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  • Essay / Automotive design

    Table of contentsNew technologies and digital trendsThe role of emotionThe role of context Research questions Thesis structureAt the beginning of the 20th century, the evolution of automobile design had begun to reshape human mobility needs in terms of convenience and comfort (Damiani, Deregibus, and Andreone, 2009; Spinney, Reimer, and Pinch, 2017). With the production of the Ford Model T in 1908, commoditized and affordable automobiles became widely available to more people (Eckermann, 2001). Beginning in the late 1920s, automobile design began to develop as a discipline distinct from general industrial design, which is the process of designing and manufacturing a product in quantity (Sparke, 2002). Automotive design has evolved alongside the interaction between different parts of the automobile such as engineering, performance and form (Sparke, 2002). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get an original essay In the 20th century, as automobiles became symbolic icons of upper-class status, sleek design, style and Aesthetics have become key aspects of the automotive design process (Inserra, 2017). This was reflected in the experimentation with multi-colored exteriors in the 1950s. In the 1980s, interior design and ergonomics began to be taken more seriously, along with new concerns about safety and security. energy efficiency (Inserra, 2017). The technical specifications of new car models, which improve their performance, have also been the focus of competition among automobile manufacturers (Spinney, Reimer, & Pinch, 2017). This is also reflected in the change in words used to describe the most important attributes of cars in the 20th century, from words like "distinctive", "elegant" and "sporty" to "safe", "friendly" and "environmental" . compatibility” (Damiani, Deregibus and Andreone, 2009). In the early 21st century, the proliferation of computing and digital technology accelerated the growth of the Internet and mobile technology (Digital Preservation Management, 2015). With the evolution of advanced digital features in automobiles, the concept of “in-vehicle connectivity” has been introduced in the 21st century (Damiani, Deregibus, & Andreone, 2009). The direction of automotive research has also begun to change, requiring interdisciplinary approaches to driving experience (Spinney, Reimer, & Pinch, 2017).New technologies and digital trendsThe automotive industry, triggered by new digital technologies, transformed rapidly (Barra, 2016). Using GPS technologies, the introduction of GM's OnStar system in 1996, which connected automobiles to information streams and services, paved the way for the new concept of connected automobiles to improve the driving experience. conduct (Nobel, 2013). Safety services, such as live concierge services in emergency situations, began to be available by telephone, with sensors integrated into the vehicle (Grabianowski, 2009). In the mid-2000s, the rapid growth of smartphones expanded connectivity capabilities, introducing infotainment applications within the car (Massy, ​​2007). Access to any entertainment content via the phone “dropped” by the driver into the car has amplified the driver's experience in the vehicle (Microsoft News Center, 2012). Connected vehicles have evolved beyond the advanced integration of digital technologies into automobiles: they can now communicate and sharedata not only with smart devices, but also with an infrastructure in which several sensors are integrated (Ninan et al., 2015). McKinsey (2013) predicts that the number of Internet-connected automobiles will increase on average by 30% per year through 2020, while the number of traditional automobiles will only increase by 4% per year on average over the same period. One in five automobiles will be wirelessly connected to the network by 2020 (Davidson, 2015), so various network-based services, such as Internet radio, information, entertainment and car-related applications driving will be available in automobiles. With the growth of in-vehicle connectivity, automated driving is considered one of the major potential changes in the automotive industry, due to its estimated enormous impact on the economy and society, as well as on automotive technological developments themselves. same (Milakis, Arem and Wee, 2017). The annual economic and social benefit of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) could be around £51 billion, generating over 30,000 jobs by 2030 (KPMG, 2015) (Figure 1). This could impact GDP growth and prevent serious accidents in the UK. The UK CAV market is estimated to be worth £28 billion by 2035, representing 3% of the £907 billion global market (Transport Systems Catapult, 2017). Furthermore, recent forecasts estimate that by 2027 all vehicles produced in the UK will have at least conditional automated technologies, and that this figure is expected to gradually rise to 25% full automation penetration by 2030 (KPMG, 2015). Figure 1 Economic and social impact of connected and autonomous vehicles (adapted from KPMG, 2015). The evolution of the connected car and rapid developments in automated driving have shaped the role of the automobile from that of a "passive transport machine" for moving from point A to point B, to that of a “smart object” (Eichler, Schroth and Eberspächer, 2006). The concept of “automobile” has moved from hardware to software, and from object to experience (Rousseau, 2015). Research claims that advancements in digital devices have improved mobility, adding multiple purposes such as communication, entertainment, leisure, and business (Moore, 2012). As a result, people's attitudes toward automobile ownership and travel have changed (Moore, 2012; McKinsey & Company, 2013). Due to the frequent use of digital devices during transportation, automobiles no longer seem to be perceived as a distant space in people's lives (Gellatly et al., 2010). The term “automotive habitat” has sometimes been used to refer to the role of the modern automobile as a socially interactive environment (Gkatzidou, Giacomin, & Skrypchuk, 2016). The emergence of new target groups in the automobile market has massively influenced changes in the automobile industry ( Koushik and Mehl, 2015). Millennials, born between 1977 and 1994 (Williams and Page, 2011), have become the fastest growing buyer segment (Kurylko, 2017). According to data from JD Power and Associates' Power Information Network, last year, 4.1 million vehicles were sold to millennials in the United States and it is predicted that they will likely represent about 40 percent of the U.S. vehicle market. new vehicles by 2020 (Kurylko, 2017). There is a major difference in attitudes toward automobiles between baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 (Williams and Page, 2011) and millennials. While for the baby boomer generation, owning a car was considered a symbol of identityexpressing status, millennials have more pragmatic perspectives on consumption (Warton, 2017). This is demonstrated in the phrase “Rent, Stream, and Experience” (Bradshaw, 2014), which encapsulates millennials’ preferences – the ability to experience in a way that meets their desires matters to millennials rather than owning goods (Niewiadomski and Anderson, 2017). The shift toward human experience of functional needs in automotive design (see Figure 2) suggests a direction for future automotive design. Figure 2 Evolution of automotive design (adapted from UVM, 2011). As the phrase puts it: “We don’t just use technology; we live with it” (McCarthy and Wright, 2004), an automobile is deeply embedded, emotionally and intellectually, in daily life. A deep understanding of the human experience (Norman, 2013) is necessary to understand the extent to which people positively remember their engagement with the automobile. Since it is impossible to design the experience itself, which is a subjective value, the focus should be on designing experience scaffolds on which people can have their own pleasant experience in the automotive context. Due to its personal dependent nature (Kim, 2015), experience can only be conceived through a deep understanding of a story shaped by the individual's emotions, thoughts, and actions within a context (Dewey , 1980; Desmet and Hekkert, 2007; .The role of emotionTo design an enjoyable experience, understanding human emotions is one of the most important elements (McCarthy and Wright (2004; Desmet and Hekkert, 2007). Emotion plays an essential role in various aspects of human experience that interconnect human thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors (Gomez, Popovic, and Blackler, 2011; Hanington, 2017), while the rational information processing system in humans is driven. through logic, the experiential information processing system is driven by emotions have proven that, when humans have an experience, their emotional system triggers their thoughts and actions (Nass et al., 2005). therefore impossible to consider emotion as an entity independent of cognitive processing or physical interaction (Hanington, 2005). Taking emotions into account is therefore essential to create pleasant and positive experiences for people (Gkouskos, Chen, 2012). In the 1980s, emotion emerged implicitly in research on aspects of product meaning, semantics, and pleasurable experiences (Csikszentmihalyi 1981; Krippendorff and Butter, 1984). The holistic human view of design and the recognition of emotion gradually became apparent in the field of "user experience", a term first coined by Norman in 1995. Subsequently, the emergence of Complex consumer electronics technology has shifted the main focus of humanity's beginnings. field of computer interaction (HCI), from functional views of technology to the emotional impact of interacting with technology products (Hanington, 2017). Emotional experience has always been perceived and accepted as an essential aspect for designs to successfully accommodate human needs and desires (Jordan 2000; Picard and Wexelblat, 2002; Hanington, 2017). Previous studies in design have highlighted the importance of emotion by suggesting major elements that can impact emotional experience. Jordan (2000) suggests four pleasures – physical, psychological, sociological and ideological – that can contribute to the experienceemotional. According to his theory (Jordan, 2000), the emotional benefits of the four pleasures can be satisfied based on both practicality and practicality. usability, which are people's most basic expectations of a product. Gomez, Popovic, and Bucolo (2004) suggest critical factors that can compose the emotional experience: the user, the artifact, the activity, and the context. Figure 4 illustrates that the interaction between a human and a product is mediated by context, which forms the overall experience. It also suggests that emotions related to each activity or task performed by the individual in a context can influence the overall experience. Figure 4 The user's activity-artifact in the context forms the experience (adapted from Gomez, Popovic and Bucolo, 2004). The importance of emotional experience has been demonstrated in the complex context of driving through the use of advanced digital technologies. Drivers are likely to be influenced by various information from digital technologies, which affects their emotional state, with possible impacts on their behavior and safety (Foen 2012). Research (Lajunen and Parker 2001; Foen 2012) suggests that drivers are more likely to make risky decisions when they are negatively affected by emotions such as anger or frustration, which can lead to accidents. Beyond issues of driving performance and safety, Sheller (2003) highlights the importance of emotional reactions in determining an individual's car purchases, driving habits, and lifestyle choices. With the aim of building a strong relationship with new potential buyers – such as millennials meeting their needs and desires – this research focuses on systematically investigating and adapting an appropriate emotion-driven design approach. The role of contextual scenarios In order to ultimately uncover meanings, wants and needs, this research was guided and designed according to the principle of human-centered design – starting with the lower levels of the values ​​of the pyramid (Giacomin, 2014) – then in a person's life as it relates to the automotive experience. Regarding the relevance of tools in this research, the following criteria were taken into account: capturing human needs and requirements that involve emotions as well as the physical, sociological and environmental aspects of an automobile; illustrate the human experience in the form of a story from one person's point of view; a design scenario is considered the most appropriate tool for this research. Using a storyline for design can provide more opportunities to investigate a person's daily life through a story that explores the experience of a product or service from the point of view of 'a person (Goodwin, 2010). As history illustrates a holistic experience that can encompass events, situations, activities, and interactions between people and an artifact (Carroll, 2000), emotions play a fundamental role in human experience (Gomez, Popovic, and Blackler, 2011; Hanington, 2017). ), this can ultimately help to reveal meanings and needs in various contexts involving emotional aspects. In the automotive domain, however, scenarios have frequently been used to test automotive systems, which perform highly functional tasks related to driver and vehicle performance (Burnett, 2009; Stevens and Burnett, 2014). Typical automotive scenarios provide information about traffic and environmental conditions and driving conditions. contextto evaluate the functions and performance of all specifications in a particular situation (Safespot, 2006). A number of automotive studies have applied scenarios to test system performance, such as pre-collision systems (Chien et al., 2014) or in-vehicle system integration (Davis, Patron, & Lane, 2007). However, concerns have been raised about whether existing automotive scenarios help answer automotive design questions, which are emotional, psychological, or sociological in nature (Gkatzidou, Giacomin, & Skrypchuk, 2016). Furthermore, it has been noted (Gkouskos, Normark, & Lundgren, 2014) that current standardized automotive scenarios appear to be of little use to the design of automotive products, systems, or services, due to their strong technical and task-oriented orientation. Although taking into account emotional aspects has been highlighted as part of the success of any product and service design, including that of an automobile (Dupré et al., 2012; Gkouskos and Chen, 2012), these aspects were considered less important. important in automotive scenarios. Standardized design scenarios available for automotive design involving various human emotional aspects do not adequately meet the expectations and growing demand for digital connectivity, nor manage the challenges of a complex automotive environment. Therefore, further research investigating people's life stories that trigger emotional responses in the automotive context is required. Awareness of the current importance and limitations of design scenarios in the field of automotive design motivates this research. Through this research, the human-centered design approach will be better able to support the automotive domain, facilitate its adoption by automotive practitioners to test or evaluate automotive products, systems and service concepts, and to inform the design of affective automotive scenarios. Research QuestionsThe research described in this thesis was motivated by the belief that human-centered automotive scenarios can be used to answer automotive design questions that involve emotional, psychological or sociological aspects. Some of the key research questions involved are: What are the key elements of design scenarios? How can a scenario be developed comprehensively and rigorously? What are the affective scenarios that describe the emotional experience in various automotive contexts? How to implement automotive affective scenarios to test an automotive product, system or product concept? The goal of the research is to develop automotive design scenarios that involve human emotional responses. In order to achieve the objective and answer the key research questions, the following research objectives were formulated: (OB1) Identify key requirements of automotive scenarios by identifying human desires regarding the automotive experience in a complex digital environment ; (OB2) Provide an operational definition of scenarios and a scenario development process through the analysis and synthesis of relevant literature reviews on scenarios; (OB3) Develop automotive affective scenarios linked to current automotive contexts based on analysis of emotional responses; (OB4) Evaluate the research results, using the scenarios proposed to test an automobile concept. Thesis Structure The research in this thesis was designed and conducted in three phases: definition, development and evaluation. Each phase has been the subject of in-depth study. The first phase..