commonly used cabs in Ahmedabad were selected and made to go through an anthropometric and interface audit. Again, as a support case, the Tata Indica was

studied as to how it revolutionized the taxi scene in India.

Finally, it was the most important component of any driving system – the driver. Now that everything had narrowed down at each step, it was the driver’s turn. The third aspect of my studies involved extensive research on the driver’s mental models, ‘day in the life of’ study, awareness towards safety/technology, perception of their profession etc.

Through this, I was able to narrow my entire research down to a certain Wan-jibhai Parmar, 32, who drives a Tata Indica for RR Travels, an Ahmedabad-based cab agency. Wanjibhai is the average user for my research, and is the persona for whom the guidelines have been designed.

Kshitish PurohitTransportation & Automobile Design

PGDPD ‘07, National Institute of Design


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AcknowledgementThroughout the duration of the project, I’ve had immense amount of cooperation and support from my guide, Dr. Bibhudutta Baral, who, despite being constrained by geographical locations, was always present to assist me, and despite not being an automobile design expert, made sure he was always a step ahead of me so that he could guide me at each step. Such is the attitude students need from their guides and I feel fortunate to have had this throughout the project.

Dr. Prabir Mukhopadhyay, an expert in Ergonomics made sure in the beginning that I don’t fall lax and gave me enough impetus to be able to read more and get my basics right. This project could’ve gone without a logical element had it not been for Dr. Prabir in the beginning.

A word of gratitude to Mr. Praveen Nahar, ex-coordinator, Transportation & Auto-mobile Design and guide for my System Design project, for guiding me on Wayfind-ing – the project that made me select this topic. Also, Mr. Bhaskar Bhatt gets a vote of thanks for putting me in touch with the cab agency, and for helping me at certain crossroads in the beginning and at many other stages of the project.

Then there were people who helped in any-which-way possible. Some formed a part of the pilot studies (Vikramsinh Ji, Sagar Bhai, Bharat Bhai, Narainsinh Ji, Malav Sanghvi, Hiren Rana, Prassun Saha), while some just made me reflect upon what I was doing and where I was headed (Aditya ‘what IS your project all about’ Narayan). A special word of gratitude goes to the bunch at Mediashala@NDBI (Himanshu Khatri, Nalin Avasthi, Sumiran Pandya, Adithya Ananth, Kiran Pandya & Deepak Singh) for giving me space to work from and work smooth.

This project would’ve never got the human element had it not been for my peers. From the early discussions with Jaikar ‘Lump’ Marur, Kanishk ‘iKeny’ Gajjar, Ameya ‘Batman’ Nabar to the assistance and discussions I got from Hrishikesh Neve on the pilot studies, I was guaranteed enjoyment working. And no Transportation De-sign project is complete without mentioning TAD ’07 – Neeraj Pathak, Sunil Kharat, Imlisashi Aier, Sudarshan Rathod, Harsha Raju, Sanjay Urikoth & Nikhil Sharma.

Of course, Transportation & Automobile Design itself is not complete without the inclusion of Shradha Jain, Anuj Sharma, Poornima Garg, Pratyusha Reddy, San-gram Soni and Malhar Salil.

No journey would ever be complete without the real pillars of support – my parents. From the moment I decided to do a self-driven project within the walls of NID to the time I finished, Smt. Pramila Raghavendran and Sh. P.S.Raghavendran gave me nothing but support and limitless love. The one very special person, my grandmother Smt. Malati Rao, for making me want to finish fast and come home for food, and my aunt Smt. Nirmala Rao and uncle Sh. Vasudeva Rao – for taking care of grandma and being really cool people, my brother Anand Purohit – I owe one to all.

Finally, with so many people to thank for little things, there is just one person to thank for so many things – my real reality check, Kavita Myles, for showering endless amounts of love and support since forever, for constantly making me realize who I am, and for making me live one dream and work towards another.

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Contents

National Institute of Design

Transportation & Automobile Design

Ford Foundation

Project Brief

The Driving Task

Time - The Fourth Dimension

Factors Affecting Perceived Time

Time and Cognition

Microstrategies and Recognition

Driver Behaviour

Vehicular Interfaces

Interface Design

How do Drivers Perceive Time?

Safety Trends

Where do Accidents Occur?

Conclusion

Introduction

The Cab Agency

Case Study: Meru Cabs

Case Study: Tata Indica

The Vehicle Space

The Driver: Mental Models

Persona: Wanjibhai Parmar

Information Structure

Concept

Guidelines

Summary

Dashboard Integration

Relevance of the Design

Project Reflection

Future Scope

Bibliography

introduction8

framework32

research & analysis 48

design74

conclusion12216

literature study

INTRODUCTION8


INTRODUCTION 9


The National Institute of Design (NID) is internationally acclaimed as one of the foremost multi-disciplinary institutions in the field of design education and research. The Business Week, USA has listed NID as one of the top 25 European & Asian programmes in the world. The institute functions as an autonomous body under the department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. NID is recognised by the Dept. of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) under Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India, as a scientific and industrial design research organisation.

NID has been a pioneer in industrial design education after Bauhaus and Ulm in Germany and is known for its pursuit of design excellence to make Designed in India, Made for the World a reality. NID’s graduates have made a mark in key sectors of commerce, industry and social development by taking role of catalysts and through thought leadership.

NID Gandhinagar is situated in the city of Gandhinagar, in Gujarat. As part of expansion plan, NID has started building a new postgraduate campus at Gandhina-gar, the capital of Gujarat State.

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath laid the foundation stone for this campus. The upcoming campus will be spread over 11,362 square meters and the building will cost around Rs 195 million. The campus has been proposed to consist of a jewellery and automobile design centre along with Lifestyle Accessory Design, New Media Design, Toy and Game Design, Strategic Design Management, Transportation and Information Design centres.

NID’s R&D Campus at Bangalore was set up as a joint initiative of and funding from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Com-merce and Industry and the Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India and was inaugurated in March 2006. The R&D Campus commenced two research intensive PG Programmes namely Design for Retail Experience and Design for Digital Experience, from the academic year 2007-2008. From the academic year 2008-2009,

introductionNational Institute of Design


Ford Foundation

Project Brief

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National Institute of Design

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INTRODUCTION10


INTRODUCTION 11


the campus has also commenced one more research intensive PG Programme, namely Information and Interface Design. NID’s Research & Development Campus addresses the immediate need for an exclusive Design Research centre in the country, by foster-ing the creative design spirit and sighting new opportunities and frontiers through NID’s design acumen nurtured over the four decades of intense teaching-learning process.

Having entered the 5th decade of design excellence, NID has been active as an autonomous institute under the aegis of the Department of Industrial Policy & Promo-tion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India; in education, applied research, service and advanced training in Industrial, Communication, Textile, and I.T. Integrated (Experiential) Design. NID offers a wide spectrum of design domains while encouraging transdisciplinary design projects. NID is a unique institution with many problem-solving capabilities, depths of intellect and a time-tested, creative educa-tional culture in promoting design competencies and setting standards of design education. The rigorous development of the designer’s skills and knowledge through a process of ‘hands on minds on’ is what makes the difference.

The overall structure of NID’s programme is a combination of theory, skills, de-sign projects, and field experiences supported by cutting edge design studios, skill & innovation labs and the Knowledge Management Centre. Sponsored design projects are brought into the classroom to provide professional experience. Interdisciplinary design studies in Science and Liberal Arts widen the students’ horizons and increase general awareness of contemporary issues.

A unique feature of NID’s design education programme is the openness of its educational culture and environment, where students from different faculties and de-sign domains interact with each other in a seamless manner. The benefit of learning in such a trans-disciplinary context is immeasurable.

Transportation is an indispensable need of humanity and the basic power of any economy, and is essential for survival today. Transportation as understood at NID in-cludes not only cars and other vehicles or off road vehicles but also vehicles on tracks, water vessels and other mobility devices and equipments. In India, where there is still a value base for resource conservation and adopting one product for multipurpose use, transportation of both people and goods has many co-existing modes.

Transportation in India so far has been technologically driven with minimum or little attention paid to the users’ needs in terms of comfort, safety, information and even the considerations of cultural sensitivities and preferences. In the context of an emerging market economy in India, it is essential to strengthen basic infrastructure facilities. Transportation is one of the most important links towards this end.

Designers have a very important contribution to make towards the way they make objects in our environment work, and in turn, influence our perception towards them. This course seeks to establish a credible relationship of products and ser-vices with the user, technology and environment. The course aims to train young professionals with a thorough grounding in the systems approach to holistic problem solving processes, a sensitivity of concerns towards the environment and needs of dif-ferent user groups.

The objectives of this Programme are to develop an understanding of the field of Transportation Design with respect to the discipline of Industrial Design and to de-velop skills in analysis, concept generation, formulation of design strategies, problem solving, product detailing, communication and teamwork.


INTRODUCTION12


INTRODUCTION 13


The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has worked with courageous people on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

The Ford Foundation was established on Jan. 15, 1936 by Edsel Ford, whose father Henry, founded the Ford Motor Company. During its early years, the founda-tion operated in Michigan under the leadership of Ford family members. Since the founding charter stated that resources should be used “for scientific, educational and charitable purposes, all for the public welfare,” the foundation made grants to many kinds of organizations.

Edsel’s son, Henry Ford II, was a key figure in the foundation from 1943 to 1976. Serving variously as president, chairman and member of the board of trust-ees, he oversaw its transformation from a local Detroit foundation to a national and international organization. Today, the Ford Foundation, led by Luis Ubiñas, remains committed to advancing human welfare. Headquartered in New York City, Ford Foundation makes grants in all 50 states and, through 10 regional offices around the world, supports programs in more than 50 countries.

The Ford Foundation supports visionary leaders and organizations working on the frontlines of social change worldwide, with a goal to:

• Strengthen democratic values

• Reduce poverty and injustice

• Promote international cooperation

• Advance human achievement

The Ford Foundation works mainly by making grants or loans that build knowledge

and strengthen organizations and networks. The Ford Foundation diploma/research funding scheme at the National Institute of Design has, over the years, become a cru-cial component that assures in-house funding for diploma projects for students and also for faculties, and supports research-based projects that go in-line with the Ford Foundation ideology.

“A research based study on driver behaviour and cognition, with a focus on temporal orientation, aiming to improve vehicle safety.”

To reach any destination, one needs to know three basic things – Where am I?, Where do I have to go? and How to get there? In the bigger picture, the answers to these questions form the basis of any mobility task.

The kind of information that acts as indicator may be architectural, graphic, auditory, olfactory or even astronomical. However, how the human mind interprets this information, is purely psychological & rooted deep down the Hippocampal sec-tion of the brain. Mobility, from a wayfinding perspective, can be considered as a spatial problem solving technique. The information provided at each node & land-mark act as cues that help reach the destination with minimal loss of time and with maximum safety, thus, most efficiently.

For proper processing, the information needs to be provided at the right place & in the right amount, so that necessary action can be taken at the right time. This is essential for safety & other critical functions. The design of any human-machine interface is based on these principles of information processing.

However, in addition to the three basic questions regarding mobility, there is another aspect that is often taken for granted. The question how much time will it take?, even if not expressed explicitly, always has an estimated answer to it. The hu-man mind has the tendency and the capacity to automatically estimate the time dura-tion for a particular event. This aspect of information processing is called temporal orientation – orientation with respect to time. We, as humans, inadvertently expect and measure the changes that occur from start to finish, and ‘guess’ the expected time, for time is the measure of change. This ‘body clock’ is what dictates our behav-ioral patterns and that’s how we ‘move with the times’.

In the field of vehicular design, research is underway & a lot of assistive inter-faces are already prominent in the market. Technologies like Adaptive Cruise Control,

Lane Departure Warning, Collision Warning Devices, Adaptive Headlamps etc. are already available in cars abroad. The primary aim of these interfaces is to assist the driver in case of uncontrollable conditions and provide a safe solution to escape any obstacles or aberrations on the road. These technologies, however, are based on spa-tial & behavioral pattern recognitions and little has been done in the field of temporal orientation.

This project is aimed at studying the behaviour of the driver from a temporal perspective, and how these principles of cognition can be applied to vehicular safety.

The total number of accidents reported by all the States/ Union Territories (UTs) in India in the year 2005 were 4,39,255 of which 19% were fatal; the number of persons killed in the accidents were 94,968 (i.e. an average of one fatality per 4.6 accidents) and; the number of persons injured at 4,65,282 exceeded total number of accidents (4,39,255) in 2005.

Furthermore, 80% of all the road accidents have been attributed to the driver’s negligence/fault. The so-called human element of error could be due to in-hospitable conditions (e.g. heavy vehicles), time of day, or sheer negligence, but most importantly, it is due to insufficient information provided to the user on how to tackle the problem and the user having to rely upon his/her limited mental functions.

In Ahmedabad, over 2600 cases of road accidents have been reported in the year 2001 alone, with about 160 to 200 persons getting killed.

India, being a country run mostly according to one’s own free will, cannot rely solely on training programmes and policies. Nor can it rely on technology alone. Thus, considering mobility as one of today’s most basic needs, and considering safety as today’s biggest concern, design needs to go hand-in-hand with knowledge-based methods if vehicular safety is to be strengthened.

Project BriefFord Foundation

INTRODUCTION14


INTRODUCTION 15


The Driving Task SystemThe initial set of guidelines in the form of the driving task system model.


LITERATURE STUDY16


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The Driving Task


Factors Affecting Perceived Time

Time and Cognition


Driver Behaviour

Vehicular Interfaces

Interface Design

Driving is a multi-sensory task. While driving, we see, we hear, we smell, we touch. Most importantly, we experience and we remember. The sights we see, the sounds we hear, the smells we smell, the road bumps we feel - all register in our memory as experiences that help us plan our next drive.

As the saying goes, “you never forget how to drive!” Driving in an environ-ment requires not only physical skill, but also involves highly complex strategies (or micro strategies) that dictate the action(s) being taken. Driving, thus, requires con-tinuous processing of information - information that comes in the form of space and time.

The driving system is made of interactions that happen at three different levels. The first level of interaction is that between the driver and the vehicle. This includes various information displays and controls primarily within the vehicle. The displays are in the form of indications regarding speed, fuel, gear markings etc. and the controls are primarily in the form of steering, accelerator & braking. This forms the control component of the driving task.

The next level of interaction is that between the vehicle and the road. Road geometries, surfaces, the transportation networks etc. help the driver in negotiating a route and thus, form the guidance aspect of driving. Guidance also includes interac-tion between different vehicles.

The third level is the interaction between the road and the driver. From a psy-chological standpoint, this is an important level of interaction, as the traffic signs and landmarks encountered en route shape the driver’s perception of the next journey. At the same time, these are informational cues that help the driver plan his/her route. This forms the navigational aspect of the driving task.

The outermost layer is the environment, which does not directly interact with the elements of the driving task system, but aids in the different levels of interaction. For example, ambient illumination directly affects visual perception, thus modify-

ing the way some displays are read. On the same lines, a rainy day might change a person’s driving plans, without necessarily directly interfering with his/her driving capabilities.

literature study

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The Driving Task

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LITERATURE STUDY18


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Navigation

Environment

ControlGuidance

DrivingTask

The Driving TaskThe driving task system at the macro level, as the interaction between control, guidance & navigation, and the share of environmental inputs.

Time has different definitions based on different interpretations. In the shortest pos-sible definition, time is the measure of change. “Change in what?”, if someone asks - time is a measure of change in events, an event being anything having a spatial and a temporal presence.

Mathematically, time is a first-order derivative of any event. Time is the con-stant in the universe with respect to which, we measure everything else. The phrase “passage of time” could merely translate to “a perception of changes in events around us”.

Why do we measure time? Why do we look at the clock for everything? With technology, we’ve given in to the need for measuring time to the very second (and millisecond in case of racers). Is it technology that is dictating our perception of time? Or is it our need to measure precise time durations that’s driving technology? What seems as a chicken-egg analogy led to another question - if the clock weren’t there, what would we measure against? We would probably revert to seasons (or larger frames of reference) but again, seasons prove as being a clock of sorts. This argument, then, modified the discourse to if we didn’t have a constant reference of change, how would events be measured?

The human body has definitive cycles: sleep cycles, hunger, menstrual cycles etc. These patterns constitute a certain rhythm, called Circadian rhythm (circa - around, diem - day). The human body tends to adjust to the environmental change patterns and in ways, we can assert that the circadian rhythm is an adaptation to the environment. This body clock is what makes us move with the times and repeats itself in a uniformly fashion. The human body, thus, is a metronome.

This led to the argument that if the clock really weren’t there, would there actually be a need to measure events?

The answer to the question above lies in ‘the perception of time’ - what ex-actly it is that we feel passing. Lexically, there can be sense made out of time in man

ways:

• Duration sense (time is passing)

• Event sense (5 minutes from time)

• Moment sense (now is the time)

• Instance sense (5 times in a row)

• Agentative sense (time heals)

• Measurement-system sense (standard time)

• Commodity sense (time is money)

• Matrix sense (time is eternal)

Time perception is an experience (as it involves a sense) and time can be con-sidered as the space occupied by the mind (as it is purely psychological).


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The Unified Field TheoryA famous 1930 comic strip on Albert Einstein by Sidney ‘George’ Strube. This strip has been cited in a number of time-perception studies.

Characteristics of the time period. These include the du-ration and size of the stimulus, and also the activities between two stimuli.

Age. Age has a direct relation with information processing capacity of the brain and hence, affects perception.

Gender. Males have superior prospective duration judgements while females are better at retro-spective judgements.

Psychological Loads. Stressors prolong information processing while motivators reduce informa-tion processing.

Factors Affecting Psychological Time

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Information processing takes place in the human brain in stages. These stages of information processing, in turn, register in the memory as experiences, and shape future situations. How does one define “future situations?” A situation is defined in terms of a number of factors. These include the surrounding environment, goals, the system, the crew, the available human/physical resources etc.

Sensation and perception occur in the human brain in terms of space (landmarks, signage etc.) and time (speed, environmental time etc.). Furthermore, sensation could be in terms of different types of sensory input (visual, auditory, tactile etc.). The interpretation of this spatial and temporal information, and the projection of this interpre-tation onto the immediate future, decides the course of action for the user performing a task. Also, the action(s) taken by the user are stored in the memory as experiences that help in the next cycle of information processing.

The most important link in the cycle of information processing is of expectancies and estimations.

Estimations are essentially calculations made in the mind about certain events that are about to happen. These have a cyclic relation with expectancies, which are “beliefs about the future”. Based on what to expect, the human mind makes calculations in terms of space and time. These could be the field of safe travel, time to impact, speed of the vehicle in front, traffic speed etc.

Experienced time (prospective and retrospective durations) and cognitive time (semantic and episodic expe-

Situation AwarenessRepresentation showing the stages of in-formation processing and their analogous situation awareness stages.

riences) are based on expectancies that help make estima-tions regarding situations. Psychological time is, hence, an important ingredient of situation awareness.

Driving as a Memory ProcessFlowchart model showing the components of the driving task and the associated memory processes. At each level, there is a cyclic relation be-tween expectancies and estimations, which translate into actions.

Time and Cognition

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The driver is the human component of the vehicle system, which is responsible for maintaining vehicle path and speed while in motion. This is achieved through an interaction between the driver’s visual, cognitive & psychomotor actions (which form the constituents of the driving task system).

The task is accomplished at three different adaptation levels – strategic, tactical & operational. While the task at the strategic level involves route planning and other navigational aspects, tactical and operational levels directly involve the driver’s visual, cognitive and psychomotor abilities. Tactical sub-tasks involve negotiating speed limits, maintaining time-headway etc (control). Operational sub-tasks are concerned with the driver’s cognitive abilities such as seeking information at traffic intersections, increased attention while taking turns etc (guidance). At each of the three levels, the driving task involves formation of microstrategies, involving the driver’s aforemen-tioned abilities. Microstrategies are information processing activities at the cardinal level, i.e, when the time required for an action is of the order of 1-100 ms.

Consider a rather complicated scenario where a driver has to take a detour through a residential road, where while taking a U-turn, a child comes in the way to catch his football. Taking the detour involves planning an alternate route that’ll take the driver to his/her destination with minimal delay. Driving through the residential neighbourhood is a tactical task as the driver needs to negotiate speeds and time-headways owing to the population distribution (vehicular as well as human) on the residential road. While taking the U-turn, the task demands increased attention (seek-ing road extremity, watching out for intervening traffic etc) in addition to the reduced speed.

The child appearing in front of the car suddenly is a hazard to both the driver and the child. This requires the driver to first perceive the situation as a hazard, and apply brakes immediately at a safe gap from the child. Also, the driver needs to make sure that his/her sudden braking does not put the traffic behind his/her vehicle to an abrupt stop (which in most cases is inevitable) and that there is no damage to any

entity on the road.

At each level of the above-mentioned scenario, the driver is confronted with situations that need not necessarily conform to his/her expectancies. In such cases, the perception of events (in space and time) imposes a greater load on the driver’s information processing activities and hence, demands greater attention. In turn, this increased load on information processing increases the driver’s reaction time.

The driving task, hence, is a task that involves continuous strategy formation – essentially to optimize time – and in cases of impulse situations as the one consid-ered above, immediate action to optimize safety in the situation.

The behavior of a driver in different situations can be explained through the Recognition-Primed Decision Making (RPD) model. The model defines “typicality” in terms of expectancies, courses of action, goals and relevant cues in the environment. In case of routine activities, the situation is recognized as typical, and the course of action is, generally, obvious to the user.

DrivingTask

Navigation

Strategic

Operational

TacticalEnvironment

ControlGuidance

The Driving Task - Level 2The driving task system showing operational, tactical & strategic components.


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Situation Assessment

Take Action

Situation Typical?

Expectancies

Relevant Cues

Goals

Typical Action

Encountered Simi-lar Situation?

Situation Recognizable

Situation Not Recognizable

The flowchart shows the RPD model applied to each deci-sion node in the adjoining scenario.

Risk

Analogy/Story-building

RecognitionExpected ‘course of action’.

SituationA rather unforeseen one.

Micro-strategiesTackling unfamiliar situations.

Driver behaviour can be defined as the actions a driver takes in order to main-tain a safe travel path. These actions not only depend on external factors, but also rely heavily on psychological factors. E.g., a woman driving to meet her hospitalized mother would “behave” completely differently as compared to a man dropping his son to school, who in turn, would have different behaviour as that of a truck driver.

The primary actions - steering, accelerator and brake - are those that are performed continuously and are necessary to maintain a safe path while driving. Ac-tions like pressing the clutch lever, shifting gear etc. can be considered as secondary functions that supplement the primary actions. Other actions like rolling down the window, horn etc. are tertiary functions that are not required throughout the driving task.

Driver behaviour is affected by a number of psychological and physiologi-cal factors. The first of these is distraction. A distracting activity could be anything from wandering thoughts to billboards, or a flash of light at the corner of the eye, or changing the song on the car-stereo.

Another psychological factor that affects driver behaviour is motivation. A high motivation level increases the mental well-being of a driver and affects the pri-mary actions. Motivation also has an inverse relation with perceived duration. Highly motivated journeys (or journeys towards a certain goal), thus, seem to pass quickly. Emotions also play a major role as an internal factor. Segregative emotions (anger, hatred etc.) generally tend to make a driver behave in a rash and erratic way, while intergrative emotions (love, friendship, reunion etc.) tend to calm the driver down. For example, driving to the hospital to meet her ill mother would tend to make a woman drive without much control.

The driving task is derived of the driver’s visual, cognitive and psychomotor abilities – human characteristics that depend on a variety of factors. Age is an obvious such factor. With age, there is a proven decline in visual and physical abilities. Older drivers have problems while negotiating turnings, intersections, crowds etc. Vision

deterioration resulting in a failure to read/understand traffic dynamics only adds to their woes. The same vision problems give them a higher degree of field dependence as they are unable to separate relevant visual cues from the overall picture. Attention span gets affected, and so does memory capability. All this lead to a decline in spatial problem solving and wayfinding abilities, hence directly affecting their driving behav-iour.

Although gender does not have any direct relation to how people drive, gen-der differences do have an impact on certain underlying principles of cognition and behaviour. Where motor skills are concerned, males have been known to be better at movements that involve larger amplitude (e.g. throwing a ball, stopping/catching a moving object, aiming etc). Females, on the other hand, are adept at finer move-ments (e.g. manipulating hand shapes, finger movements etc).

Men and women are known to show different spatial abilities as well. While men find it easier to visualize an object in different orientations (mental rotation), women have memory to their advantage. This leads to a major difference between the sexes when it comes to wayfinding – men’s mental rotation ability makes it easy for them to visualize directions egocentrically. Men find it easier to break down a journey into directions and segments. Women, on the other hand, use landmarks as reference, owing to their memory ability.

Although there are differences between the abilities of the sexes, there is no answer to which one is better, or more specifically, who the better driver is. Driving, as a task, relies as much on mental rotation as it does on memorizing landmarks. The fact that there are more male drivers in India than female drivers is not because of capability, but because of social conditioning, and should not be taken as indicating one gender being superior/inferior to the other.

Driver fatigue is a human factor that is largely responsible for accidents. Seen mostly in extreme driving conditions (e.g, truck drivers), fatigue is the feeling of tired-ness resulting from long hours of work, long periods since sleep, and also from the

Driver Behaviour

LITERATURE STUDY28


LITERATURE STUDY 29


time of the day. Fatigue usually results in a decline in the driver’s appraisal of his own capabilities, and hence, affects driving behaviour, resulting in accidents in extreme cases.

DrivingTask

Navigation

Strategic

Operational

TacticalEnvironment

ControlGuidance

Secondary

Clutch

Gear

Horn

Headlamp

Turn Indicator

Primary

Brake

Acceleration

Steering

Tertiary

A/C

Wiper

Window

Ignition

Gender

Driver Behaviour

EventsColourDetail

InattentionSudden Change

DistractionSalience

Attention

Situational Blindness

Vision DeteriorationField Dependence

WayfindingInformation ProcessingSpatial Problem Solving

Cognitive

Psychomotor

Visual

Age Medicinal Dependence

Decline in Abilities

Temporary Impairments

AlcoholDrugs

MedicationStress/Anger

MotivationIntegrative

Segregative

GoalsEmotion

Spatial TasksMemory TasksRisk PerceptionMotor Skills

Fatigue Time of DayTime since SleepHours of Work

Factors affecting driver behaviourVarious factors contributing to driving behaviour.

LITERATURE STUDY30


LITERATURE STUDY 31


An interface is defined as a platform on which interaction between human and the machine takes place. An interface, thus, consists of controls to operate the machine and displays to show relevant information. In the field of vehicular design, interfaces range from the simple dashboard/instrument panel to more advanced as-sistive interfaces. Technologies like Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Departure Warn-ing, Collision Warning Devices, Adaptive Headlamps etc. are already equipped onto vehicles. The primary aim of these interfaces is to assist the driver in case of uncon-trollable conditions and provide a safe solution to escape any obstacles or aberrations on the road.

Vehicular safety systems can be grouped into in-built, information, warning and assistive systems, with each type of system having a different degree of operator control. In-built systems, e.g anti-lock braking, traction control, adaptive highbeam, autonomous cruise control etc. are mostly fully automated and require almost no op-erator control. In-built systems are integrated to the vehicle speed and trajectory and regulate any deviating trends in vehicle movement.

Information systems, or in-vehicle navigation systems, are satellite-based route guidance systems. As an interface, these systems give route information from a survey perspective (top-view, north-up) or a route perspective (first person, heads-up).

Warning and assistive systems are automated to the extent of not interfering with operator control, and let the operator decide the best action based on the in-formation output. Feedback is given in the form of visual indications, auditory signals and/or in some cases, tactile feedback.

While standard vehicular interfaces adhere to guidelines deviced on the prin-ciples of cognition, most new technologies work on spatial & behavioral pattern rec-ognitions of the drivers. The difficulties in “measuring” psychological time has made technology rely on distance and speed calculations to include the dynamics of driving.

A little thought can be given to the efficacy of the existing assistive interfaces

owing to the different degrees of distraction that they offer. Visual feedback is mostly concentrated within the interface, which forces the driver to look for and look at the incoming signal. Auditory feedback may not always be salient and may tend to get subdued in the loud and chaotic environment, especially in a country like India.

In terms of research underway, active safety is taking the spotlight. Active safety is the term being used for interfaces that adapt to the driver’s characteristics and drive conditions. The question is, however, what level of safety do vehicles in India really require? Subsequently, are the safety features equipped to automobiles today sufficient? In other words, this could even spawn a debate over the need for advanced safety systems for India.

Concerns• Can technology “measure” psychological time?

• Can experiential design mitigate errors?

• How efficient are the interfaces?

• How distracting are the interfaces?

• What level of safety is required in India?

• What level of safety is available in India?

• Can an alternative to active safety be proposed for India?

Vehicular Interfaces Interface Design

An interface is considered ‘humane’ if it is responsive to human needs and consider-ate to human frailties. In other words, an interface should understand a) the scope of the user in the system, and, b) the user’s conscious and unconscious triggers that invoke a response or an action.

Going by the pedagogy that information should be present at the right place, right time and in the right amount, an interface can be considered as that informa-tion system which takes into account the user’s information needs and presents the required information in a form that is easy for the user to read, comprehend and act upon. In case of the driving task, this is essentially in the form of control, guidance and navigational information (which has been discussed in detail throughout the document, and especially in the Design section).

Since driving is a task where information acquisition happens while on the move, there are limitations to providing information inside as well as outside the vehicle. User-centered design of automobile interfaces, hence, focuses majorly on information presentation as well as information hierarchy. The following guidelines are followed while designing any information system:

• Keep systems simple.

• Provide visual and auditory information in emergency situations.

• Provide as much control to operator as possible.

• Use special-purpose lighting to make low-contrast targets more visible.

• Use colour and shape coding.

• Provide illustrated instructions.

• Minimize small print.

Various legibility scales can be used for graphics and type and generally as a guideline, high-contrast colours are used. However, while choosing colours, care

should be taken as driving is a task that is carried out in different light conditions and after-image formation poses a serious cognitive threat to drivers.

For deciding the information structure, an abstraction hierarchy is followed for which, it become mandatory to know what the functional meaning of different informational parameters is (e.g., time means sensing change, speed means sensing movement etc.).

Deciding the physical form is usually the last stage of user-centered design, where the user’s mental models are used for designing graphics, text messages and even colours. Following the abstraction hierarchy, the physical form should map to the functional meaning in order for the interface to be more efficient and hence, more usable.

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FRAMEWORK 33



Safety Trends


Conclusion

Methodology9 male participants in Ahmedabad were interviewed, with questions based on a questionnaire. The 9 participants included 6 professional drivers, and 3 personal car drivers. The professional drivers, in turn, consisted of taxi drivers as well as drivers employed for personal service. The questionnaire aimed at understanding the driver’s perception of time and what importance time actually held as part of his driving pro-fession/task. The questions were slotted according to the following:

• The driver’s profile - age, experience, type of service/vehicle.

• The driver’s daily activity pattern – distance/trips per day and activities in-between trips.

• Familiarity and attention – how does the driver familiarize with a route, how he remembers the same route, and how sudden changes are encountered.

• Time-behaviour study – what ‘time’ means to the driver and how does that dictate his behaviour.

Certain indicators that were identified were discomfort in different parts of the body, the driver’s manner of presenting himself (indicating to what degree he achieves his primary driving goal) and speed, which was considered as the primary indicator of driving behaviour.

Personal Information• Age

• Vehicle

• Experience

• Shift/Drive Hours

• Distance/Trips per day

• Rest between trips?

• Activities between trips?

• Route (constant/variable)

• How familiar are you with the route?

• How long did it take for you to familiarize?

• Can you explain the route you take?

the area.

• How do you encounter sudden changes to the route?

• How do you tackle sudden obstructions on the route?

Time• What is your primary goal? • Reaching on time

• Reaching safe• Least vehicle damage• Other (specify)

• What are the implications of losing time?

• How do you make up for lost time?

Behaviour• When/where do you speed up?

• Why do you speed up?

• Does it ache after a drive?

SAMPLE

framework

32


33

37

39

46

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FRAMEWORK 35


temporal behavioral

RESPECThigh self-esteem

well-spokenlevel-headed

cautiousclientelle

FREEDOMenjoys stature

free speechpanics often

temperamentalthrill

SAFETYhigh self-esteem

well-spokenpanics often

cautiousenjoys driving

MONEYlow self-esteem

anxietypanics often

temperamentallivelihood

COMMITMENTrespects others

over-confidentlevel-headed

selflessprofession

PEACE of MINDcasual

well-spokenpractical

temperamentalprofession

the clientelle he serves indicates his standing as a professional. he can’t afford to lose punctuality and maintains upto 30 minutes buffer time.

driving is a very func-tional and occasionally recreational activity for him. safety is always his priority and he maintains buffers upto 30 minutes to avoid any panic.

driving is his only source of livelihood and he sees time as a commodity that has a monetary equivalent. he has to keep track of time as that is essential to his service & money and often needs to make up for lost time.

he loves the thrill of driving, and also his own stature on the road. his daily commute requires coordinating with a standard timing and that coordination dictates his behaviour.

delivery of service and his commitments is his prime objective. his confidence and familiarity with the routes he takes gives him a high degree of freedom and very less anxiety about time. occasionally, he tries to make up for lost time.

even though he has professional demands to be met, he prefers having complete peace of mind. he maintains time buffers upto 15 minutes and does not feel the need to hurry up.

time buffer keeps track of time

loses time does not speed up

speeds up occasionally

speeds up often

due to his low temporal demand, he never speeds up and almost always, reaches his destination on time.

he speeds up only on recreational drives. he generally keeps low temporal demands and does not speed up to make up lost time.

time is money for him and he always has an urgency to reach his destination. he often speeds up to reach his clients/destination.

speeds up often on empty roads. also, he takes advan-tage of his stature and tries to dominate subordinate traffic.

he is committed to the delivery of his service and often speeds up to ensure quality. however, his confi-dence makes him adept at handling speeds.

he likes to drive with complete peace of mind. getting late by a few minutes is acceptable to him as long as it ensures a peaceful commute.

safety indicator

HeadFatigue

Stress

EyesVision

IlluminationFatigue

ShouldersFatigue

ElbowsFatigue

Lower BackFatigue

Discomfort

HandsGrips

KneesFatigue

Over-usage of components

FeetFatiguePosture

Over-usage of components

Left - ClutchRight - Accelerator, Brake

Left - Gearshift, SteerRight - Steer

physiological

pain/discomfort in body

personalityFigure 2. Personae building and behavioral and physiological implications of temporal orientation

9 -a

The findings of the survey were con-solidated and analysed by building six different personae based on their driv-ing goals. As per the literature review, perceived time is the rate of achieve-ment of a goal. Hence, it has been as-sumed that how a driver perceives time is his ultimate goal for which he drives a vehicle. moderate

high

low

yes

no

maintain speed

track time

destination?

speed upurgency?

start

end

GoalMotivationExperience

Temporal OrientationSense of Duration

Timing DeviceCoordinate with Timing System

Temporal DemandCombination of goal and

temporal orientation

Spatial OrientationSpatial Confirmation

Behaviour

AchievementPersonal

ProfessionalPsychological

Intuition, Body Clock, Traffic etc.ClockMusic, Train Timings etc.

Clientelle, Livelihood, ThrillFamiliarity, Confidence

Accelerator, Brake, SteeringHorn, Gearshift, Clutch

Panic, Temperament

Destination

Safety, LivelihoodMoney, Respect, Commitment, ServicePeace of Mind, Freedom

behaviour loop personalityindicators

What came across as interesting was how the par-ticipants of the interview regulated their temporal loads by keeping track of time in different ways. For some service drivers (cab, taxi etc.), reminders from clients served as a track of time. The most in-teresting case was one participant who used music and song durations to estimate time.

A comprehensive flow model was built for analy-sis, showing the link between driver behaviour and safety.

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FRAMEWORK 37


Trac

k of

Tim

e Distances Travelled

Music

Speed

Instinct

Standard Timing

Timing Device

Traffic

Calls from Clients

Expected Distance/Time

Rhythm

Song Duration

No. of Songs Played

Intuition

Body Clock

Experience

Familiarity with Place

Train Timing

Siren

Rush Hour

Traffic Speed

Wrist Watch

Dashboard Clock

Environmental Time

Phone Calls

Messages

Attention

Semantic Memory

Episodic Memory

Expectancy/Estimation

In retrospect, it is worthy to think about how this inter-nal time-keeping affects temporal loads of drivers. All the driver groups kept track of time, and the efficiency of their individual time-keeping techniques could de-pend upon a variety of factors. For example, a phone call from a client means immediate distraction, which could, in turn, cause a lot of safety issues while driving.

An analysis was done for the temporal orientation of the driver groups. It can be established that extrinsic time-measures are often attention-demanding, while intrinsic time-measures come across as and with expe-rience.

MethodologyThe four-wheeler market of India was studied with respect to safety features in the vehicles available. Showroom brochures and official websites of four-wheeler manu-facturers were referred for this part of the study. The aim of this part of the study was to understand the average safety level of the traffic in India, and to generalize that into the average safety requirement of the Indian driver.

0 30 60 90 120 150

Structural

Airbags

ABS

Brake Assist

TCS

Reverse Assist

Stability Control

ABS w/ EBD

SummaryThe 9 major automobile brands available in India were compared. The number of car models currently available from these manufacturers is 54 (excluding phased out models), with the total number of variants amounting to 162. All the 162 variants provide structural safety, in terms of child lock, collapsible steering column, crumple zones etc. This is the mandatory level of safety that is required by ARAI standards.

47 variants provide airbags. Dual airbags are optional in certain cars, but driver side airbag is provided. Anti-lock braking (ABS) is available across 62 variants out of which, 25 provide ABS with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD). Advanced features such as brake assist, traction control (TCS), reverse assist and stability control are available only on higher range models.

Automobile models studied using showroom brochures, internet information etc.

Safety Trends

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FRAMEWORK 39


This study opened up a discussion as to what the average safety level in the Indian traffic scenario is. A quick comparison to the global market would surely mean Indian automobiles are lagging far behind, but the question is, what is the safety require-ment for vehicles in India?

Rugged terrains and the average maintenance level of roads in India make structural stabil`ity a must for any vehicle. Airbags may not be deemed extremely necessary as most traffic in India is bumper-to-bumper and high speeds are attained mostly on highways and at rare times on empty city roads.

Features like ABS and traction control may be considered required owing to pertinent slippery/kaccha road conditions in India, while those such as reverse assist are upcoming trends owing to the increased number of parking spaces, urban land use patterns etc.

The safety features available in the Indian automobile market today are all passive. The question would now move on to whether India needs active safety at all? Or is there a scope for dynamic information interfaces to make their way into the market, complimenting the passive features that are already available?

Methodology4 road stretches of Ahmedabad were identified with the highest accident rate per km and taken for study of road, traffic and other factors contributing to the high acci-dent rates. Observations were made and informal interviews were conducted with the local population of these areas, regarding:

• Road characteristics - road profile, length, obstructions on the road stretch, rush hour timings etc.

• Traffic characteristics - traffic speed, traffic direction, vehicle distribution etc.

• Accident characteristics - nature and time of accidents, accident-prone zones on the stretch, impact on surrounding traffic, cause of accidents. ?

Vasna - Sarkhej: 261

Parimal Garden - Mithakali: 221

Income Tax - Commerce College: 296

Mirzapur - Vijali Ghar: 348

SummaryAccident rates on each of the 4 segments and the overall vehicle distribution between these segments. The grey sectors indicate the share of each vehicle type and the yellow area indicates proneness to accidents for each vehicle type.


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AccidentFrequency - highNature/damage - mild - moderateCritical zones - triangular intersections, school/court crossing, other intersectionsTime - mostly during rush hours, school timing Effect on traffic - hold-ups for 15-20 minsReason - speeding, overtaking on narrow lanes, buses negotiating blind curves

RoadLength - 1 km (approx.)Type - city road, no lanesHigh traffic hours - 10 am - 12 pm, 4 pm - 8 pmOther - busy bus route, vehicles parked on road, buses take up entire road width, school/court on road

TrafficDirection - both sidesType - mixedSpeed - 30 km/h (approx)

Mirzapur - Vijali Ghar

AccidentFrequency - highNature/damage - mild - moderateCritical zones - intersections, school crossing, construction siteTime - mostly during rush hours,school timingEffect on traffic - mild hold-upsReason - speeding, absense of speed-bumps

RoadLength - 2 km (approx.)Type - city road, 3/3 lane on Ashram Road, no lanes otherwiseHigh traffic hours - 8 am - 8 pmOther - busy bus route, CG Road in-tersection, railway crossing on route, vehicles parked on road

TrafficDirection - commercial areas on both ends, school/college towards Com-merce CollegeType - mixedSpeed - 50 km/h (approx)

Income Tax - Commerce College

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AccidentFrequency - highNature/damage - mild - highCritical zones - signalsTime - mostly during rush hours, night time on empty roadEffect on traffic - mild hold-upsReason - speeding, jumping traffic signals

RoadLength - 1.5 km (approx.)Type - city road, 2/2 laneHigh traffic hours - 8-11 am, 6-8 pmOther - vehicles parked on road, no bus-stops, traffic signals/circles at ev-ery intersection, shopping area lights/billboards

TrafficDirection - equal, slightly towards Parimal Garden in eveningType - mixedSpeed - 50 km/h (approx) Parimal Garden - Mithakali

AccidentFrequency - highNature/damage - mild - moderateCritical zones - intersectionsTime - mostly during rush hours,school timingEffect on traffic - mild hold-upsReason - speeding, blind intersections, absense of speedbumps,absence of traffic signal on the stretch

RoadLength - 3.5 km (approx.)Type - city road, 2/2 laneHigh traffic hours - 8-11 am, 6-8 pmOther - 4 bus-stands on the stretch

TrafficDirection - towards Sarkhej in morning, towards Vasna in eveningType - mixedSpeed - 50 km/h (approx)

Vasna - Sarkhej

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Vasna - Sarkhej

Parimal Gdn - Mithakali

Income Tax - Commerce College

Mirzapur - Vijali Ghar

No traffic signal on entire stretchAbsent/misplaced speed bumpsBusy bus routeConnection to highway

Well-developed roadsTraffic circles at intersectionsSignage well-placedBusy bus route

No speed bumpsCertain segments are without lanesBusy bus route

Triangular intersectionsBuses overtaking on narrow lanesBusy bus route

Mor

ning

rush

8 - 1

1 AM

Afte

rnoo

n ru

sh2

- 3 P

M

Even

ing

rush

6 - 8

PM

Time(hrs)

8 10 12 14 16 18 20

School crossingBlind intersections

Traffic signals

School crossingsItnersectionsConstruction site

School crossingOvertakingIntersections

Road

Ch

arac

teri

stic

s

Caus

es/

Criti

cal Z

ones

AnalysisAn analysis of road characteristics, accident times and critical zones. The road characteristics were observed while accident times were found out from interviews/conversations with locals. The causes and critical zones are a result of analysis of all factors.

Except the Mirzapur - Vijali Ghar segment, all segments have end points in com-mercial areas and/or residential areas. This could lead to one possibility that rush hour accidents are caused by temporal urgency regarding reaching workplace and/or returning home. While reaching workplace is a case of pure urgency, returning home is more motivational and regressive.

Another possibility for a high accident rate on these stretches is that each of these segments falls on a busy bus route. The Vasna - Sarkhej segment has 4 bus-stands over a length of 3.5 km, and timing clashes between buses is a common scenario. On the Mirzapur - Vijali Ghar stretch, which is a transit edge, the roads are not laned and there are 3 traffic intersections on the 0.75 km stretch of road. Buses overtake each other on these narrow roads which is not only a risky endeavour, but also proves hazardous for other traffic.

Erratic behaviour by bus drivers could be attributed to a number of psychologi-cal factors. Firstly, since buses ply on routes, there is a high degree of familiarity with the routes that the drivers hold. This often leads to over-confidence while negotiating tricky maneuvers and situations while driving.

Also, bus drivers live on very low perks professionally. This makes time-based incentives extremely important for them (the number of trips made per day directly contributes to any additional income they get). This leads to competition between bus drivers plying the same route due to which they overspeed and try to out-do each other.

As per the vehicle distribution, buses constitute only 10% of the traffic on these roads, but carry a good 60% of Ahmedabad’s population. Erratic behaviour by bus drivers poses a threat not only to vehicle safety, but also proves as a public safety issue.

All segments fall on busy bus routes• Speeding

• Overtaking

• Speeding/overtaking on turns

• Bus-stand placement

• Competition between buses

Possible reasons for erratic behaviour• Familiarity with route

• Over-confidence

• Time-based incentives

• Low perks on job

• Feeling of driving a big vehicle

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FRAMEWORK 47


Driving was understood as an interaction between the driver, road and vehicle, and the driver’s psychology with respect to time was studied as the core aspect of this research. The studies were carried out to realize the literature review findings and models in the Indian context, more specifically, in the context of Ahmedabad, and to propose a framework for research on psychological time and the driving task.

The overall conclusion from the literature review and the pilot studies is that there is an urgent need for automobile manufacturers to understand the psychology of the driver before arriving at design solutions. While structural safety and spatial information systems are pre-requisites in any vehicle, it is considered extremely important that the dynamics of the driving task are tackled using a driver-centered approach. Especially in a country like India where active safety and ADAS have not yet made their foray, there is tremendous op-portunity for introduction of systems that combine the static and dynamic aspects of in-vehicle information, rather than blindly going for the hi-tech systems avail-able abroad. At the same time, traffic conditions in India are highly random and mostly disorganized due to which, introducing new design solutions needs to be dealt with tactfully. As the causes of road accidents are also random, the efficacy of design solutions being implemented abroad can be deemed questionable in the Indian context.

Before arriving at a design direction, one needs to consider certain basic points about vehicular interfaces. The primary purpose of an interface is to provide information to the user regarding the current situation, and give enough cues to ease the user’s decision-making process, which are enacted through the controls.

The question is - how much information is required? Before that, what information is required? Certain displays in a vehicle are used only while starting (engine temperature, oil temperature, battery etc), while certain displays need to be continuously monitored (speed, fuel level etc). A complete task analysis of a car

Vehicle Safety

Damage to human lifeDamage to vehicleDamage to infrastructureOther damage

Faul

ty/u

nfor

esee

n co

nditi

ons

Hum

an er

ror

Miscalculations

Con

trol e

lemen

ts

PrimarySteeringSpeed

Secondary Inattention/distraction

StructuralActivePassive Inappropriate information

Stresses

Tem

pora

l

Cog

nitiv

e

Information overload

Phys

ical

Workspace

FatigueLong driving hoursNo sleep/rest

Urgency SpeedHorn

prev

ent a

ccid

ents

caused by

com

pone

nts

caus

ed b

y

panic

DriverPhys

ical

Skill

Age

Fitness

Psyc

holo

gica

l

Experience

Familiarity

Attention/memory

4-wheeler

CarVanMUV/cabMini-bus Controls Pr

imar

y

SteeringAceleratorBrake

Seco

ndar

y

ClutchGearshiftHorn

Terti

ary

StereoA/CWindow

Display

Speedometer

Odometer

Tachometer

Gauges FuelTemperatureOilBattery

Personal CommuteRecreational

Professional Personal cab serviceCab service for company/organization

Road

Surfa

ce

Geo

met

ry

EdgesIntersectionsRoutes

Info

rmat

ion

SignageSignals

Landmarks

City

LanedNo lanes

Hig

hway

NationalState

Express

SafetyRespect

CommitmentMoney

Peace of mindFreedom Time

Intrinsic

Body clockIntuition

ExtrinsicDirect

Siren/alertsCalls/messages

Clock

EstimativeMusicSpeedEnvironmental timeCoordinative time

drivesattributes has

onfo

r

goal

type

has

HumanVehicular

PavedKaccha

Animal/other

rate of achievement

track

ing

controls

navigation/planning

to achieve

are equipped with

could cause erratic usage

too much could cause

could cause

causes

lowers

is/causes

coul

d ca

use

Vehicle Safety

Damage to human lifeDamage to vehicleDamage to infrastructureOther damage

Faul

ty/u

nfor

esee

n co

nditi

ons

Hum

an er

ror

Miscalculations

Con

trol e

lemen

ts

PrimarySteeringSpeed

Secondary Inattention/distraction

StructuralActivePassive Inappropriate information

Stresses

Tem

pora

l

Cog

nitiv

e

Information overload

Phys

ical

Workspace

FatigueLong driving hoursNo sleep/rest

Urgency SpeedHorn

prev

ent a

ccid

ents

caused by

com

pone

nts

caus

ed b

y

panic

DriverPhys

ical

Skill

Age

Fitness

Psyc

holo

gica

l

Experience

Familiarity

Attention/memory

4-wheeler

CarVanMUV/cabMini-bus Controls Pr

imar

y

SteeringAceleratorBrake

Seco

ndar

y

ClutchGearshiftHorn

Terti

ary

StereoA/CWindow

Display

Speedometer

Odometer

Tachometer

Gauges FuelTemperatureOilBattery

Personal CommuteRecreational

Professional Personal cab serviceCab service for company/organization

Road

Surfa

ce

Geo

met

ry

EdgesIntersectionsRoutes

Info

rmat

ion

SignageSignals

Landmarks

City

LanedNo lanes

Hig

hway

NationalState

Express

SafetyRespect

CommitmentMoney

Peace of mindFreedom Time

Intrinsic

Body clockIntuition

ExtrinsicDirect

Siren/alertsCalls/messages

Clock

EstimativeMusicSpeedEnvironmental timeCoordinative time

drivesattributes has

onfo

r

goal

type

has

HumanVehicular

PavedKaccha

Animal/other

rate of achievement

track

ing

controls

navigation/planning

to achieve

are equipped with

could cause erratic usage

too much could cause

could cause

causes

lowers

is/causes

coul

d ca

use

display/control system forms the central framework for detailed research and analysis.

Also forming the framework is, based on the user groups studied, an in-depth study of the driver. The pilot study gave an indication of the different ways time is perceived in, and the chal-lenge was, now, to select one particular group and do a complete system study for that group.

FrameworkA complete model of the driving task. Values in red denote the framework for detailed research.

Conclusion

RESEARCH & ANALYSIS48


RESEARCH & ANALYSIS 49


Introduction

The Cab Agency



The Vehicle Space



The research framework that followed the literature review suggested a direction in the form of “drivers who drive for money”. It was suggested that this driver group is more susceptible to systemic lapses and hence, more prone to human error.

The vehicles identified as falling under this user segment were trucks, buses & cabs. The truck was understood to be a very huge topic, not feasible to be studied alone. The bus, generally, does not have a design and it is extremely challenging to standardize any design. For this reason, considering marketability and standardization as factors alongwith an attractiveness bias, the cab segment was chosen for detailed study.

The taxi has had its own journey in India. Started in 1910 as a replacement for horse-driven carriages, the taxis that became the most popular in the 1980s were the black and yellow Hindustan Ambassadors and Premier Padminis. These were state run and metered, and were available to the public on a non-sharing basis, thus giving the comfort of an owned vehicle.

The taxi business didn’t take off until 2000, when a certain flaw with the newly released Tata Indica triggered off a revolution. A whole new segment - the luxury cab - spawned off, that came off as extremely interesting for business-minded individuals. The Indica became an instant favourite amongst tour operators as it gave a mugh higher comfort and luxury as compared to the passé Ambassadors and Pad-minis. The Indica was, overall, a much better designed vehicle, and had the “designed for India” tag attached. The line between a personal car and a taxi had began to blur.

Soon, vehicles like the Maruti Esteem, Ford Ikon etc. followed suit and the word “taxi” had become obsolete. By 2005, the cab business had already seen its next demand. In September 2006, the Dial-a-Cab service was started, which was a radio taxi service. These agencies (Dial-a-Cab, EasyCabs, Wings Radio Cabs, Forsche etc.) used latest technology to run and track their service, and were the first to em-ploy a formal driver training programme.

The year 2007 saw another revolutionary business model - the Meru cab service - that promised to deliver world-class service and maintain higher standards of driver behaviour and etiquette. Meru formalized the driver selection process even more by including health and background checkups, as opposed to the word-of-mouth selection criteria earlier.

The line between personal car and a cab has blurred even more now. The number of taxis plying on Indian roads is approximately 2,35,000. The business along with the industry has become much more organized, efficient and rewarding with many new car rental services popping up in the industry, which has also given a rea-son for the unorganized cab agent to seek.

For the purpose of this project, an Ahmedabad based travel agency, Ashapura Travels, has been studied. Also, case studies have been done on Meru and the Tata Indica.

research & analysis

48

Introduction

49

50

52

54

56

70

72





The cab service agency operates through a network or branches or friends/other operators. The clientelle is usually regular, and vehicles are always made available for the clients. In case of non-availability, other operators/branches are contacted and vehicle booked accordingly.

Night travel is usually avoided, except in emergencies and in case of receiving someone from the airport. Driving shift starts at 5 AM and goes on till midnight, while office begins at 10:30 AM through 6:30 PM. In case of reporting time earlier than office timings, the memo is prepared the previous night, and its the driver’s responsibility to report on time. Drivers usually reach well before reporting time, and are most often made to wait.

The agency requires a minimum driving experience of 2 years. This, they require so that the driver is already familiar with Gujarat and outer roads before commencement of service. No special skill is required, but a taxi license is mandatory.

Billing shifts are of 80 km/8 hr or 100 km/12 hr. In case of drop-alone shifts, billing is done according to the 8 hr period. In case of trips exceeding the 12 hr shifts, over-billing is done as per the 8 hr period. However, a margin of 1-1.5 hrs is allowed in such cases, depending on how much distance has been travelled.

The agency maintains strict rules and follows a code of conduct. Drivers are motivated through a uniform, giving them a degree of self-esteem. There is an informal training programme before vehicle dispatch, where the drivers are instructed on what kind of etiquette/manners are expected out of them.

Vehicle tracking is done through a GPS-based web interface, which gives the vehicle number and its geographic location on a map at intervals of every 20-25 km. Speed is monitored with respect to mileage, and is

BOOKING

Flee

t

Driv

erD

ispat

ch MONITORING

BILLING

Che

ck

8 cabs, dieselIndica x 2Indigo x 2Qualis x 2Sumo x 1Innova x 11 driver per cab

CorporatesDelegatesFamilies

- +

Cab available?

Contactother branch

Y

N

Battery

Oil levels

Tyre pressure

Mechanicals

Min. driving experience2 yrs requiredDrivers trainedEtiquettesMannerismsTimelinessDriver UniformAvg. 200 km per day Pi

ck-u

p po

int

Home

Other

Home

Other

Site

Clie

nt

Dro

p-po

int

SpeedEmergency

Tracking

Speed maintained below 80 km/hMonitored by checking mileage

GPS-basedTracks position

Updates every 15-20 km Call sent Near tobreakdownlocation?

Transfer tonearest branch

Replacementavailable?

Transfer toother branch

Dispatch

Repairable?

Halt/repair

Replacement?

Service centre

Y N

NN

N Y Y

Y

80 km/8 hr shift

100 km/12 hr shift

Drop charges

Full trip charges

Overtime charges

margin of ~1 hr allowed

memo prepared

OFFICE TRIP RETURN

Check fuelCheck batteryCheck other components

Reach site safelyReach site on timeWait at site

Reach client on timeWait for client

Drop client to drop-pointPrepare billCollect money

Wait at siteRestEat/smoke/tea etc.

Leave vehicleDeposit money

DestinationClient details

Directions to site Vehicle statusFuel, battery,water etc.

Directions to pick-up pointDistance to pick-up pointTime required

Directions to drop-pointWithin shift?Billing information

TasksInformationrequired

BOOKING

Flee

t

Driv

erD

ispat

ch MONITORING

BILLING

Che

ck

8 cabs, dieselIndica x 2Indigo x 2Qualis x 2Sumo x 1Innova x 11 driver per cab

CorporatesDelegatesFamilies

- +

Cab available?

Contactother branch

Y

N

Battery

Oil levels

Tyre pressure

Mechanicals

Min. driving experience2 yrs requiredDrivers trainedEtiquettesMannerismsTimelinessDriver UniformAvg. 200 km per day Pi

ck-u

p po

int

Home

Other

Home

Other

Site

Clie

nt

Dro

p-po

int

SpeedEmergency

Tracking

Speed maintained below 80 km/hMonitored by checking mileage

GPS-basedTracks position

Updates every 15-20 km Call sent Near tobreakdownlocation?

Transfer tonearest branch

Replacementavailable?

Transfer toother branch

Dispatch

Repairable?

Halt/repair

Replacement?

Service centre

Y N

NN

N Y Y

Y

80 km/8 hr shift

100 km/12 hr shift

Drop charges

Full trip charges

Overtime charges

margin of ~1 hr allowed

memo prepared

OFFICE TRIP RETURN

Check fuelCheck batteryCheck other components

Reach site safelyReach site on timeWait at site

Reach client on timeWait for client

Drop client to drop-pointPrepare billCollect money

Wait at siteRestEat/smoke/tea etc.

Leave vehicleDeposit money

DestinationClient details

Directions to site Vehicle statusFuel, battery,water etc.

Directions to pick-up pointDistance to pick-up pointTime required

Directions to drop-pointWithin shift?Billing information

TasksInformationrequired

capped at 80 km/hr. In case of emergencies, depending on the severity or the breakdown, replacement cabs are sent.

The Cab AgencyThe schematic is representative of Ashapura Travels, an Ahmedabad-based travel agent, but can be con-sidered as a general representation of a cab service system.

The Cab Agency





MeruThe Meru cab service was started in April 2007, with a fleet growing to 150 in January 2008. In the past 2 years, Meru has grown across 4 cities, with a GPS-tracked fleet of 3500 vehicles.

Service

Driver Fleet

TechnologyVehicle

Availability

• Pays a refundable deposit amount to Meru.• Is put through a series of medical tests.• Pays daily fees to Meru for the use of the cab.• Makes around 4-6 trips at the maximum (in and around

the city, airport to-fro trips).• Typically earns about Rs. 2500-3500 per day.• Pays for all the diesel used by him.• Takes home the entire earned amount, after paying the

daily fee.• Is free to make private arrangements with any patrons.• There are no scheduled leaves for the driver.

The

Dri

ver

at M

eru

• Selection based on driving experience and background check

• Medical checkup & formal training• Versed in Hindi, English & regional lan-

guage of State• Trained in customer service, safe driving

& hygiene

Dri

ver

• Operates in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad & Bangalore

• ~3500 cabs all over India• Maruti Esteem, Mahindra Logan, Tata

Indigo cabs• 1 cab shared between 2-3 driversFl

eet

• System does not indicate weather & traffic conditions.• No map/voice on GPS device.• No multilingual support. The current system only

works in English & Hindi.

Dra

wb

acks

• Client can make a booking anytime.• ‘Lost & found’ tracking system helps track missed/left out

luggage in the vehicle.• Driver’s ID and printed receipt help report any complaints

efficiently.• Has to pay toll, parking etc. charges in addition to the

fares.

The

Clie

nt

The Meru SystemObservations and insights about the Meru service. Although Meru has received excel-lent reviews in the 3 years of functioning and there have been very few accidents/misbehaviours reported, there are clear indications of human factors issues regard-ing the driver at Meru.

• Air-conditioned• GPS-based metering unit• Speed alert alarm system• First aid kitV

ehic

le

• 24-hr cab booking facility• Door-to-door pickup/drop• Fares based on State regulations• Credit & prepaid card payment • GPS-based vehicle tracking• GPS-based fleet management• Vehicle can be flagged down if vacant

Serv

ice






In the year 1996, Ratan Tata envisioned a small car ‘that would look good in black’. In the year 1998, this was realized in the form of the Tata Indica, a car which would soon become a favourite amongst the Indian middle class, and at the same time, revolutionize the public transport scene in the country.

The launch of the Indica was amidst competition from the existing small cars, the Maruti Zen and the Fiat Uno. The Uno, highly overpriced and riding only on the Fiat brand name, would soon see the end of its stint on the Indian roads, while the Zen, even though providing good ride quality and comfort, was a little too inacces-sible to the Indian middle-class pocket. Tata Motors, hence, had their task cut out clearly in terms of on-road competitors.

However, the threats were many. The Indica was Tata Motors’ (then Telco Motors) first venture into the passenger car segment. Known for building trucks and buses, entering the car market at a price lower than that of the Zen and the Uno only meant a tough challenge. But perhaps the bigger threat was in the form of other car models slated for release in the same year. Hyundai, Maruti, Daewoo and Fiat were all looking at the newly created B segment with their announced cars, the Santro, the WagonR, the Matiz and the Palio, respectively. Also, the fact that the Indica’s release date was 30th December, it just meant that the marketing team had to do their job with pin-point accuracy.

And there it was - the Indica (abbreviated from INDIan CAr). Clever print ads, followed by TV commercials promising ‘more dreams per car’ had made the Indica enter into the Indian hearts, warranting 11,500 bookings in the very first week of its release. At a starting price of Rs. 2.59 lakhs, the Indica offered superb mileage, a tough body, a good ride, high stability, a rugged car, and heaps of space and com-fort. The higher end Indica variants also featured A/c and power windows (at Rs. 2.9 lakhs), which were available only in up-market imports till then.

The Tata Indica became an instant favourite and remained that way until Tata Motors started receiving complaints on ride quality and horsepower issues on the

Indica. The 1999-2000 period saw a huge dip in sales of the Indica after Tata Motors decided to call back all the models for necessary repairs - and this was the time when mobility in India took a turn towards minimizing the divide between owned and shared transport.

At a meagre price of Rs. 2.6 lakhs, the Indica had created a whole new seg-ment - that of the ‘Big...Small Car’. The Indica was offering comfort at a level higher than any other car in the B-segment. Also, the fact that the Indica was ‘designed for India’ made it suitable on a variety of road conditions. Options in petrol and diesel meant that the car could be used for long-distance travels as easily. Moreover, the Indica was aesthetically a well balanced design. These factors, along with the sup-posed ‘failure’ of the Indica as a driver’s car, meant a huge opportunity for taxi opera-tors, who were at the most, concerned only with costs and passenger comfort - and the Indica was alredy winning on those fronts. Capitalizing on these factors, a new system of transport emerged on the Indian roads - the shared cab. Taxis, which used to be black and yellow state-run Hindustan Ambassadors and Premier Padminis, soon found themselves a competitor, a car that would become synonymous with the word ‘taxi’ in India and knock them off the roads.

By the time Tata Motors released the Indica V2 in 2001 after rectifying the errors in the first edition, the Indica had already revolutionized the taxi scene in India. From the middle class to high officials in corporates, here was now a car that would give them the comfort of a luxury car, at the on-demand service of a taxi. The Indica soon started gaining popularity over the existing taxis and became the ideal ‘hired vehicle’ for corporates as well as families going on long trips. The release of the Indica V2 was accompanied by a CNG variant to add to the fleet. This further strengthened the taxi operators’ faith in the Indica, as CNG proved to be cheaper than petrol or diesel. By now, the Indica had begun its journey again on the Indian roads - as a pas-senger car and as a cab.

Advertising the IndicaThe very first print ads for the Indica sporting a clever ‘designed in India’ slogan that promised ‘more car per car’.

More car per car






One could broadly divide human factors into physical and cognitive components. While physical factors contribute to fatigue and discomfort in different parts of the body, cognitive factors could cause information overloading and hence, psychological stresses. Errors in information acquisition could also cause physical stresses (e.g vis-ibility issues in the night), and more often than not, distractions.

Inter/intra-state cab drivers are faced with both types of the above-stated fac-tors. Having to drive 200-250 km sometimes, fatigue is very common in cab drivers. In many cases, these journeys could be overnight, in rain, on slippery roads, in dusty conditions etc. The workspace of these vehicles, thus, needs to incorporate human factors seriously and go much beyond comfort and stylish interiors.

The needs of the driver were divided into work zone and informational, and the vehicles most commonly used as cabs in Ahmedabad (and India) were audited with respect to these.

Working Zone Needs: Anthropometrics

The primary physical requirement for any work is comfort. In the case of driving, comfort is achieved through good seat design, accessibility of control components (primary, secondary and tertiary), and an overall friendly atmosphere in the working zone. This “friendly” atmosphere could include lighting, smell, sound-dampening etc., all of which contribute to a “comfortable” workspace.

Informational Needs: Interface

In today’s scenario, vehicles are offering all the information ranging from vehicle speed to what the air-conditioner level is. Vehicular interfaces are designed to give all necessary information that would aid the driver in his task. However, it is important to analyze to what detail can the information be deemed as relevant and to what extent these information agent act as distractors. The driver’s information needs can be ar-

ranged hierarchically into primary (distance, speed), secondary (battery level, fuel level etc.) and tertiary (on-road information, directions, signage etc.). In addition, time is the information that the driver can measure his rate of achievement of goals against. Ignition

Insert key Key slot location

Rotate key clockwise Gear markings

Check levels Icons on dashboard

Check neutral Neutral position Gear markings, gear lever play

Ignition ON Engine sound, vibra-tion

Move vehicle

Press clutch Clutch position

Change gear to 1 Gear positions Gear markings

Release parking brake Parking brake location Parking brake indi-cator

Accelerate Pedal movement Smooth motion, engine sound

Monitor

Task Knowledge required Feedback

Speed Speedometer, traffic This constitutes dynamic mental models, as ex-plained later in this section.

Time Clock, instinct

Direction Road, safe travel path

Stop vehicle

Press clutch Clutch position

Press brake Brake position

Release brake Vehicle motion

Change gear to neutral Neutral position Gear markings

Ignition OFF

Rotate key Two-step rotation Engine sound off

Remove key

Task Knowledge required Feedback

Hierarchical Task Analysis: The Driving TaskA hierarchical task model was made for the driving task before doing a detailed interface audit.

The Vehicle Space





ClutchBrake

Accelerator

Instrument PanelAuxilliary Panel

Gearshift Lever

Auxilliary Lever

Parking Brake

Ignition Switch

Turn Indicator

Steering Wheel

Link AnalysisA link diagram based on the hierarchical task model. The combined task flow was broken down for further detailed analysis. The dotted nodes show the monitoring elements.

Workspace SchematicGeneral schematic for a 4-wheeler interface. A detailed link analysis was carried out for the same.

Start the vehicleStarting the vehicle mainly needs static mental models and training knowledge of the driving task.

MonitorMonitoring is the task that requires judgements and dy-namic mental models. The yellow shaded triangle shows the monitoring area and the lines show the actions as-sociated with the monitoring task.

Stop the vehicleStopping the vehicle also needs training knowledge on when to press the brakes and by what amounts.

Repeated component usage is a major cause of fatigue and bodily pain/discomfort.

The auxilliary panel (clock etc.) are often outside the cone of vision.





The vehicle space was divided into the anthropometric workspace and the interface. A complete work-space audit was carried out for the vehicles selected and a benchmark was decided, based on the Indian anthropometric dimensions. This benchmark was considered to be the minimum requirement for any design intervention.

Anthropometric StudyValues in green are conforming dimensions while those in red are on-conforming dimensions. Values in bold are take-off points from the Indian anthropometric data.

Seat heightSeat widthSeat angleSeat pan depthFoot pedal - seat edgeFoot pedal lengthFoot pedal angleClutch - brake pedalBrake - acc. pedal

Backrest heightBackrest widthBackrest angle

Headrest lengthHeadrest widthHeadrest angleSteering wheel dia.Steering grip dia.Steering angleSteering wheel heightGear lever - H-pointGear gripFloor height (ground)Head clearanceWindow clearanceDashboard clearancecle

aran

ces

gear

steer

ing

head

rest

peda

lsse

atba

ckre

st

Tata

Indi

go

620 mm425 mm13 deg310 mm435 mm9 deg470 mm400 mm65 mm28 deg75 mm75 mm180 mm210 mm13 deg330 mm25 mm28 deg550 mm500 mm55 mm190 mm120 mm385 mm635 mm

Toyo

ta Q

ualis


Toyo

ta In

nova


Che

vrol

et T

aver

a


Land

mar

k

PoplitealHip breadth-Buttock-poplitealMid-patellaFoot length-Ball of footFoot breadth

AcromionBi-deltoid-

Neck length max.Head circumference-Elbow-elbow closedGrip inside dia. max.-

Mid thigh breadth relaxedPalm lengthMid-patella-Span akimboButtock-knee length

5th

%ile

484 mm379 mm-380 mm272 mm-399 mm418 mm227 mm-299 mm83 mm94 mm520 mm-346 mm42 mm-530 mm289 mm92 mm419 mm-774 mm489 mm

-

-

50th

%ile

551 mm426 mm-425 mm331 mm

455 mm464 mm248 mm

324 mm94 mm134 mm544 mm-409 mm49 mm-587 mm369 mm103 mm464 mm-859 mm558 mm

-

-

95th

%ile

608 mm482 mm-471 mm405 mm

512 mm517 mm274 mm


± To

leran

ces

clothing, adjustibility etc.(50 mm)

-

-

interpolate w/95th Bi-acromion (422 mm)-clothing (5-10 mm)clothing (5-10 mm), extra (10-15 mm each side)

clothing (5-10 mm), calf clearance (100 mm)clothing (5-10 mm), footwear (10-25 mm)footwear (10-25 mm each side), min. 1/3rd area

radius 52 mm, footwear (15 mm), clearance (30-40 mm)footwear (10-25 mm), clearance (50 mm)adjustibiilty (50 mm)diameter 174 mm, adjustibility (50 mm)-steering cover (10 mm), gloves (5-10 mm)steering cover (10 mm), gloves (5-10 mm)-clothing (5-10 mm), footwear (10-25 mm)centre of palm (80 mm)interpolate w/5th Hand breadth with thumb (86 mm)footwear (10-25 mm)-1/2 span (480 mm), resting clearance (25-40 mm)clothing (5-10 mm), at knee (5-10 mm)

Acc

eptib

le ra

nge

590 - 610 mm390 - 410 mm17 deg360 - 380 mm420 - 440 mm7 - 10 deg290 - 300 mm400 - 420 mm95 - 100 mm30 deg100 - 120 mm110 - 130 mm150 - 200 mm200 - 250 mm17 deg270 - 300 mm25 - 30 mm25 deg630 - 650 mm550 - 650 mm85 - 95 mm390 - 410 mm100 - 130 mm420 - 440 mm590 - 610 mm

Ana

lysis

minimum acromion is taken as the landmark, but the backrest usually extends till the mid-shoulder.minimum bi-deltoid is taken as the landmark, but the backrest extends till the shoulders.

Acceptible seating angle is 17 deg. However, backrests are reclineable over a range of -10 to 175 deg.recumbent seating, a further tolerance of 50 mm can be accepted.

Seat cushioningSeat pan depth should be able to accommodate calf clearance, and too deep a seat will cause friction under the knee and cause a 5%ile to recline more.

Minimum surface contact should be 1/3rd of the foot length. However, only the underside of the toe is in contact with the pedal.Acceptible footrest angle is 30 deg, and a little amount of play is always provided in the pedals.

bi-malleolars touch each other in closed seating.right foot to access while being pivoted on one point.

Headrest lengths are adjustible by ±80-100 mm.Headrest should be wide enough too accommodate the head, but also not constrain head movement.Headrests are not reclineable, but have an acceptible angle of 10 deg w.r.t backrest plane.Steering posture should be an interpolation between a relaxed 5%ile and a closed 95%ile elbow-elbow distance.

25 deg steering angle gives a comfortable posture and a good viewing angle for pasenger cars.in between the legs and hence, these values are acceptible.

maximum range and was derived using seat pan depth, half seat width and 95%ile mid-thigh overhang.

A head clearance of 100 - 130 mm is required to accommodate bumps.

localized trim at the driver’s thigh location.

Contact points

primary

secondary

tertiary

Seat heightSeat widthSeat angleSeat pan depthFoot pedal - seat edgeFoot pedal lengthFoot pedal angleClutch - brake pedalBrake - acc. pedal

Backrest heightBackrest widthBackrest angle

Headrest lengthHeadrest widthHeadrest angleSteering wheel dia.Steering grip dia.Steering angleSteering wheel heightGear lever - H-pointGear gripFloor height (ground)Head clearanceWindow clearanceDashboard clearancecle

aran

ces

gear

steer

ing

head

rest

peda

lsse

atba

ckre

st

Tata

Indi

go


Toyo

ta Q

ualis


Toyo

ta In

nova


Che

vrol

et T

aver

a


Land

mar

k

PoplitealHip breadth-Buttock-poplitealMid-patellaFoot length-Ball of footFoot breadth

AcromionBi-deltoid-

Neck length max.Head circumference-Elbow-elbow closedGrip inside dia. max.-

Mid thigh breadth relaxedPalm lengthMid-patella-Span akimboButtock-knee length

5th

%ile

484 mm379 mm-380 mm272 mm-399 mm418 mm227 mm-299 mm83 mm94 mm520 mm-346 mm42 mm-530 mm289 mm92 mm419 mm-774 mm489 mm

-

-

50th

%ile

551 mm426 mm-425 mm331 mm

455 mm464 mm248 mm


-

-

95th

%ile

608 mm482 mm-471 mm405 mm

512 mm517 mm274 mm


± To

leran

ces

clothing, adjustibility etc.(50 mm)

-

-

interpolate w/95th Bi-acromion (422 mm)-clothing (5-10 mm)clothing (5-10 mm), extra (10-15 mm each side)

clothing (5-10 mm), calf clearance (100 mm)clothing (5-10 mm), footwear (10-25 mm)footwear (10-25 mm each side), min. 1/3rd area

radius 52 mm, footwear (15 mm), clearance (30-40 mm)footwear (10-25 mm), clearance (50 mm)adjustibiilty (50 mm)diameter 174 mm, adjustibility (50 mm)-steering cover (10 mm), gloves (5-10 mm)steering cover (10 mm), gloves (5-10 mm)-clothing (5-10 mm), footwear (10-25 mm)centre of palm (80 mm)interpolate w/5th Hand breadth with thumb (86 mm)footwear (10-25 mm)-1/2 span (480 mm), resting clearance (25-40 mm)clothing (5-10 mm), at knee (5-10 mm)

Acc

eptib

le ra

nge

590 - 610 mm390 - 410 mm17 deg360 - 380 mm420 - 440 mm7 - 10 deg290 - 300 mm400 - 420 mm95 - 100 mm30 deg100 - 120 mm110 - 130 mm150 - 200 mm200 - 250 mm17 deg270 - 300 mm25 - 30 mm25 deg630 - 650 mm550 - 650 mm85 - 95 mm390 - 410 mm100 - 130 mm420 - 440 mm590 - 610 mm

Ana

lysis

minimum acromion is taken as the landmark, but the backrest usually extends till the mid-shoulder.minimum bi-deltoid is taken as the landmark, but the backrest extends till the shoulders.

Acceptible seating angle is 17 deg. However, backrests are reclineable over a range of -10 to 175 deg.recumbent seating, a further tolerance of 50 mm can be accepted.

Seat cushioningSeat pan depth should be able to accommodate calf clearance, and too deep a seat will cause friction under the knee and cause a 5%ile to recline more.

Minimum surface contact should be 1/3rd of the foot length. However, only the underside of the toe is in contact with the pedal.Acceptible footrest angle is 30 deg, and a little amount of play is always provided in the pedals.

bi-malleolars touch each other in closed seating.right foot to access while being pivoted on one point.

Headrest lengths are adjustible by ±80-100 mm.Headrest should be wide enough too accommodate the head, but also not constrain head movement.Headrests are not reclineable, but have an acceptible angle of 10 deg w.r.t backrest plane.Steering posture should be an interpolation between a relaxed 5%ile and a closed 95%ile elbow-elbow distance.

25 deg steering angle gives a comfortable posture and a good viewing angle for pasenger cars.in between the legs and hence, these values are acceptible.

maximum range and was derived using seat pan depth, half seat width and 95%ile mid-thigh overhang.

A head clearance of 100 - 130 mm is required to accommodate bumps.

localized trim at the driver’s thigh location.

Contact points

primary

secondary

tertiary





Display

Control

Display

Control





Display

Control

Display

Control





- +

RPM

km/h

Display Panel AnalysisAn analysis of display parameters used in vehicles.

Controls AnalysisAn analysis of controls used in vehicles.

Pedals

Function Form Detail Mental Model Remarks Criticality

Speed Dial Gradations of 5 km/h Red zone for unsafe speeds

New models have LED for critical speed feedback.

Very high

Engine RPM Dial Gradations of 1000 rpm Red zone for high engine speeds

_____ Critical for engine safety

Fuel Level Icon on dial Empty, full, reserve & mid-way markings

Red zone for reserve tank

_____ High

Turn Indicator Blinking icon Left/Right arrow Direction of motion to activate appropri-ate indicator

Turn indicators are the only means of communicating with traffic (other than horn).

High

Engine Check Icon 15mm X 15mm Engine silhouette Cab drivers don’t understand all icons/functions. However, due to their experience, they know that these icons glow only dur-ing ignition check. Anomalies are detected in the form of the icon not glowing off.

Critical for pre-driving checks. Even though the icons are not able to com-municate the function on their own, drivers under-stand the functioning of the icons.

Battery Check Icon 15mm X 15mm Battery icon, +/- signs

Engine Tempera-ture

Icon on dial Cold, hot markings Red zone for critical temperature

Oil Pressure Icon 15mm X 15mm Oil can icon

Water Level Icon 15mm X 15mm Water pump icon

Parking Brake Icon 15mm X 15mm _____

Headlamp Beam Icon 15mm X 15mm Beam icon Glows only when on high beam Critical for driving etiquette and visual comfort for traffic coming from opposite direc-tions.

Function Form Detail Mental Model Remarks Criticality

Hazard Switch

Icon on switch Colour/shape coded Triangle is the univer-sal warning sign.

New models have LED for critical speed feedback.

Very critical in case of emergen-cies

Ignition Key slot Text instructions Screw rotation Key slot is always kept unreach-able as accidental operation would switch off the engine.

One time operation

Gear Mark-ings

Numbers Engraved Location of numbers conforms to the gear stick movement.

_____ High

Air-condi-tioner

Icon on switch, sliders

_____ Universal snow symbol

Auxilliary control, but pre-fitted in most cars today.

Important feature for passenger comfort, but could act as a dis-tractor from primary tasks.

Wiper Icon on selector Markings for high, low & intermediate

_____ _____ Useful only in rainy conditions

Headlamp Icon on selector Markings for beam & parking lights

Bulb icon _____ _____

Horn Icon on steering wheel

_____ _____ Means of communicating with other traffic. The horn is one of the most frequently used controls and is hence placed centrally.

Critical for the driving task, but often a source of auditory dis-comfort.

Motion control

_____ _____ The C-B-A is the stan-dard model for Indian vehicles.

_____ Primary operations along with steering.





DiscussionThe aim of the ergonomic study was to identify thresholds for design intervention. This study was done with the belief that there would be a lot of scope for design intervention.

However, the anthropometric workspace was observed to conform to er-gonomic standards, barring a few anomalies that are overcome with adjustibility in design.

The control/display interface was also observed to conform to ergonomic standards of feedback, functionality and information details. Also, the drivers’ mental models regarding the currently used system only validated the existing designs. The Toyota Qualis, which is out of production but still used widely across India, was the only vehicle found to be employing text messages rather than complete iconic indica-tion. However, these were messages that were not found to be critical while driving.

The question is, how to arrive at a design solution based on this.

Worthy of discussion, in this scenario, are the dynamic mental models. These expectancies are highly contextual as they depend on policies, rules, and behavioral patterns of the population. The dynamic mental models, hence, were believed to provide opportunities for design intervention.






Mental models are the users’ representations of the task at hand. These expec-tancies are built with experience and help the user in familiarizing with unforeseen situations. For cab drivers, there are clearly defined goals - to deliver punctual service. This goal is perceived by different drivers in various ways. However, in order for the travel agency to follow codes of conduct, drivers are trained in developing the goal-based mental models.

Navigational mental models are knowledge-based. These are often not con-textual, and are purely built over time, with experience (semantic expectancy). These allow for planning the next journey effectively.

Guidance mental models are rule-based and highly contextual. These expec-tancies (episodic) are functions of traffic behaviour, and include tasks such as start-ing/stopping a car, safe headway, traffic speed, knowing when to activate certain controls etc.

Control mental models are skill-based and are functions of driver behaviour (in terms of vehicular displays and controls). These include the functional aspects of driving sub-tasks and are most important for monitoring a safe drive.

left turn free

before turningindicate

high gearsnot good in city

road changeslow down

give way

signal greenchange to red

rush hourleave early

rainy daywill get stuck

construction sitewill get stuck

before startcheck mirrors

if not familiarask

check seatbelts

area unsafe at nighttrouble

reach clientbe on time

be on timejob well done

client requiresbe present

when road clearspeed up

safe speed

not safebefore ignition on

engine startdon’t press accelerator

take vehicle

while at halt

tailgatenot safe

before overtakeblow horn

abnormal weatherdrive slow

heavy vehiclelet it pass

foot on clutchemergency situation

Goal Navigation Guidance Control

Goal

-bas

ed

Know

ledg

e-ba

sed

Rule

-bas

ed

Skill

-bas

ed

Planning/preparation

Driving

Monitoring

Dynamic Mental ModelsA cause-effect representation of mental models based on Rasmussen’s classification.






Wanjibhai Parmar, 32, works at RR Travels as a driver. He has been driving for 3 years and has been with RR Travels, an Ahmedabad based cab agent, for 1.5 years. He has a Tata Indica (diesel variant) assigned to him by the agency, and has driven a Toyota Qualis prior to this. His job demands him to commute clients from one city to another (e.g. Ahmedabad to Surat), and occasionally, from Gujarat to Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh. Within the city, his commute involves reaching the client, and then reaching the highway.

Having started driving at the age of 28, he took close to a year familiarizing with the main roads of Gujarat. At the moment, he is familiar with all highways and all major centres of Gujarat.

Wanjibhai reports to duty at 7:00 AM everyday. More often than not, his daily duty is ready by the time he arrives for work. However, in case of pickings before 7:00 AM, he takes his Indica with him the previous night so that he is able to reach the client directly, without having to pick up his vehicle.

Wanjibhai has not undergone any formal training regarding behaviour and etiquette. RR Travels selects drivers purely based on driving experience (minimum 2 years required). However, for the first 3 months of his service, he was under proba-tion where before each trip, he used to be given instructions regarding the kind of behaviour and etiquette expected of him.

Wanjibhai has had basic primary education, and can not understand English. He finds it difficult to read specific instructions and/or symbols in his vehicle. He is, however, comfortable with icons, but needs instructions to understand the icons. For this purpose, he carries a service manual with him. He also considers distance, fuel and engine information as the most important.

Wanjibhai earns Rs. 7500 a month, which is just about enough to support his family (wife and 10 yr-old daughter in a Govt. school). Timely service is, hence, of utmost importance as that alone earns him a major chunk of his salary.

As far as driving is concerned, Wanjibhai maintains a safe driving behaviour. He can negotiate most traffic and obstructions comfortably. However, errors due to fatigue and urgency can not be ruled out. Although he has maintained a safe record till present, the value of time and the need for money make him prone to accidents, thus posing a threat to both his and his clients’ lives.

ProfileAge 32 yrs

3 yrs experienceAt current service for 1.5 yrs

Is aware of new technologies

LivelihoodHas had primary educationEarns Rs. 7500 a monthLives with his wife & daughter

TIME IS MONEY• Driving is my source of livelihood• I have to support my family• I have to reach client on time• I have to always be available to the client• My timely delivery of service will reap me rewards• I have to maintain etiquette with client

I CAN DRIVE 150 km AT A STRETCH• I have driven many vehicles before• I maintain speed limits• I don’t tailgate• I judge speed by traffic• I can drive as well in the city as on the highway

I AM EXPERIENCED• I’m highly familiar with highways• I asks for directions if unsure of routes• I know basic repair/maintenance knowledge

of my vehicle• I know all the functions on my vehicle• I know features on other cars as well

SPEED LIMITS ARE MOST ESSENTIAL• Engine temperature & fuel levels are important to me• I always do vehicle checks before starting my duty• Steering and brakes should be functioning properly• I carry a service manual


DESIGN74


DESIGN 75



Concept

Guidelines

Summary



OFFICE TRIP RETURN

NAVIGATION

GUIDANCE

CONTROL

OTHER

Mandatory informationDestination

Client detailsReporting time

Cautionary informationFuel levelsOil levelsWater levelsElectricals/mechanicals

Emergency informationService numbersEmergency contacts

Breakdown managementVehicle repair knowledge

Road rules

LandmarksSignage

Distance markersDirection markers

In-vehicle informationDisplay/controls

SpeedTime

Distance metersEngine RPM

Monitoring informationSpeedDistanceFuel/oil/water levelEngine temperatureBattery

Billing informationDistance travelledTime travelled forBilling charges

Pre-driving task Driving task

Informational NeedsThe entire research findings were synthesized into infor-mational needs. These needs were grouped according to navigational, guidance and control needs, and also, informa-tional needs pertaining to the driver’s knowledge of the task at hand.design

74


75

86

96

109

111

118

DESIGN76


DESIGN 77


DrivingTask

Where to go?

Navigation

Directional

ExactDestination

Distance

Time

Time of day

Day of week

Traffic

Weather

Other factors Public gatherings

Constructions

Diversions

Railway crossings

How long will it take?

Which route to take? Shorter route

Easier route

Faster route

Alternate route

Navigational information needs for the driver.

DrivingTask

Directions en routeDistance to destination

Directional markers

LandmarksNatural

Signage

Architectural

Left/right?

Turn allowed?

Intersecting traffic

Intersections

Weather

Safe gap

Day/night?

Traffic speed

Rain

Traffic direction

Fog

Non-vehicular traffic

Windy

Human

Animal

Obstructions

When/where to turn?

Communication with traffic

Environment

Guidance

Guidance information needs for the driver.

DESIGN78


DESIGN 79


DrivingTask

How fast am I going?

How long have I been driving for?

How much distance have I travelled?

How much fuel is left?

Time

Interface Display

Controls When to accelerate?

Can information be read?

When to use clutch?

How sufficient is the information?

When to change gear?

Is the information necessary?

Is the information in the right amount?

Is it indicating critical points appropriately?

When to put brakes?

Where are other con-trols located?

Control

Control information needs for the driver.

DrivingTask

BreakdownsBasic repair

Service numbers

Distance travelled

Maintenance

Emergency contacts

Time travelled forTime driven for

Time waited for

Billing charges

Road rules

Emergency

Billing

OtherKnowledge

Other information needs for the driver.

DESIGN80


DESIGN 81


PlanStart LocationDestinationDistanceEstimated Time

MaintenanceVehicle InformationRecommended LevelsBasic Repair Tips

BillingMeteringDistance TravelledTime Travelled forBilling CycleUnit FareAmount

GuidanceLandmarkDirection to LandmarkDistance to LandmarkEstimated Time to Landmark

VehicleFuel LevelEstimated Distance on FuelTemperatures/Other Checks

MonitoringDistance TravelledSpeedFuel LevelVehicle ChecksTrafficEnvironment

Information to be handled by the information system

Information to be handled by the monitoring system

The information needs were further refined and grouped into functions and functional components. A system architecture is proposed for the cab system. The proposed system is a simulation of real-world activities and has a back-end as analogous to the cab agency. The back-end shall administer various activities, e.g., cab booking, fleet management, vehicle tracking, reports etc. The vehicular interface is the simulation of the driver and will have functions that are relevant only to the driver.

This system aims at the cab agents who run the so-called “unorganized” cab service. This system has been proposed with the understanding that the existing system needs to be streamlined. Also, the market component has been considered here, focusing on two main points, a) India still does not have an in-vehicle information and monitoring system and new systems need to be designed for the Indian con-text, and, b) introduction of a new system would give a competitive edge to the unorganized cab sector and elevate them to the level of “organized” services like Meru.

ActivityPhysical space where all agency activities shall be performed.

Back-endBack-end application for manag-ing agency services, fleet man-agement, tracking, reports etc.

InterfaceSynchronized monitoring and information systems.

DatabaseCommon database for the interface as well as back-end, based on GPS.

NetworkThe network space binding the digital elements.

InteractionVehicle space housing the driver-vehicle inter-actions.

System ArchitectureA macro-view of the proposed system

DESIGN82


DESIGN 83


Information ArchitectureComplete map for the information system interface.

Task Sub-task Parameter L0 Parameter L1 Data Input Data Display

Navigation Plan Start Location Text, sync. with back-end ---

Destination Text, sync. with back-end ---

Estimated Distance --- Calculated using GPS data

Estimated Time --- Calculated using GPS data

Guide Map --- GPS/Google Maps sync.

Meter Distance Travelled --- Sync. with vehicle odometer

Metered Amount --- On-board calculation

Active Signage Next Landmark --- Direction & landmark, GPS

Distance --- GPS/Google Maps sync.

Estimated Time --- Calculated using GPS data

Vehicle Status Running Speed --- Sync. with speedometer

Fuel Level --- Sync. with fuel gauge

Distance on Fuel --- Calculated using GPS data

Engine Temp. --- Sync. with temp. gauge

Oil, Battery etc. --- Sync. with vehicle

Bill Client Text, sync. with back-end ---

Distance Travelled --- Odometer, GPS

Time Travelled for --- GPS sync.

Amount Billing Cycle Database ---

Information ArchitectureA hierarchical analysis of input/output modes

DESIGN84


DESIGN 85



Unit Fare --- ---

Tools Maintenance Service Information Last Service Database Date, km reading

Next Service Database Date, km reading

Vehicle Information km Reading --- Sync. with odometer

Fuel Levels --- Sync. with fuel gauge

Tire Pressure --- Sync. with tire monitor

Temperature --- Sync. with temp. gauge

Oil, Battery etc. --- Sync. with vehicle

Service Manual Vehicle Information Make Database Text, brand

Year Database Text, year

Maintenance Tips --- Instructions

Component Info. --- Infographics

Driver Details Personal Details Photograph Database Image

Name Database Text

Employee Code Database Text

Age Database Text

Date of Birth Database Text

Address Database Text

License Details License No. Database Text



Issue Date Database Text

Expiry Date Database Text

Issuing Authority Database Text

Emergency Call One-touch call button ---

Map --- GPS/Google Maps sync.


DESIGN86


DESIGN 87


Dashboard/Home Screen

WireframesFor the information system interface, wireframes were made, first on paper, and then detailed out digitally, and based on the information architecture decided. The conceptual layout thus gave the information structure as applicable in the digital world, and the wireframes helped realize information flow and screen-to-screen navigation.

Tasks PanelFor tasks received through the cab agency

Navigation PaneFor planning and executing a trip

Map View SnippetFor current position orientation

Tools PanelFor non-task activities

Trip Planner

Concept

DESIGN88


DESIGN 89


Task Summary

Active Guidance

Bill Generation & Printing

DESIGN90


DESIGN 91


Tools: Maintenance

Colour-coded for alerts

Tools: Driver Details

Tools: Service Manual

DESIGN92


DESIGN 93


Event MonitorThe event monitor has been conceptualized keeping in mind the Indian drivers’ mental models. The event monitoring system will use a combination of sensors and actuators to map out behaviour triggers and behavioral actions.

SpeedometerAnalog moving-pointer, fixed-dial type speedometer.

Icon ClusterThe icon cluster shall house the standard icons. These icons are on/off type and are activated only in case of anomalies in the vehicle. All these icons display a similar functional be-haviour and hence, were best perceived as a cluster.

OdometerStandard digital odometer with trip features. Synchronization with the in-formation system shall add a trip-meter reset feature, setting the value to 0 for easy metering/billing.

The System DynamicsThe monitoring system shall continu-ously interact with the information system and the server/database.

Timer/Fatigue WarningDigital clock with trip features. The trip-timer shall be set to 0 (synchronized with the infor-mation system), for easy metering/billing.

The fatigue warning alarm shall make use of the trip-timer feature and give a feedback to the driver in case of continuous driving for more than a set amount of time.

Event Monitor: Internal EventsInternal events are the primary actions performed by the driver, and can be ‘sensed’ using instrumented accel-erator, steering & brake. These sensors are available in varied sensitivities, and can be hooked to microprocessor-based interpolation tables to detect realtime anomalies.

Brake pedal motion sensorResolution +/- 0.1 inch

Last 10 pedal movement values

Standard deviation

11th value

Deviation

Accelerator pedal motion sensorResolution +/- 0.1 inch

Last 10 pedal movement values

Standard deviation

11th value

Deviation

Steering wheel motion sensorResolution +/- 1 degree

Last 10 wheel movement values

Standard deviation

11th value

Deviation

mean

deviation

non-critical alert

critical alert

alert

data

val

ue

data received every 0.1 seconds

σ

σ

σ

σd 6σd

6σd

DESIGN94


DESIGN 95


Event Monitor: External EventsExternal events are events that trigger a specific action from the driver. These are real-world events (e.g. approaching danger, overtaking vehicles etc.).

Side Collision Sensing (S)Low-range proximity sensor to detect probable collisions from the side.

Rear-end Sensing (R1, R2)High-range ultrasonic proxim-ity sensor to detect probable collisions from behind/warn against overtaking vehicles.

non-critical alert

critical alert

S/R1/R2 active

(S+R1)/(R1+R2) active

- +

F

E

F

E

Dashboard: SchematicThe conceptual layout for the dashboard with the icon cluster, speedometer, fuel gauge and the event monitor.

DESIGN96


DESIGN 97


25o

25o

20o

600

mm

180

mm

360 mm

640

mm

400 mm

220 mm

300 mm

440 mm

630 mm

300 mm

10o

The Driver SpaceErgonomically acceptible dimensions of workspace elements. The dashboard is shown in cyan in the side view and shows the orientation w.r.t the driver.

Dashboard LocationThe location of the dashboard monitor w.r.t. eye quadrants in mean and heads down positions.

- +

F

E

F

E

horizonI

i

IV

iv

II

ii

III

iii

horizonheads down

- +

F

E

Cruise Range: 40-60 km/hColour-coded to white shaded zone.

Startup Speed: 0-40 km/hColour-coded to white bordered zone.

Speed Limits: 60-80 km/hColour-coded to red shaded zone. The speed limits have been thought of accord-ing to varied limits (60 km/h in city, 80 km/h on highways). Also, these are not regulated speed limits, but are safe speeds on the roads.

Dial:Type: Analog, moving pointer, fixed dialViewing Distance: 630 mm (2 ft.)Viewing Angle: 15o

Diameter: 75 mm (3 in.)

Pointer:Length: 35 mmThickness: 4 mm at baseDeflection: 255o

Colours:Back Colour: Gray (#6d6e71)Cruise: Gray (#e6e7e8)Higher Speeds: Red (#ed1c24)Pointer Colour: Orange (#f26922)

High Speed: > 80 km/hColour-coded to red shaded sector. Sectors demand immediate attention and speeds greater than 80 km/h are dangerous.

35 mm

4 mm

8 mm

colo

ur

pal

ette

Speedometer

Guidelines

DESIGN98


DESIGN 99


- +

F

E

30 mm

12 m

mOdometer

Clock

Trip meter

Height-width = 2:1Thickness = 0.5 mmItalic = 10o

Height-width = 2:1Thickness = 1 mm

Timer

4 m

m

10 m

m

Display:Type: Digital, segment displayViewing Distance: 630 mm (2 ft.)Viewing Angle: 15o

Dimensions: 30 x 12 mm

Alerts:Trip: 150 km from last haltTimer: 75 min from last halt

Colours:Back Colour: Gray (#939598)Font: Black (#000000)Alert: Orange (#f37032) co

lou

r p

alet

te

Font Details:

Alerts:

Counters- +

F

E

40 mm

25 mm15 mm

30 m

m

22 m

m

30 m

m

Warning IndicatorIndicator for warnings based on internal and external events.

External Events MonitorIndicator for external events and probable collision areas.

Display:Type: Digital, iconic, segmentedViewing Distance: 630 mm (2 ft.)Viewing Angle: 15o

Dimensions:Warning Indicator: 40 x 30 mmSymbol: 25 x 22 mmEvent Monitor: 15 x 30 mm

Colours:Back Colour: Gray (#333132)Critical (Inactive): Gray (#d1d3d4)Critical (Active): Red (#ed1c24)Symbol Back: Yellow (#fff200)

Display States: Event Monitor

Display States:Warning Indicator

colo

ur

pal

ette

25 mm

8 m

m

2.5 mm

0.5

mm

Event Monitor

DESIGN100


DESIGN 101


- +

F

E

- +

- +

45 mm

50 m

m

Display:Type: Digital, iconicViewing Distance: 630 mm (2 ft.)Viewing Angle: 15o


Icons:Number of Icons: 8Size: encl. 12 x 12 mm

Colours:Back Colour: Gray (#333132)Icons: Yellow Chrome (#ffc22c)Beam Icon: Blue (#1b75bc)Parking Icon: Red (#ed1c24)

Inactive State:

Icon Sample:

colo

ur

pal

ette

12 mm

Icon Cluster- +

F

E

F

E

40 m

m

4 m

m

10 mm

8 mm

Display:Type: Analog, moving pointer, fixed barViewing Distance: 630 mm (2 ft.)Viewing Angle: 15o


Colours:Back Colour: Gray (#686e71)Level Zones: Gray (#e6e7e8)Reserve: Red (#ed1c24)Pointer: Orange (#f26922)

Pointer Details:

colo

ur

pal

ette

Level Indicator

Half-way

Reserve

Fuel Gauge

Moving PointerPointer in the ‘reserve’ zone to gen-erate the ‘low fuel’ alert in the icon cluster.

DESIGN102


DESIGN 103


The TRIPPER in-vehicle navigator and information system has been conceptualized as a systemic aid to the cab service. The TRIPPER is a touch-based interface that will assist the driver in activities relevant to the driving task, and his job as a taxi service employ-ee.

TRIPPER follows a hierarchy which is similar to that of the real-world cab agent-driver hierarchy. TRIPPER is the interface-level counterpart of the real-world driver, and the functions of TRIPPER have been designed keeping in mind the tasks and responsibilities of a cab driver.

TRIPPER has the following components:• Interface: touch-based simulation of the real-world relation between the agency,

vehicle and the driver.• Database: a record of the last 10 tasks executed by the current driver. This can be

thought of as the semantic memory counterpart of the driver’s memory.• Intelligence: GPS-based assistive aid for the driver, in terms of traffic/weather moni-

toring.• Assistance: GPS-based active guidance for en-route information.

Guidelines: Dashboard ElementsThis section shows guidelines regarding appearance of ele-ments on the home screen (dashboard) of TRIPPER.

Layout:Dimensions: 576 x 432 px

Colours:Background: #ffffffHeader: #578fb5Body: grad. #ffffff - #e2e2e2Header Text: #e2e2e2 co

lou

r p

alet

te

DESIGN104


DESIGN 105


Function: Tasks Function: Navigation

Task AlertColour-coded alert for new task received from the agency.

Task Description1-line description (source-destination) of the received task. Plan BillGuidance

15 mm 10 mm

8 mm

8 m

m

15 m

m

Colours:Inactive: #7b95af, #485f77Active: #f4646f, #b04449Symbol: #e2e2e2

Colours:Background: #7b95af, #485f77Symbol: #e2e2e2

Display States: colour palette Details: colour palette

30 m

m30 mm

15 mm

15 m

m

Function: Tools Functions: Position Map

MaintenanceDriver Details

Task History

Emergency Call

Current Position Marker

Service Manual

5 mm

Colours:Background: #7b95af, #485f77Symbol: #e2e2e2

Map:Level: DistrictType: North-up

Colours:Marker: #ff000000

Details:

Details:

colour palette

colour palette

20 m

m

20 mm

10 mm

10 m

m

DESIGN106


DESIGN 107


Presentation: Active Signage

Next Landmark on route

Distance to Landmark

Time to Landmark

Direction to Landmark

35 m

m

20 m

m

15 mm

8 mm

colour palette

Colours:Signage: #415469

Sign Variations:

Presentation: Vehicle Running Information

Engine Temp. Alert

Running Speed

Estimated Distance on Remaining Fuel

Running Fuel Level

Colour Details: colour palette

Fuel: Temp:

#00ff00 #bf0700

#00ff00 #00ff00

#bf0700 #bf0700

Hot

Cold

Mid

Full

Mid

Reserve

Symbol: #ff0000

25 m

m

32 mm

DESIGN108


DESIGN 109


Data Input: On-screen Keyboard

Type:QWERTY Touch-screen Keypad

Keys:Number: 40 keysNumbers: 0-9Characters: A-ZSpecial: Back, Space, Cancel, OK

Presentation: Tracker Map

Map:Level: DistrictType: Moving-up

Colours:Best Route: #f37032Alternate Route: #00a79dMinor Routes: #a7a9acTracker: #ff0000Map Background: #282829

Details:

colo

ur

pal

ette

TrackerMinor Routes

Alternate Route

Best Route

Summary

The Driver SpaceThe workspace has been proposed keeping in view anthropometric data for the In-dian male. However, since most components are adjustible these days, the proposed dimensions are merely guidelines and not strict blueprints.

• Backrest. The backrest should provide support to the bi-deltoid protrusions. The backrest width should be enough to support a 95th percentile Indian male driver, and also not give much movement space for a 5th percentile Indian male driver. The backrest should be reclinable upto 17o for postural adjustments and lumbar support.

• Seat. The seat should provide support to the buttocks and to the thighs. In auto-mobile seats, however, the posture need not demand thigh support, but ergo-nomically, the seat pan should be deep enough to support the buttock-popliteal length of a 95th percentile male driver, and also not so deep that the seat fowls with the 5th percentile popliteal. The seat width should be enough to support the hip-breadth of the 95th percentile male, and also not give much movement space for the 5th percentile male. The seat height should keep the driver’s popliteal height as close to the vertical as possible. The seat should have a 10o incline w.r.t. the horizontal for efficient foot movement.

• Pedals. The pedal dimensions should be enough to accommodate 1/3rd of the corresponding foot dimensions. Also, the distance between the pedals should accommodate foot movement keeping the heel fixed, and also non-interference of the two feet.

• Headrest. The headrest should provide support to the driver’s head and also maintain a horizontal line of vision for the driver (or a 5o eyellipse). The headrest width should be enough to support a 95th percentile male and also not give much movement space to the 5th percentile male. The headrest height should be adjustable and should be fixed w.r.t. the backrest, so that the headrest reclines

only with the backrest.

• Steering. The steering wheel diameter should accommodate the elbows in a closed/relaxed position. Also, the steering wheel should be placed such that the right elbow doesn’t collide with the door while manoeuvring the vehicle. The steering grip diameter should conform to the human grip inside diameter.

• Gear. The gear lever should be within the secondary zone in its maximum posi-tion and provide enough clearance between the left elbow and the rest of the body in its minimum position.

• Clearances. While driving the vehicle, there should be mandatory head clear-ance, clearance between the knee and the dashboard and clearance between the elbow and the window. Also, for easy ingress/egress, there should be adequate ground clearance.

• General. For accessibility, dimensions should be taken off from the lower percen-tile and extrapolated to the higher percentile. For clearance, dimensions should be taken off from the higher percentile and extrapolated to the lower percentile. All tertiary controls (stereo, A/C etc.) should be placed between the secondary and tertiary zones so that they don’t pose a distraction while driving the vehicle.

For dimensional values, refer to page no. 96.

DESIGN110


DESIGN 111


Present current position on the main screen. Present all functionalities in the least number of interface screens. Wherever possible, use collapsible components instead of adding a new screen. All screens should be navigable directly to and from the home screen. Provide confirmation screens before critical tasks, e.g., starting the billing cycle.

• Colour coding. Use minimum number of colours for information presentation. Use contrasting colours for presenting important information. Use colour-coded alerts. Wherever possible, show alerts on the home screen. The following colour convention has been followed for a comfortable viewing stress:

• Background: White to blue gradient.

• Alerts: Red.

For more details on individual components, refer to page no. 104-108.

The InterfaceThe interface has been divided into two components:

• The monitor - for monitoring on-the-task events and giving relevant informa-tion to the driver.

• The TRIPPER information system - for meeting the informational needs of the cab driver, including navigation, guidance & billing functions.

The MonitorThe following guidelines have been followed for the design of the monitor:

• Layout. Arrange the most critical information (speedometer and event monitor) in the first and second visual quadrants. The fatigue warning should be placed in the third quadrant and the icon cluster in the fourth quadrant. This layout has been proposed considering the various degrees of criticality of the functionalities.

• Presentation of information. Present speed information in terms of safe, regu-latory and critical limits. Present distance information in terms of total as well as trip distance. Present time information in terms of clock and trip time.

• Colour-coding. Use the least number of colours to display the desired informa-tion. The colours should be contrasted with the background and should not be visible when the icons are in a deactivated state. The following colour conven-tions have been used:

• Background: 90% grey.

• Safe values: 10% grey.

• Non-critical warnings: Chrome yellow.

• Critical warnings: Red.

• Driver response indications: Orange.

• Symbol sizes. Symbols in the icon cluster have been restricted to a 12x12 mm square. Variable stroke sizes have been used to enhance legibility of the icons for a viewing distance of 600 mm. The event monitor icons have been restricted to a 30 mm height and a proportional width.

• Alerts. Generate an alert whenever a reading exceeds an acceptable value. Alert the driver and demand driver’s attention whenever critical events are recorded outside the driver’s cone of vision. Use multisensory modality in case of critical events.

For more details on individual components, refer to page no. 97-103.

The TRIPPER Information SystemThe following guidelines have been followed for designing the TRIPPER information system interface:

• Functional grouping. Function allocation to the TRIPPER system should be within the scope of the functions of the real-world driver. Group the functional-ities according to tasks and tools. The tasks are the primary planning and billing tasks, while the tools are extra information that may be required for breakdown maintenance, servicing etc.

• Presentation of information. The TRIPPER should use a combination of textual and graphical information. Present map information as north-up on the home screen (spatial orientation confirmation) and as moving-up on the guidance screen (spatial movement confirmation).

• Screen content and navigation. Present all functionalities on the main screen.

DESIGN112


DESIGN 113


As a future vision, the design guidelines were conceptually integrated with the vehicle dash-board. These concepts were divided into three levels of integration.

The first one was based on the simple two-module configuration for the instrument panel and the Tripper system. The functionalities and sub-modules of the two interface components remain the same as proposed in the guidelines. However, colour treatment was changed in line with aesthetics.

The other concepts aimed at futuristic integration of the interfaces in terms of form and layout.

Dashboard Integration: IA rather pessimistic scenario considering the inte-gration of the interfaces on the current dashboard (ref. Tata Indica/Indigo).


DESIGN114


DESIGN 115


DESIGN116


DESIGN 117


Dashboard Integration: IIA BAU scenario considering the integration of the interfaces on the current dashboard.

Auxilliary controls (ste-reo, A/C etc.)

Instrument cluster

Instrument cluster detail

Information system

DESIGN118


DESIGN 119



Dashboard Integration: IIIAn optimistic scenario considering the integra-tion of the interfaces into a single panel.

Navigation screen

Integrated interaction panel

Interaction panel detail

Information system functions

Adaptation of the information system guidelines to other vehicle segments/marketsThe guidelines for the vehicle space, instrument cluster and the information system have been designed based on human cognition and general workspace related needs. While the instrument cluster and the seating space can be generalized as ‘ergonomically designed’ for both personal as well as passenger cars, the information system guidelines can be viewed as being specific to the cab system. This, however, can be generalized across the taxi market in India and could also be extended to trucks, buses and other fleet vehicles.

Logistics Freight management

Fuel management

Tolling

Passenger management

Scheduling

Route management

Ticketing

Navigation

Vehicular performance management

Public transport

Personal transport

Information system guidelines

For whom to adapt

What to adapt

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DESIGN 121


Complete process simulation

Simulation of the real-world sytem and its hierarchies helps in identifying human frailties at different levels, and also manage the tasks at these levels. The scope of the information system is same as the real-world driver and thus, defines his roles and responsibili-ties.

Spatial information presentation

The presentation of spatial information in terms of maps helps in wayfinding, navigation and planning.

Dynamic/temporal information presentation

The presentation of dynamic information such as vehicular information, realtime change of contextual information etc. adds to the spatal informatin processing capabilities and helps carry out the driving task with greater efficiency.

Vehicle maintenance information

Vehicle maintenance information and the service manual has been considered necessary in cases of breakdowns on the highway/remote areas, as well as for regular vehicle checks.

Benefits of the information system guidelines

Reduced visual load

The usage of high-contrast and minimum number of colours is aimed at reducing the visual load while trying to read the messages. In addition, the message icons have been kept in accordance with the drivers’ existing mental model set.

Reduced information processing time

Display of numbers and quantitative information in case of primary information has been kept minimal. All warnings have been kept as on-off type warnings with their states indicating the functional state of the corresponding vehicular function.

Behaviour feedback

Feedback is important in any cognitive task. While most modern displays provide visual and/or auditory feedback for critical values, behavioral feedback is present only in expensive ADAS (e.g., lane-departure warning etc.). Here, behaviour feedback has been pre-sented as another simple on-off type warning, thus indicating to the drier to review his actions in terms of steering, speed & brake controls.

Collision warning

The external event monitor gives warnings against probable collisions and also indicates which side the threat is from. This also indi-cates the driver to review his actions in terms of driving path and speed.

Fatigue warning

The fatigue warning system has been conceptualized, based on the average distance & average time that the selected user group drove for comfortably without taking a break. Following the fatigue warning would ensure proper rests during a journey and reduce the risk of fatigue-related errors.

Benefits of the instrument panel design guidelines

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CONCLUSION 123


Project Reflection

Future Scope

Bibliography

122

conclusion123

125

128

When the project was started, I had absolutely no idea how or where it would end. The brief I had chosen was extremely open \-ended and gave me a lot to explore in terms of cognitive psychology, time perception, vehicular information etc. The only thing that I was sure of was that the link between time perception and driving behav-iour would give the project a solid direction.

The literature review helped its bit as I was able to ‘measure’ how the sense of time affected driving, in terms of fatigue and situation awareness. This, however, did require fieldwork and the framework research helped in that. It was oly through those three pilot studies that I could arrive at a context.

The task was only about to get more challenging now. So I had a context, but then what? Again, even at this time, I didn’t know how or where the project would go. It could’ve very well turned to a futuristic interior design project, or it could’ve just ended at workpace anthropometrics. Detailed research, hence, had to ensue.

It was interesting, rather surprising, how the focus of the project just changed from safety/accident prevention to interface usability. This was mainly due to, a) the fact that accidents and road safety follow a very random pattern in India, and, b) the understanding that what is more usable is what is safer. In retrospect, it can very well be said that the road study was quite irrelevant! However, looking at a brighter side, accident analysis on Ahmedabad roads could be quite a challenging project!

In terms of methodologies followed, I tried to maintain a highly non-intrusive method. Interviews were conducted wherever required, but most of the research was observational. This was due to the understanding that in order to study human cogni-tion, the subject (for lack of politically correct words) should always be made to feel comfortable and not interfered with while carrying out his/her task. In such a scenar-io, one could question the efficacy of the methods followed as its more than natural to form a bias. I managed to maintain an unbiased method throughout the project, as there wasn’t much to be biased for or biased against, except for a little attractive-ness bias which made me choose the taxi over the truck.

Of course, there were crossroads, there were stalemates, there were stand-points, and there were straight passages throughout the project. Once again, I would like to thank all the people who helped me get through. Your names have already been mentioned in detail in the acknowledgements section, so I won’t repeat.

To end this part, I would summarize my learnings as follow:

• Read a lot. How much is too much? It never is.

• Always make notes. It helps a lot to write what you read and helps retain it longer and faster.

• Being clueless helps. This is rather debatable, but the innocent explorer is always more successful than the expectant one, e.g., Christopher Columbus discovering America while expecting India.

• Know your limits. If you can’t do something on your own, don’t be afraid to accept it. I would’ve done this project for a truck had I been a superhero, but I knew I wasn’t and I accepted it.

• Observation is the best method. Ekalavya is a fine example to that. What’s more important is what to observe and how much to absorb.

• Automobile design is not all about styling. This is one of the myths that a lot of people often believe. Automobile design is a clear case of hardcore systems approach and I, for some reason, always wanted this to be a state-ment to those who think sketching a car beautifully is all there is to automo-bile design.

• Self-initiated projects can and will get delayed. Its just too relaxing.

• Be human. You can’t do a project without discussing with peers, seniors and the layman. If a layman asks ‘why?’ to a research project, you’ll end up either, a) arguing incessantly, b) without a reply, or, in rare cases, c) in a

Project Reflection

CONCLUSION124


CONCLUSION 125


fistfight. But, its all human.

So the above was quite a humorous touch to some things I learnt during the course of the project.These aren’t the typical management class pointers, but actual first-hand experiences. On a serious note, I actually learnt how to incorporate hard-

core research, ergonomics, interface design and interior styling into one single proj-ect. Also, some of the tools I learnt (Microsoft Expression Blend) are industry-standard tools and are bound to help me in my future endeavours.

Perception of time

Situation awareness

Events and information processing

Vehicular interfaces & safety

Driver behaviour

Final user group

Final driver persona

Competitor & market specification

Anthropometric & interface requirements

System & vehicle type

Basic links - behaviour & safety

Terminologies

The driving task model

Driver personae

Links - temporal & physiological behaviour

Vehicular safety levels in India

Probable accident causes

Workspace guidelines

Instrument panel guidelines

Information system guidelines

Dashboard integration concepts

Stakeholder identification

Process SummaryDiagram showing key findings in the dif-ferent stages of the project.

future scope

The outcome of this project has opened up a lot of opportunities in industrial, visual as well as technical design. As the project concluded in guidelines and directions, these can be realized in independent projects and/or subset projects spanning across various disciplines. The opportunities can be listed as follows:

Industrial DesignErgonomics. Workspace design including seating, lighting, passenger interaction.

Automobile Design. Vehicle packaging, design of a ‘standard’ taxi.

Styling. Exterior and interior aesthetics, use of colour to reduce mental loads.

Materials. Optimization for dust-proofing, tamper-proofing etc. for the touch-screen interface.

Interaction & Experiential DesignAesthetics. Adaptive interiors for enhancing driver cognition.

Interface Design. Design of the dashboard to meet futuristic trends, interaction methods for human-machine interaction, interface design for the back-end.

Graphic DesignInstrument Panel. Alternative icons for dashboard.

Information System. Branding, interface skinning.

Technical DesignDevelopment. Programming, integration with real-time data.

Integration. Integration with on-board computer(s), sensor integration, integration of GPS/GPRS systems.

Design ResearchUser Testing. Testing of the concept before implementation, prototyping.

Standardization. Cross-platform standardization and generalization of interfaces.

Contextualization. Realization of the system in different contexts of use, e.g., area-wise, demographically etc.

Accident Research & Analysis. Understanding contributors to accidents in Ahmed-abad, accident studies, prevention etc.

Future Scope

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CONCLUSION 127


Opportunity/Stakeholder MapThe future opportunities can be considered as stakeholders in the future scope of the project. Mapping was done as a modified influence-interest map to identify and analyze cross-links between the various stakeholders in the different stages of the project.

How to read the map

The three columns on the left represent the three stages of the project, and the coloured cells represent overlaps/relevant stages for the stakeholders (column 4).

Column 4 and beyond are shown as a distance matrix, representing the inter-links that each stakeholder would share with other stakeholders. The coloured cells show the affected stakeholder domains.

Research Domain

Ergonomics

Ergonomics

Graphic

Design

Graphic

Design

Vehicle

Design

Vehicle

Design

Branding

Branding

Styling

Styling

Development

Development

Aesthetics for

Experience

Aesthetics for

Experience

Standardization

Standardization

Interaction/

Interface

Design

Interaction/

Interface

Design

Contextualization

Stakeholder

Contextualization

will affect

Influence

Design Development

Future Scope

Interest

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CONCLUSION 129


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This project is dedicated to my grandmother (late) Smt. Malati Rao, who passed away the day I finished writing the project document.

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APPENDICES 135


However, by the time the project neared completion, there were a few stones that remained left unturned. Certain links between the start and the finish could not be resolved. One of them is the significance of ‘time’ that got lost somewhere along the way. Even though time perception dictated who the final user was for me, I feel time could’ve been included in the final outcome in a more explicit way.

There were certain decision that I, as a designer, took entirely out of gut in-stinct and/or seeming misinterpretation of research data, e.g., removing the numbers from the Speedometer. However, in defence of such a move, Chris Bangle did not design the BMW Gina considering peoples’ acceptance.

Then there were other open issues like driver feedback on the Tripper system. An attempt has been made to gather critique from the cab driver on the Tripper inter-face and a user feedback is shown in the next few pages.

There were critiques like not referring to international standards, and other UI-related queries. International standards were referred (ATIS CVO, NavMan, TomTom etc.) and insights from those were applied to the design of the Tripper UI. However, as a context, the Indian cab scenario (or specifically, Ahmedabad) was studied as standalone and as representative of the national demographic. Certain miscalcula-tions based on assumptions are but inevitable in such cases. Other points of concern were the studies on Meru & Tata Indica. The Tata Indica study, like the road study, did not bear any results. The study on Meru, on the other hand, did give a benchmark for the proposed system design, but since the service is not available in Ahmedabad and travelling was not feasible, I had to resort to an extensive internet research, the verac-ity of which could be questioned.

The learning was immense in this project. Coming from a different back-ground altogether, there was a steep learning curve for me and touching upon Cog-nitive Ergonomics, Systems Design, UI - all at once - was indeed a challenge - some-thing that I’m proud of having accomplished!

End Note

End Note

User Feedback

134

appendices135

136

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APPENDICES 137


Feedback Remarks

Task summary lets me prepare for my task ac-cordingly.

Zooming in/out not pos-sible.

This should be included in the position orientation map.

‘Plan’ icon not under-standable.

Icons currently used are generalized symbols for respective tasks. Refine-ment of icons and graph-ics has been proposed as a future opportunity.

‘Maintenance’ and ‘Ser-vice Manual’ are good features. ‘Tasks’ need not be repeated in the Tools panel as it is already pres-ent as a separate panel.

‘Tasks’ should be removed from the Tools panel.

1

2

3

4

User Feedback

MethodologyThe Tripper UI prototype was shown to a prospective cab driver who fit in the demographic of Wanjibhai Parmar’s persona. With each screen of the UI, the driver’s feedback was noted. Correspondingly shown are remarks on the same feedback.

To minimize the learning curve, the UI functionalities were first explained as in the user manual before conducting the feedback session.

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APPENDICES 139


1

3

4

2

Feedback Remarks

Automatic starting loca-tion is good. I don’t need to enter my current loca-tion.

QWERTY keypad could be a possible learning curve for the driver. However, for best ease of alphanu-meric data, the QWERTY arrangement shall be retained.

Estimations are good. I can plan my speed and time accordingly.

This button takes me to an unfamiliar screen. I don’t know what to do there.

Navigation to the ‘Tasks’ screen needs to be re-moved. Instead, this but-ton should directly take the user to the ‘Guidance’ screen.

1

3

4

2

Feedback Remarks

Metering is good. It would’ve been better if it gave the fare as well.

Fare depends on billing cycles. Also, fare does not fit in the context of guid-ance, and is not informa-tion that is required while driving.

Will the signage change? The signage would change as per realtime data. Due to the proto-typic nature of this UI, the change could not be implemented.

Zooming in/out not pos-sible.

Tracker map need not have zooming enabled as it is only giving movement orientation.

Speed is better indicated through a dial.

The Tripper is not in-tended to be used as a vehicle monitor, but as an information/assistance system. For best indication of speed, the dashboard display should be consid-ered.

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APPENDICES 141


1

3

2

Feedback Remarks

Can I modify the billing cycle? What happens when the billing rates change?

The billing cycle is auto-matically calculated based on booking and start time of journey. Also, billing rates need to be modified at the back end.

Why are there two ‘print’ buttons?

The idea was to give a print command for the current bill, and a sepa-rate print button for previ-ous bills. The two could be incorporated into one in the future iterations of the UI.

The previous bill details are useful but I can’t contact the client in case there’s some problem/error.

There should be client in-formation (at least contact number) in this section for cases of discrepancy of any kind.

2

1

Feedback Remarks

Can I edit my details? What if I change my phone number or ad-dress?

For good practice and to maintain a hierarchy, driv-er details have been made editable only through the back-end. Also, since Tripper does not work on a login-password basis, editable details could be a security threat as well.

Shouldn’t my details be printed and permanently displayed and shown to the client?

There could be a print op-tion for this.

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APPENDICES 143


Feedback Remarks

There is no indication of ‘start’ or ‘end’ of journey. How will I know when billing has started?

The ‘next’ button on the ‘Plan’ screen indicates start of journey. However, since this is not intuitive, there needs to be a direct indication to start metering the trip.

History is a helpful feature as I can keep a record of my performance, vehicle perfor-mance and bills, and also be able to contact the concerned person if needed.

The English used throughout the application is very friendly and easy to understand. It feels like the application is talking to me.

‘Maintenance’ and ‘Service Manual’ are extremely useful features in cases of emergen-cies and general monitoring of the vehicle.

Colours used are very pleasing to the eye. This session could not be conducted in low illumination condition and also, since the simulation was shown on a laptop LCD screen, the interface was always lit up. Howev-er, a neutral background was used in order to minimize after-images in light and dark.

Is there backup power for this? What happens if the battery is dead? For this, there needs to be an alternate power source or an in-built battery, in which case, there needs to be an indication of the same.

End of Document

Driver Cognition & the Sense of Time

Documents

detect probable collisions

lawrence erlbaum associates

intentionally left blank

95th percentile male

collision warning devices

5th percentile male

dynamic mental models

behavioral pattern recognitions