United States Department of Transportation
i
Improving Driver Recognition of In-Vehicle Icons
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2000-04-01
[PDF-310.41 KB]
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Abstract:This research update provides general human factors design information relevant to the early phases of in-vehicle icon development and design. It reflects a subset of the results to date of a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) project to develop a set of clear, concise, and user-centered human factors design guidelines for in-vehicle icons. An important element of this project is the involvement of a project working group, consisting of more than 20 representatives from the icon design, intelligent transportation systems (ITS), and human factors communities. This group has served as subject matter experts and consultants to the project, helping to ensure that the resulting design guidelines conform to icon designers’ specific needs with respect to content, organization, and format. Icons are visual representations or images used to symbolize an object, action, or concept. Icons are among the oldest forms of communication and provide a number of advantages over a text-only approach to presenting drivers with in-vehicle messages. For example, icons: (1) may be recognized more quickly and accurately than text-only messages, (2) can be presented in a much smaller area than can text, and (3) can convey information across many languages and cultures. Despite the obvious applicability of icons to the design of ITS, such as advanced traveler information systems (ATIS) and collision avoidance systems (CAS), poorly designed icons can lead to driver confusion and errors and can actually exacerbate existing traffic problems. Although the use of icons is widespread, few guidelines exist that can be used confidently by vehicle and electronics designers during icon development. The lack of guidelines, standards, and a systematic framework to aid icon design has resulted in design by consensus for many ITS-related icons, a lack of scientific rigor in icon development, nonintuitive and difficult-to-learn icons for in-vehicle messages, and multiple icons for the same message.
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