The determination of direction of motion stereotypes for automobile controls

Abstract

This experiment examined the directional relationships for six types of automobile controls: power mirrors, power windows, manual windows, stalks, generic controls, and power door locks. Two hundred driver-subjects participated in the research. Participants were divided into 4 groups of 50 each, and distributed according to age, gender, and type of vehicle they drove (domestic or foreign).

During data collection, subjects were instructed to perform various types of control tasks. For each task, the direction of control activation chosen by the subject was observed and recorded. Frequencies of occurrence were then tabulated to grade the strength of directional stereotypes. In addition, statistical tests were conducted to determine the effects of age, gender, type of vehicle driven, and handedness on subject behavior. Confidence limits were also calculated and tabulated.

In general, results showed that most control designs and configurations tested displayed moderate to strong stereotypes. However, weak directional stereotypes did occur whenever a control was angled away from the driver. Weak directional stereotypes were also prominent for manual window and power door !ock conditions. For the power window, the two controls mounted flush with the driver's door resulted in control selection problems (i.e., which control goes with which window), while the push-pull power window control resulted in weak directional stereotypes. The most salient result from the Chi-square statistical tests indicates that foreign car drivers utilize their stalk controls differently than domestic car drivers.

Based on the overall results a list of design recommendations and directions for future research is offered.