Research topics

1What are the key requirements for social embedding and responsiveness? We aim to identify relevant factors for specific contexts within the theme of automated mobility by employing different methods including ethnographic studies, qualitative observations, literature research, and wizard-of-Oz studies, This will help us ground our work in the specifics of the context.

2How can we design intuitive/usable interactions and identify design principles to fit these requirements? By using envisioning and research-through-design, we’ll explore the untouched design space for new solutions and general principles (e.g., by reflecting on various graduation projects on creating such designs). This includes various types of prototyping (e.g., tangible prototypes, Virtual Reality, driving simulator) and design iterations based on user experiences. Based on a range of explorations we will create insights on the design principles, requirements and guidelines. These efforts will have to balance the creativity to find suitable solutions with the rigour to distil meaningful principles from our efforts.

3What is the measurable impact of such designs and principles on making interactions with these technologies safer and more responsible? We will conduct user tests using different methods, e.g. lab tests, field tests, simulator studies, VR studies, A/B tests, (online) questionnaires, and expert interviews to validate our ideas and designs. This will provide solid insights directly relevant to the different societal challenges. Given the importance of safety and responsibility to mobility, e.g., for vehicles, such in-depth validations and triangulations of our ideas and findings will be fundamental to our stakeholders.