Interaction Design of a Center Navigation System for Female Drivers

Abstract: The center-controlled navigation system of intelligent vehicles provides location-based information services for drivers, which is an important component in determining driving safety and driving experience. Currently, automobile center-controlled navigation systems are mostly based on male-preferred orientation strategies, ignoring the fact that female drivers are more inclined to path strategies, which raises the issue of differences in spatial cognitive ability between genders. Spatial cognitive ability, which refers to the cognitive process of locating a target in space, perceiving distance and direction relationships, and mentally changing an object's orientation based on its position or orientation in space, is an important factor in defining the effectiveness of navigation system services. Therefore, with the goal of solving young female drivers' difficulties in using navigation, this study firstly analyzes in-depth the characteristics of young female drivers' spatial cognitive abilities by using the wayfinding strategy scale, and extracts the differentiated pain points faced by young female drivers in using center-controlled navigation based on the oriented navigation task experiments and semi-structured interviews. After that, the information elements of intelligent vehicle center navigation interface for young female drivers are sorted out with case studies. Immediately following, based on the participatory design methodology, the study organized 20 subjects to conduct experiments on the design combination of interface information elements, according to which 20 sets of simulation prototypes were constructed using Protopie, and design experts were invited to evaluate the prototypes on a driving simulator, and an optimal set of solutions was generated based on the scoring calculation for usability testing. The results show that the optimal design scheme proposed in the study significantly improves the efficiency of navigation use as well as driving safety for young female drivers, and indirectly optimizes the driving experience of female drivers. Based on the problem of differences in spatial cognitive ability between genders, this study establishes a center navigation interface that meets the spatial cognitive ability of young female drivers. The study highlights the necessity of differentiated design of intelligent vehicles for different user groups, and provides new insights for promoting the diversity and inclusive development of technological innovation design.

Keywords: Interface designed for women, spatial awareness, center navigation system

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1005435

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