Design for Luxury Front-Seat Passenger Infotainment Systems with Experience Prototyping through VR

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on empowering front-seat passengers in luxury car journeys through infotainment systems and investigates how luxury can be manifested via new functionalities and interactions. It presents an experience prototyping study in which 27 participants tried out a VR-simulated design proposal for the front-seat passenger infotainment system within a travel scenario and reflected on their UX. The article suggests design recommendations to answer the user concerns and expectations revealed in the results, including the provision of enough margin of error in gestural manipulations, prevention of driver and passenger distractions, keeping up with the technology within car’s life cycle, involvement in the journey, collaboration with driver and relatedness to social network. The article underlines that these expectations expand further in luxury cars with the search for digital upgrades, infotainment content with luxury symbolic value, and subtle technology integration to the luxury car interior. It finally provides a framework with various modes showing that front-seat passengers’ expectations from the infotainment system change based on their relationships with the surroundings and the driver, and it offers design solutions to facilitate each mode.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank our research partners Bentley Motors and Virtual Engineering Centre for their collaboration. Bentley Motors provided the 3D car data to be converted and imported to the VR scene and GUI image examples which were referred in GUI design process to maintain the brand identity. The VEC actively involved in the simulation development process and supported the experience prototyping sessions by providing the venue and the necessary equipment. Our special thanks go to the software developer Carlo Pinto from the VEC who made the interactive VR demonstration possible by programing all interactions within the VE. We also would like to thank the anonymous reviewers of the article for their constructive feedback.

Disclosure of potential conflict of interest

In accordance with Taylor & Francis policy and our ethical obligations as researchers, we are reporting that we conducted this research in collaboration with a company that may refer to by the research reported in the enclosed article. We have disclosed those interests fully to Taylor & Francis, and we have in place an approved plan for managing any potential conflicts arising from this collaboration.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in DataCat at http://dx.doi.org/10.17638/datacat.liverpool.ac.uk/920.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), UK, under [Grant no 1615184].

Notes on contributors

Güzin Sen

Güzin Sen holds BID and MSc degrees from the Department of Industrial Design, Middle East Technical University. She received her PhD from the University of Liverpool with her EPSRC-funded research on design and experience prototyping of the luxury front-seat passenger infotainment systems through VR. She works as an adjunct instructor at METU Department of Industrial Design.

Bahar Sener

Bahar Sener is Professor of Industrial Design at Middle East Technical University. Previously, she was a founding academic for the BEng Industrial Design program at the University of Liverpool (UK) and Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (China). Her research covers product UX, digitalization of industrial design, and design for well-being.