Driver Experience in the autonomous vehicle
First, let’s start with the automotive sector. We had the chance to be a partner on an H2020 project on the autonomous vehicle. At the start of this week, we presented all of the work in Brussels in front of representatives of the Commission. While we can’t share everything we produced, we can still tell you what it’s about.
In this project, called VI-DAS for Vision Inspired Driver Assistance Systems, we were in charge of the HMI and driver experience (DX) questions for the autonomous vehicle. In collaboration with CEA and IFSTTAR, we ran the full design of the interfaces and the driver-vehicle interactions for various scenarios. We co-defined, specified, prototyped and validated three driver-assistance systems: lane change on the motorway, crossing an intersection in an urban area, and managing the handover from autonomous mode to manual mode.
Festival-goer experience
Then we move on to the Insight area focused on entertainment. Those who follow us know it: we’ve worked with music festivals several times. Sometimes we assess the experience there with nice tools. Other times we support the organisers in co-designing the event (e.g. Reggae Sun Ska x Akiani). We have also worked on questions of use and needs around information.
On that last topic, we were invited to take part, in October, in a European working group during the Mama Festival. The idea was to come and exchange around the UX approach started with the Paléo Festival in Nyon, in order to define a global strategy for dialogue with festival-goers. We addressed the topic of crowd communication, drawing on examples.
With representatives of very (very) nice European festivals (e.g. Roskilde – Denmark, Lollapalooza or DasFest – Germany, Pohoda – Slovakia), we took the chance to organise a small workshop. Very clear goal: share practices and capture the most interesting ones. So we talked about multi-channel approaches, real-time information, emergency situation management, and so on. Fascinating.
Among the outputs of this workshop, it’s interesting to note that one recurring topic comes up in many projects: silos. Indeed, you quickly realise that organisations still frequently have a silo structure. Mechanically, co-construction and the sharing of a common reference frame are harder. Breaking down silos is also the direction chosen for what comes next. A topic this cross-cutting calls for bringing together actors from various sectors: front of house, safety, communications and marketing.
Mental models in UX
Finally, the third Insight area is more cross-cutting. Following on from our talk last year at Blend18, we are continuing to work on the topic of mental models in UX. October was a busy one on this theme.
In a second part, we again insisted on the importance of designing systems (i.e. proposing conceptual models) while taking mental models into account. Let’s remind ourselves that interaction corresponds to the moment a user comes face to face with the conceptual model. At that moment, they form their own interpretation of it (their mental model of the system). In short, this mental model of the interaction is shaped by everything they’ve known before and by their expectations. The aim is therefore to anticipate, as much as possible, any gap between the conceptual model and the mental models. This is what we do, in particular, when we test with users.
We also discovered that we’re not the only ones drawing on this concept to think through an optimal user experience. Indeed, Luke W also makes the link with mental models in his talk at the Conversion Summit (opens in new window). Go take a look, it’s worth it.
And all the other areas of Insight
Of course, all kinds of things have been going on around what we’re telling you about our Insight projects. Let’s mention a few in no particular order. At the start of the month, we ran a great feature-identification workshop for a really cool project. The following week, we were responding to tenders on really exciting topics. Two weeks ago, we kicked off a project on sustainable development and the outdoors with our friends from the PopRock agency. Last week, we delivered the interface of a heating/cooling and air purification system for your homes. And the weeks ahead will be just as varied.
In short, we hope you’ll have understood: UX is many things and applies to very varied sectors. If you enjoy this kind of recap, don’t hesitate to let us know. The team has plenty of other things to share.
