Exploring the Social Context of Collaborative Driving

TL;DR

This paper investigates how social needs influence user experiences in automated driving, highlighting current practices and presenting a prototype that enhances social fulfillment during journeys.

Contribution

It introduces a new perspective on social aspects in automated driving and presents a prototype supporting social needs, which was previously overlooked.

Findings

Social activities like messaging are common during automated driving.

The prototype received positive usability feedback.

Supporting social needs can enhance user experience in automated vehicles.

Abstract

The automation of the driving task affects both the primary driving task and the automotive user interfaces. The liberation of user interface space and cognitive load on the driver allows for new ways to think about driving. Related work showed that activities such as sleeping, watching TV, or working will become more prevalent in the future. However, social aspects according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs have not yet been accounted for. We provide insights of a focus group with N=5 experts in automotive user experience revealing current practices such as social need fulfillment on journeys and sharing practices via messengers and a user study with N=12 participants of a first prototype supporting these needs in various automation levels showing good usability and high potential to improve user experience.