Research and Practice of Intelligent Cockpit Interaction Design Based on Women’s Car Scenarios

Automotive seating and controls have traditionally been designed with a male-centric approach, reflecting technologies and ergonomics established over a century ago, which may not meet the needs of today. Car cockpits have been tailored primarily for male users, often overlooking the preferences and requirements of women drivers. While car design has begun to work on safety questions for women's bodies in the cockpit, this project focuses on comfort and enjoyment. This research project identifies the specific problems of women in cockpits to offer design solutions for their scenarios. This research includes a design project to redesign the heating controls in car seats so that they are divided to be more modular and controllable to the needs of women drivers. I use interviews and field visits, gendered design research, and continuous literature reviews to identify the most pressing problems and needs for women drivers. The findings led to my design project Modular Heated Seat using multimodal interaction and focusing specifically on how it interacts with the driver. This project is developed on a digital platform with specific context and physical prototypes. Human-centred design incorporates gender-specific considerations in cockpit design to significantly enhance women drivers' comfort. This research contributes substantially to automotive industry change by documenting a design probe into the challenges of rectifying gendered design.