Design and evaluation of a user interface to increase trust in autonomous vehicles

Abstract

Humans have been sceptical of automation throughout history and with the prospect of au-tonomous vehicles taking over the transportation sector, we are going to need a user inter-face that can communicate with the passenger in a way that increases trust in self-driving cars. Research has shown that trust is an important factor in the use of autonomous technol-ogy and that it is affected by transparency, anthropomorphism, culture and brand name. This thesis aims to develop and evaluate a user interface that could be used in driverless cars which offer ride-hailing services. Based on the research on trust, autonomous vehicles, user interface design and user experience, a web application was developed to use in a case study involving five participants. The case study consisted of multiple tasks with the interface, an interview and a questionnaire about the usability. Analysis of the responses demonstrated that the developed user interface was relatively easy to use and understandable. The results indicate that the overall experience can be improved and suggestions were made to enhance future versions of the interface.