This chapter briefly discusses the design of the driver-vehicle interaction. The design must be related to the context in which the total man-machine system will operate, and to the content of the information flow between user and technical system. In practice, the ideal design process is not found, and there must be a combination of top-down system approach and analysis with bottom-up technology-oriented synthesis. If there is enough time, the design process is iterative, with a series of redesigns and system evaluations. The evaluation criteria are acceptable system performance, technical feasibility, and user acceptance of the product or system provided. Ideas have to be turned into practical functional concepts, and the implementation of these concepts into solutions accepted by users. Marketplace actors must be incorporated into the design work, using systems engineering, expertise, creativity, situation knowledge, etc. The development of information technology has stimulated the introduction of new design tools, including rapid prototyping. Completely new problems and needs are usually solved or met by improving existing solutions, very rarely by developing new products or solutions. The standardisation of man-machine interfaces has always been controversial.
Abstract