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Thesis » Abstract

DETERMINING EFFECTIVE DISPLAY FORMAT AND CONTENT OPTIONS FOR
IN-CAR MOVING-MAP NAVIGATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

by

Michael W. Mitchell
April, 1993

 Thomas A. Dingus, Chairman
Human Factors Psychology

The attentional demand required in using information-rich, vehicle-based, computerized navigation systems has the potential to exceed the driver's capabilities while driving, thereby making these systems dangerous and difficult to use. The purpose of the current study was to determine effective formats for displaying navigational and traffic information to drivers on an in-car moving-map navigation system. Twenty males and 20 females participated in dual-task, single-task and preference testing in this laboratory study.

In the dual-task testing situation, subjects were asked to answer navigation related questions from information presented on static navigation screens while performing a continuous lane-tracking task. Lane deviations, glance durations, task completion times, and navigation task errors were recorded for each subject. Single-task testing involved the presentation of navigation screens for 1.5 second durations to the subjects. Participants were then asked to recreate the information they had just been presented. Finally, subjects were given a post-test questionnaire which asked them to rate the map configurations they would prefer to use, as well as the configurations they thought would be easiest to use when navigating to a predetermined destination. Seven map configurations were evaluated which varied on four major dimensions: The amount of information displayed (full-route vs. turn-by-turn), the format in which that information was presented (spatial vs. verbal), the presentation format of lane information in the turn-by-turn case (separate lane icons vs. pictorially-integrated lane information), and the incorporation of landmarks in the turn-by-turn case (landmarks and no-landmarks).

Results from the dual-task portion of the study indicate that map configurations which present turn-by-turn information are more effective than those displaying entire route information. Findings are unclear as to the advantages of pictorial and verbal formats; however, subjects performed significantly better overall when using the pictorial turn-by-turn configuration displaying separate lane icons. Single-task results show that subjects could recall similar amounts information from single presentations of pictorial turn-by-turn map configurations as compared to two successive presentations of full route maps. Results from the post-test questionnaires indicate that in general, pictorial turn-by-turn configurations were considered to be easiest to use, and were also most preferred by subjects, especially if landmark information was included.