UX and automated vehicles

One of the autonomous pods used during our experiments

I was one of the UX researchers working for the UK Autodrive, a flagship, multi-partner project studying automated vehicles.

It focused on the development of Human Machine Interface (HMI), and performing real-world trials of these technologies in low-speed, short range vehicles. I was working for Jaguar Land Rover, and we were using vehicles manufactured by RDM Group, a.k.a. Aurigo. The project was funded by Innovate UK – an agency to find and drive science and technology innovations.

We conducted dozens of user studies and had more than 500 participants testing self-driving vehicles in diverse types of experiments.  Some examples can be seen here, where I describe usability studies testing interfaces, both internal (for occupants of the vehicle) and external (for pedestrians and other vulnerable road users). Research questions involved wether or not specific features increase trust and acceptance of autonomous vehicles.

One video explaining the wider project was published on Twitter:

The report, published at the end of the project, can be downloaded from one of the partner’s website here.

More information can be found on the project website: www.ukautodrive.com