Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Generally, the main objective of driving aids is to improve security, all the while
favoring driving comfort (
safety enhancing technologies
). They are developed to
facilitate the driving activity and to use the performances of the vehicle as best as
possible [LEE 97], all the while maintaining an optimal level of security for the
driver and road environment [MIC 93]. However, the past few years have seen the
appearance of numerous embedded systems, which are more or less dependent on
the vehicle but do not have a safety objective (
safety impacting technologies
);
this is
the case with the cell phone or fleet management tools. These different tools,
regularly used by drivers in the context of work activity, have the effect of
multiplying sources of distraction [LAN 04], [STR 04] and consequently increasing
the risks of accidents [MCE 07]. A recent American study carried out with bus and
heavy goods vehicle drivers also put forward the dangerous nature of certain
subtasks associated with the use of the cell phone, such as texting [HIC 10].
Thus, the driver must not only steer his vehicle while ensuring the responsibility
of the goods transported and the safety of other road users, but also manage a
multitude of systems, provide instructions, monitor the environment, communicate
with the outside, etc. It is therefore necessary to pay particular attention to the
functioning strategies of assistance systems as well as to the interfaces that will
enable interactions between the human and machine, while taking into account the
real activity of the driver and the behaviors of people traveling around the vehicle.
This human-centered approach, must be applied from the design of systems, at the
risk of developing systems that are poorly adapted to users and therefore underused,
even rejected or avoided [MAL 07].
From this perspective, the VIVRE2 project consortium adopted a
pluridisciplinary systemic approach to user-centered design (UCD), which takes into
account the issue of the security of vulnerable people by integrating the contextual,
human and technological factors.
7.2.2.
The user-centered design approach
Classic in ergonomics, the UCD approach is based on the notion of
acceptability,
which corresponds to the “degree” of integration and appropriation of an object in a
context of use [BAR 09]. Acceptability is conditioned by the
usability
characteristics
of the object [NIE 93]. Fisher [FIS 01] broadened this notion of usability to the field
of adaptive systems: “to make systems more usable, more useful, and to provide
users with experiences fitting their specific background knowledge and objectives”.
