Evaluating the Relationship between Instrument Cluster Design, User Preference, and Driving Behavior among Demographic Groups

Contemporary research has found differences between demographic groups in their stated instrument cluster component design preferences. For instance, elderly drivers prefer large icons and textual displays of information, while younger drivers preferred gauges to display information. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether instrument clusters, designed for specific demographic groups, would facilitate safe driving behavior and solicit higher evaluation scores in their targeted demographics. Fifty participants, consisting of 30 elderly and 20 younger drivers (gender-balanced), completed a series of tasks to retrieve information from the instrument cluster while driving a high-fidelity simulator. Participants’ driving behavior, response time, subjective ratings, and a semi-structured post-experimental interview on different cluster designs were collected to evaluate each instrument cluster design. Driving performance was measured using lane deviation, average speed, and deviation in speed. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the data collected from this study, and post hoc analysis was used to evaluate significant differences between levels in main effects where appropriate. Results indicated support for universal design standards for instrument clusters: All drivers drove slower and had fewer deviations in speed while using instrument cluster designs with specific design components, such as printed speed when compared to driving behavior exhibited by participants using instrument clusters without those design components. Results also indicated that participants did not rate the instrument cluster designs that solicited safer behavior higher than those designs that did not. Automotive companies can use the results of this study when evaluating the feasibility of configurable instrument clusters.