Project Overview: Automotive Safety Feature Alert Study
Methods and skills: Usability testing
Deliverables: Research report
Tools: Digital prototype in tabletop vehicle simulator, affinity diagramming
Who was involved: Me (as UX researcher), Product Manager, Designers, Developers, Recruiters, and Users
Planning
Given this problem, I met with stakeholders for a kick-off meeting, reviewed stimuli they were already working on, and eliminated one option based on a heuristic/best practice review.
We had three options left to test user comprehension - determining if they understood the intended purpose of the alert and how to act upon it.
I planned an in-person qualitative study with 8 users and worked with the design and prototyping teams to finalize stimuli being tested and come up with a somewhat realistic set-up to simulate a driving experience in a lab.
Finally, I worked with a recruiter to identify and schedule participants who met study criteria.
Fielding
I conducted this study in a laboratory setting, where participants sat at a table with two screens - one simulating the center console of the vehicle and one to simulate the instrument cluster - and a steering wheel.
Participants were asked to imagine they were driving a vehicle. While driving, they received an alert on screen and through audio. Once they received the alert, they were asked to interpret its meaning and what action they would take (if any).
Participants were presented with all three design options, which were rotated from participant to participant to account for order bias.
I invited stakeholders to observe both in the laboratory’s observation room, as well as remotely so they could hear direct feedback from the users.
After each session and the study overall, I debriefed with the stakeholders who had been observing, using affinity diagramming to identify themes within the data.
I worked with stakeholders to identify key findings and determine next steps, including working with the product owner and lead designer to understand the feasibility of the solution.
Finally, I tracked implementation progress and presented the research findings/provided additional support of the selected design concept when needed with other stakeholders.
Outcome
One of the designs was chosen to put into development to communicate the safety issue more effectively in future model year vehicles.
The design was also tweaked based on user feedback in an effort to make it even more meaningful and actionable to drivers who encounter it.
Cover image credit: Driver icons created by Eucalyp - Flaticon