Dashboard design and the ‘datafied’ driving experience

Abstract

In this article, I consider how the redesign of vehicle dashboards has restructured car-related data processes. I do so by charting the emergence of two such processes enabled by the redesign of vehicle dashboards: firstly, the transformation of ‘geodata’ into ‘navigational data’ with the integration of voice-activated navigation systems into vehicle dashboards, and secondly, the transformation of ‘vehicle data’ into ‘driving data’ in the convergence, and customization, of dashboard features and functionality. Both transformations are enabled through strategic design decisions, persuading drivers to participate in novel practices they might otherwise not. Firstly, in that voice-activation is depicted as a seamless, unmediated interface between the normal, natural speech of a driver, and the vehicle itself. Secondly, through the strategy of control, the driver is persuaded to believe they have full(er) customizable power within, and of, Firstly, in that voice-activation is depicted as a seamless, unmediated interface between the normal, natural speech of a driver, and the vehicle itself. Secondly, through the strategy of control, the driver is persuaded to believe they have full(er) customizable power within, and of, the vehicle. The systems discussed here – a voice-activated navigation system built on the What3words platform, and a ‘widescreen’ dashboard in a range of Mercedes-Benz vehicles – are representative of broader efforts within the automotive industry to cultivate a newly ‘datafied’ driving experience.

Making the Car “Platform Ready”: How Big Tech Is Driving the Platformization of Automobility

“…In the case of German car manufacturer Volkswagen, for example, these fixes have come in the form of foreign acquisitions post-1989 (e.g., buying the formerly Czechoslovakian state-owned Škoda), coupled with securing favorable tax agreements, the suspension of monopoly rules, and the design of modular factory concepts (Henn, 2022; Pavlínek, 2008). In this, we can see how vehicle manufacturers have both (a) long deployed an array of techniques to extract value from the production process while (b) remaining vulnerable to external platformization as high-cost, materially-heavy, locally-embedded, and supplier-dependent firms (Hind, 2021).…”

“…Vehicles have long had the capacity to transmit data (Dodge & Kitchin, 2007; Wilken & Thomas, 2019), with components able to communicate using established protocols. However, CAVs carry a broader variety of onboard sensor technologies to collect and process real-time data of the local environment, constituting a newly “‘datafied’ driving experience” (Hind, 2021). Contemporary luxury vehicles now possess between 100 and 150 electronic control units (ECUs) (Hind, 2021; Stoltzfus, 2020; Winning, 2019), required to transmit and store data.…”

“…As such, it extends Android’s reach. Moreover, Ford has chosen Google Cloud as a preferred cloud provider (Lardinois, 2021) to find ways of datafying, commercializing, and “personalising” (Hind, 2021, p. 10) the CAV driving experience.…”

“…On one hand, established social practices are subtly reformatted, while on the other, entirely new driving experiences are cultivated. Voice-activated navigation systems, such as with the aforementioned Android Auto and what3words, swap typed inputs for vocal utterances (Hind, 2021). Lane-changing or self-parking systems, as machine operations, render human involvement minimal.…”

Associations of visual functions with attitudes about motor vehicle dashboards among older drivers

“…Early in the design of dashboards, they were simplistic, relaying limited information to the driver. But advancements in technology and demands from consumers have greatly expanded what is displayed and controlled from the console (Hind, 2021 ). The interaction of the driver and dashboard is critically dependent on vision, yet there has been little to no work on how the driver's visual functional abilities impact their perception and understanding of the dashboard.…”