Design for luxury automotive HMI systems and driver experiences

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Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: University of Liverpool, School of Engineering, Civil Engineering and Industrial Design, Birleşik Krallık

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2019

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Öğrenci: Sevcan Yardım Sener

Asıl Danışman (Eş Danışmanlı Tezler İçin): Owain Francis Pedgley

Özet:

Luxury is predominantly discussed within marketing, economics and psychology literature,

with little research made into the practicalities of designing for luxury products and

experiences. This thesis addresses the lack of an evidence base from which to design and

virtually prototype luxury automotive HMI (human-machine interaction) systems. The work

involved five interconnected studies and two industrial partners: Bentley Motors –

manufacturers of luxury automobiles; and the VEC (Virtual Engineering Centre) – a

consultancy and R&D organization specialising in digital simulation.

In Study 1, a literature review was conducted to build a foundation for the research, providing

definitions of luxury and investigating attributes of luxury products, cars and experiences.

Four distinct luxury values were identified: financial, symbolic, functional and experiential.

Study 2 comprised a benchmarking field study using immersion methods. The HMI system

for four luxury cars was analysed to reveal state-of-the-art uses of interaction technologies

and control/interaction details. The study provided the researcher with luxury car

orientation, whilst uncovering notable tensions in the integration of luxurious design details

with advanced interaction and interface technologies.

Study 3 comprised the main field research, seeking to deeply probe drivers’ understanding

and expectations for HMI systems qualified as providing a luxury experience. Semi-structured

in-car interviews were conducted with Bentley Motors employees (n=28). Transcript and

video data were processed using grounded theory, verbatim coding and content analysis.

The verbatim codes led to a quantitative hierarchy of design criteria for luxury automotive

HMI systems. The content analysis provided an exhaustive collection of user constructs that

were qualitatively clustered into maps of luxury automotive HMI system and experience

dimensions. In combination, the hierarchical design criteria and construct maps provide a set

of guidance to assist designers when conceptualizing luxury HMI system interactions and

experiences.

Study 4 implemented the guidance from Study 3 through a project to ideate a set of 3 luxury

HMI system concepts, as inspirational materials for Bentley Motors. A review of new,

emerging and unusual (NEU) interaction technologies was made to assist the generation of

concepts satisfying the luxury principle of rarity. Finally, in Study 5 a workshop with VEC

experts established the plausibility of virtual and augmented reality systems to digitally

simulate HMI systems using NEU interactive technologies. Study 5 satisfied a need within

Bentley Motors for better understanding of how HMI system design and virtual prototyping

could align.

The thesis concludes that: (i) user experience goals for luxury automotive HMI systems can

be uncovered in a rigorous way through design research; (ii) the design of luxury automotive

HMI systems benefits from a new set of a guidance developed from research data without

reliance on corporate know-how; and (iii) careful selection of virtual and augmented reality

technologies can provide plausible virtual prototyping routes for HMI design concepts.