Co-designing with Drivers: A Human-Centred Approach towards the Implementation of Real-Time Contextual Interviewing

Abstract

The automotive industry is facing an era of rapid evolution. This evolution is mostly driven by the development of sophisticated electronics and algorithms, which are partially affecting the drivers’ behaviour inside the automobile, and gradually changing their customer experience. However, the process followed by carmakers to design new models has remained similar for decades, leading to inefficiencies in some of the current automotive design methodologies. To address those inefficiencies, there is an increasing tendency to collaborate with users while they are driving. This research took the view that automotive designers can conduct customer interviews while drivers are inside automobiles real-time, in a real-life context for the analysis and improvement of customer experience. In order to explore the applicability of real-time contextual interviewing inside automobiles, four studies were conducted. Firstly, two simulator studies aimed to define some minimum requirements in terms of communication hardware and communication methods for real-time remote collaboration between automotive designers and automobile drivers. Subsequently, two more studies were conducted to explore possible benefits of such collaboration towards the collection of ethnographic data and improvement ideas and to explore its possible consequences towards the driver’s emotions. The results of these studies suggested that real-time contextual interviewing can be effectively implemented inside automobiles to collect greater amounts of information in terms of quantity, variety and creative contents. This research leads to an increased understanding of the methods which can be used to collaborate with customers in the automotive context. Suggestions collected through contextual interviewing provided opportunities to develop new models based on real-time customer feedback and experience economy. Thus, the practices of this research can be incorporated into future research methodologies to co-create a shared understanding of customer experience among designers and automobile drivers and to facilitate idea generation for the development of product ecosystems.