ABSTRACT
This research aims to study the effect of age and gender on the design of automobile instrumental cluster. Information provided in vehicle has been increasing during the last years with the introduction of smart devices, LCD screen and wireless internet. Hence, automobile instrument cluster is able to provide customization, addition and subtraction of information functionality depending on the driver’s preference and driving context. We have conducted an experiment on preference and performance of preselected automobile instrument cluster design factors. The experiment was divided into 3 parts: 1) response time of the different areas of the instrument cluster, 2) satisfaction on warning icons and presentation method, and 3) satisfaction and response time on verification of speedometer with respect to size and location. A total of 28 subjects participated on the experiment, which were divided into 4 groups regarding their age and gender: 1) young male (20~35 years old), 2) young female (20~35 years old), 3) middle male (40~55 years old), and 4) middle female (40~55 years old). A real driving environment was created to proceed with the experiment. The main task consisted on concentrating on the video of real driving situation while performing the secondary task. The secondary task was to answer questions related to the stimuli shown in the LCD cluster in the simulator. The overall results show that there is difference on the
performance and preference with respect to the task and design factors of the instrument cluster. There are significant difference with respect to gender and age on the influence of design of automobile instrument cluster such as size, location and presentation method.
