When do people expect effortless in-car interactions?

Drivers have experienced various in-car interactions due to advanced infotainment systems and digital integration in cars. The scope of in-car interaction is likely to be further expanded in autonomous driving due to the increased free time in the car for focusing on non-driving activities. When designing in-car interactions, enhancing the in-car user experience by giving drivers new abilities and providing them with effortless and intuitive interactions is a worthy goal. Hence, understanding users’ perspectives in the early phases is the critical first step to informing the design process. Although prior studies have revealed users’ expectations and needs in an autonomous vehicle, there is a lack of understanding of when and in which context users might most desire effortless interaction. This investigation aims to examine users’ expectations and identify themes for effortless in-car interaction. One hundred fifty participants were recruited using a purposive sampling strategy. The study consists of an open-ended online questionnaire that enquired about the context in which people desire effortless interaction within a car the most. Questionnaire responses were clustered into themes using a thematic analysis method. The study proposes a taxonomy of in-car contexts composed of six major themes, with 17 sub-themes, which include the following contexts: 1) switching-required, 2) emotion-underlain, 3) idle-away, 4) less-controllable, 5) time-sensitive and 6) task-oriented. The findings provide guidance regarding the critical contexts of effortless interaction, which designers can use to better understand and improve automotive user experiences.