Vehicle User Interfaces: Principles and Techniques for Design and Development
I.D. # C1114 Duration 1 Day
The automotive industry is facing unprecedented growth in the number of new features and functions available to the driver. This growth - in areas like infotainment, navigation, smart-phone integration, wireless connectivity, interior lighting and HVAC - offers exciting new possibilities for the vehicle user experience. However, that same functionality also has the potential to dramatically increase the complexity of that experience. Supporting the responsible management of cognitive and physical workloads is paramount to safe, convenient and enjoyable vehicle operation. Using a combination of lecture, case studies and exercises, this course will provide an overview of basic human factors principles and design techniques for developing intuitive, safe and effective human-machine interfaces.
Learning Objectives
By attending this seminar, you will be able to:
  • Describe important user experience issues specific to the vehicle environment and demonstrate how they are distinct from applications like desktop computing and mobile device use
  • Apply important human factors knowledge, including key perceptual and cognitive principles, to the design of effective automotive interfaces
  • Use basic development tools and methods of interface design
  • Analyze information display, task flow and hardware-software interaction to assess interface strengths and weaknesses
  • Apply basic user experience principles to quickly reveal potential issues early in the development process that can help avoid costly problems later
  • Select the appropriate user testing approach for particular interface design objectives
  • Apply important standards and guidelines in interface design and development
Who Should Attend
Those involved in vehicle user interaction systems (e.g., controls and displays for infotainment, navigation, smartphone integration, connectivity, HVAC, lights, etc.) in any functional role (e.g., product design, product development, product/market research and quality) will benefit from this seminar, including mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, software engineering, system engineering, product planning, research & development and design.
Seminar Content
  • The Vehicle User Interface
    • Attributes of the vehicle environment
    • User interaction and user experience
  • Human Factors Principles for Vehicle Human-Machine Interface (HMI) Design
    • The cognitive and physical ergonomics distinction
    • Attention, memory, perception
    • Human information processing
  • Techniques for Designing Vehicle User Interfaces
    • Control and Display Factors
    • Design Principles and Approaches
    • UI Architecture Design
  • Assessing Vehicle User Interaction and Usability
    • Techniques and measures
    • Test approaches and methods
    • Planning user tests
  • Resources for Effective Vehicle Interface Design
    • Standards and best practices
Instructor(s): Michael Tschirhart and John Kosinski
Michael Tschirhart is a Human Factors Technical Fellow and Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) R&D Manager at Visteon Corporation where he is responsible for the development of advanced HMI product concepts and intellectual property; and directing global advanced user research activities. Dr. Tschirhart joined Visteon Corporation in 2000 and has since held leadership roles in marketing, research and advanced product development. Prior to Visteon, he held positions in market research, organizational development and process improvement at Ford Motor Company. He is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt and holds a master's degree in Statistics and a doctorate in Cognitive Psychology, both from the University of Michigan. He has taught at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit and the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

John Kosinski is a User Interaction Technical Professional at Visteon Corporation. Mr. Kosinski has 25 years user interaction design experience ranging from automated test and machine tool equipment to emergency vehicle and in-vehicle infotainment systems. He holds multiple patents in controls and user interfaces and brings extensive experience in systems, hardware and software engineering, graphic design and human factors applied to the development of innovative user interface solutions.

Fees: $745 SAE Members*: $595 - $675
* The appropriate SAE Member discount will be applied through the Registration process.  Discounts vary according to level of membership: Elite Member 20%; Premium Member 15%; Classic Member 10%
CEU .7