CASE STUDY- NAVVIZOR

Facilitating seamless navigation while driving with reduced mental effort

NavVizor: An augmented reality theme-based navigation

Our primary objectives are to provide clear and concise guidance and keep drivers focused on the road and their surroundings. We aim to enhance the driver’s attention by making it more engaging and enjoyable. We strive to minimize the mental effort by simplifying navigation instructions and streamlining decision-making processes.

INTRODUCTION

MY ROLE

THE TEAM

TIMELINE

Responsible for our research methods, findings, and how we arrived at our prototypes. We will go into more detail about our evaluation methods and conclude with our results.

3 designers

4 months

Objective

Imagine driving through a bustling city, relying on your navigation app. It tells you to turn left, but a confusing maze of streets is ahead. Existing navigation apps often fall short of delivering clear and accurate guidance. Our project focuses on understanding driver challenges and exploring ways to minimize the cognitive load and enhance their driving experience.

Research Gap

Navigating through urban roads in the US can be quite daunting, especially the intricate network of roads that poses numerous challenges for drivers. Existing navigation apps fall short of delivering clear and accurate guidance. In this project, we are examining the difficulties individuals encounter while driving and exploring ways to minimize their cognitive load, thereby enhancing their driving experience.

User Research Methodology

We strived to include a diverse group of participants in the study. We aimed to obtain participants of different ethnicities, educational backgrounds, and experiences. The participants also had diverse professional backgrounds: some were engineers, and others worked in completely different fields like medicine.

User Persona

Jordan, a 19-year-old college student, values simple, intuitive tech in his car to enhance safety and reduce distractions. Marie, a 30-year-old tech enthusiast, enjoys exploring new routes and relies on seamless smartphone integration and connected car services for real-time updates. Both seek efficient, user-friendly driving experiences with smart technology.

IDEATION STAGE

Brainstorming & Ideation

We used the Crazy 8's method, where each team member sketched 8 ideas in 8 minutes, repeating the process several times, generating 65 ideas based on themes from affinity mapping. We then evaluated and filtered these ideas using the STAR method, rating them on importance, feasibility, and novelty. Afterward, the shortlisted ideas were organized according to user pain points (e.g., difficulty switching lanes, merging highways). Finally, we created storyboards for each idea to clarify the vision and address potential challenges.

Conceptual UI Storyboard

Once the final ideas were filtered, we moved on to creating storyboards and conceptual UI. We built scenarios around the concepts and used the storyboarding method to visually articulate them. This method helped in visualizing the ideas that we had and defining the key elements we wanted to work on. Let's look at our visual storyboard in the following video.

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Prototype building process

Our primary step was to convert our storyboards into feasible pen-and-paper low-fidelity prototypes. Then, the plan was to record videos while driving in the Dearborn and Detroit region and then augment our AR elements onto those videos. We considered 3 scenarios: freeways, local streets, and parking. Finally, the next step was to identify the best tool for building our high-fidelity prototype videos. So we did in-depth research and implementation on tools like Adobe Aero, After Effects, Google's Geospatial Creator, Runway, and even tools like Canva and Clipchamp.

Creating a design system

Our design system is a library of components, including AR elements, colors, icons, typography, and more. Each component is meticulously crafted to align with our brand identity and to enhance usability.

USABILITY TESTING STAGE

Evaluation Methods

Our primary evaluation method was usability testing. We had participants physically test our prototypes at the driving simulator lab at the university. We wanted to create an experience close to a real driving scenario. So, we used Oculus (a VR headset) to show our video prototype. The videos were posted on YouTube and viewed through the Oculus. With this, we aimed to make the experience more engaging for participants. For evaluation, we used methods like semi-structured qualitative interviews, the NASA TLX survey, and the Likert survey.

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Findings of the study

Participants indicated advantages of our prototypes over traditional navigation apps, like allowing them to focus on the road without looking at the map constantly. They liked receiving lane guidance, warnings, and spatial awareness.
The majority of participants appeared to feel that the AR features of the navigation enhanced their navigation experience.
They believed AR features added value when compared to traditional navigation apps (like Google, Apple Maps).
They also felt more engaged with the surroundings due to the thematic approach to navigation.
Participants perceived the theme-based navigation to be helpful in switching/merging into lanes easily.

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Takeaways

This project has been a fantastic experience from beginning to end. Although there was no significant effect of AR theme-based navigation on the demand, effort, and frustration of participants, they were perceived to enhance the driving experience by keeping drivers engaged with the surrounding environment.

There is potential for such AR navigation systems to improve driver performance and needs to be investigated further. We would like to further explore the effect of cognitive tunneling with theme-based AR navigation. Enjoy my prototype below!