Values

Abstract

Different groups of people may have different demands for the same type of product. This phenomenon may not have been as noticeable for automotive products manufactured before the era of intelligence. Any given user would want a vehicle with large space, fast acceleration, low noise, and good ride comfort. The performance of these attributes is positively correlated with the vehicle's price. However, in the era of intelligence, vehicle experiences can lead to even greater differences, further highlighting consumers’ varied demands for automotive products. For instance, some users might prefer larger screens and fewer physical buttons, while others may wish to retain as many physical buttons as possible; some users love cool animations and lighting, while others desire a simple and clear-cut screen interface. These differences are not related to price and are even minimally related to usage scenarios—they are almost purely personal, subjective preferences. For different groups with limited communication, such as users from two different countries, these personal subjective preferences are even more pronounced. In short, Chinese users may like a particular automotive HMI design that German users dislike, and vice versa.

10.1 Culture and Values

Different groups of people may have different demands for the same type of product. This phenomenon may not have been as noticeable for automotive products manufactured before the era of intelligence. Any given user would want a vehicle with large space, fast acceleration, low noise, and good ride comfort. The performance of these attributes is positively correlated with the vehicle's price. However, in the era of intelligence, vehicle experiences can lead to even greater differences, further highlighting consumers’ varied demands for automotive products. For instance, some users might prefer larger screens and fewer physical buttons, while others may wish to retain as many physical buttons as possible; some users love cool animations and lighting, while others desire a simple and clear-cut screen interface. These differences are not related to price and are even minimally related to usage scenarios—they are almost purely personal, subjective preferences. For different groups with limited communication, such as users from two different countries, these personal subjective preferences are even more pronounced. In short, Chinese users may like a particular automotive HMI design that German users dislike, and vice versa.

Intelligence has made differences in the preferences of car users more substantial and important, yet the automotive industry lacks the research experience on these purely subjective preferences. Therefore, we need to explore more comprehensive, systematic, and forward-thinking research approaches.

10.1.1 Cultural Influence on Automotive User Experience Design

When studying the differences in user preferences, the automotive industry typically employs user surveys to obtain direct feedback. However, such research methods have their limitations and are not ideal for the study of subjective preferences, especially for the digital experience. First, user surveys tend to capture superficial opinions rather than in-depth explanations. For example, users can respond whether they need to sing karaoke with friends and family in the car, but they might not be able to articulate why karaoke is more suitable for entertainment with their loved ones than watching movies. Second, users can only express their current thoughts but not predict their future thoughts. This is partly because users have no need or obligation to fully imagine the future, and their future choices might be influenced by other factors. For instance, before the launch of the iPhone X in 2017, users would not have expressed a preference for the “notched display” design, yet this design later became very common in the market. Finally, user opinions are discrete and lack a systematic framework. We can use statistical methods to analyze trends in user group choices, but the interpretation of the underlying causes often relies on the researcher's subjective experience.

Therefore, it is necessary to determine what approach should be adopted to investigate the subjective preferences of users for automotive intelligence experiences. As these are personal preferences, which are essentially differences among individuals, the research should begin by exploring the root cause of these individual differences—culture. The Dutch sociologist Geert Hofstede pointed out that culture is the collective programming or “software of the mind” that distinguishes the members of one group from the others [1].

The uniqueness of people's software of the minds can be divided into three levels: human nature, culture, and individual, as shown in Fig. 10.1.

Fig. 10.1

Three levels of uniqueness in the software of minds

Human nature is universal and inherited genetically. Most human beings agree that happiness is better than sadness, health is better than disease, abundance is better than scarcity, freedom is better than oppression, and knowledge is better than ignorance. Everyone enjoys listening to stories, myths, and proverbs; all children are fearful of the unknown and unfamiliar; and all adults are more inclined to trust the members of their group than those outside it. Besides, Immanuel Kant argued that, although the differences in intelligence between individuals cannot be eliminated, there are universal and common aspects in their mental world, that is, esthetics. Thus, the pursuit of beauty is universal to all human beings.

Culture affects all our thoughts, feelings, and actions, which not only includes activities to refine our minds but also mundane matters such as greeting people, eating, and expressing emotions. Culture is a collective phenomenon because it is at least partly shared with people who live or lived within the same social environment, and this environment is where culture is learned. Hofstede believes that culture is learned, not innate. It is derived from an individual’s social environment rather than from their genes [1].

Individual is a unique set of mental programs that are not shared with any other individual. It is based on the traits that are partly inherited within the individual's unique set of genes and partly learned.

When studying the subjective and differentiated preferences of users for automotive intelligence experiences, culture serves as the most crucial starting point. However, human nature is shared by all human beings and does not directly result in differentiated user needs, while individual is unique to each person and can vary significantly, even within a small group. However, it is impractical to research every individual separately when defining consumer products. Furthermore, prioritizing the analysis of individual differences over the commonality of a particular group based on culture is not only unnecessary but will also come at the expense of our ability to generalize and predict common patterns.

10.1.2 Values as the Core of Culture

Next, we will delve into the concept of culture. What, precisely, is culture? Collectivism can be regarded as a prominent aspect of Chinese culture, so can the tradition of tea-drinking. Similarly, brainstorming can be considered a part of work culture, so can the conservation of paper. However, it is evident that the key concepts in these instances are not on the same level. In fact, culture can be categorized into four levels: symbols, heroes, rituals, and values, as illustrated in Fig. 10.2 [2]. Symbols represent the most superficial layer, whereas values constitute the deepest manifestation, with heroes and rituals lying in between.

Fig. 10.2

(Source Hofstede Insights)

Manifestations of culture at different depth levels

Symbols are words, gestures, pictures, or objects that carry a particular meaning that is recognized as such only by those who share the same culture. The words in a language or jargon belong to this category, as do dressing styles, hairstyles, flags, and status symbols. Several symbols are transient, such as popular words in a language. New symbols are easily formed, while old symbols can disappear.

Heroes are people, alive or dead, real or imaginary, who possess characteristics that are highly prized in a culture and, hence, serve as models for behavior. Benjamin Franklin and Batman in the United States or Lu Xun and the Monkey King in China are all considered heroes within their respective cultures. Heroes are more stable than symbols. A hero possessing enduring vitality may continuously generate or give rise to new cultural symbols.

Rituals are collective activities that are technically superfluous to achieve desired goals but are considered socially essential from a cultural perspective. Therefore, they are performed for their own sake. Examples include ways of greeting and paying respect to others, social and religious ceremonies, and meetings intended to reinforce group cohesion.

In Fig. 10.2, symbols, heroes, and rituals are subsumed under the term “practices” because they are visible to an outside observer; however, their cultural meaning is invisible and can only be understood in the way these practices are interpreted by the insiders.

A culture's core is formed by values. Values are broad tendencies that prefer certain states of affairs over others. Values are feelings with an added directionality indicating a positive and a negative side. They deal with pairings such as evil versus good, dangerous versus safe, forbidden versus permitted, indecent versus decent, immoral versus moral, unnatural versus natural, abnormal versus normal, paradoxical versus logical, and irrational versus rational.

Any phenomenon related to culture necessarily encompasses both the visible layer of practices and the unseen core of values. For instance, when Chinese people gift several boxes of milk to relatives during the Chinese New Year, the underlying value is the reinforcement of familial relationships within the context of collectivism. The ritual is the manifestation of reciprocation; the choice of gifting milk may be influenced by the spokesperson (i.e., the hero), and the red packaging symbolizes the New Year’s festivity. However, the three layers of practices–symbols, heroes, and rituals do not necessarily appear simultaneously in every specific cultural phenomenon. Rituals are usually only related to dynamic processes instead of static states; for instance, symmetric architectural layouts have little to do with rituals. Heroes play a significant role in culture, often triggering the abrupt change of cultural symbols, yet they are not essential to every cultural phenomenon, particularly for more stable cultural phenomenon. For example, when choosing to wear red clothes for the New Year’s celebration in China, there is no need to associate this choice with a famous figure from ancient times.

10.1.3 Hofstede’s 6D Cultural Model

Values constitute the core of culture. There are numerous approaches to the study of values, among which Hofstede's 6D cultural model is particularly well known. The Dutch sociologist Geert Hofstede, a professor at Maastricht University in the Netherlands and a former researcher at IBM, first proposed his cultural theory in 1980, which has since evolved into the Hofstede 6D cultural model we use today. Hofstede's cultural research results are cited approximately 13,000 times per year in academia, with more than 240,000 citations to date, making him the most-cited social scientist across Europe.

Hofstede's 6D cultural model can abstract the cultural characteristics of any country as scores across six dimensions. Hofstede transformed the field of culture, once a predominantly qualitative research area, into a quantitative research area, making it more easily comprehensible, applicable, and comparable as well as significantly lowering the threshold for cultural research within the field of sociology. This theory has been applied across various fields such as human resource management, international trade, and experience design.

The six dimensions in Hofstede's model are power distance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, uncertainty avoidance, long- and short-term orientation, and indulgence versus restraint [2]. Each dimension is scored as an integer between 0 and 100, calculated through quantitative surveys. The scores in Hofstede's 6D cultural model cover more than 70 countries and regions worldwide. Specific figures can be found on the official website of Hofstede Insights (https://www.hofstede-insights.com/). It is worth noting that there is no right or wrong judgment in high or low scores on any dimension. These are merely relative values representing the differences in cultural values.

Power distance refers to the extent to which less powerful members of an organization accept that power is distributed unequally. It reflects people's attitudes towards inequality. Cultures with high power distance tend to see hierarchies as necessary, accept the privileges that come with power, obey their superiors' instructions, and agree with centralized decision-making. Conversely, cultures with a low power distance are inclined to view hierarchies simply as convenient, do not approve of privilege for anyone, exhibit stronger initiative, and support decentralized decision-making.

Individualism refers to societies in which the ties between individuals are loose and everyone is expected to look after themselves or their immediate family members. By contrast, in collectivist societies, people are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups that look after them in exchange for loyalty. In the study of societal culture, a significant negative correlation can be found between individualism and collectivism; hence, the two factors can be considered a single dimension. Individualism and collectivism embody the extent to which people depend on others. Individualist cultures tend to prioritize tasks over relationships, show loyalty to close family members, communicate explicitly, value freedom, and feel guilt over mistakes. Conversely, collectivist cultures are inclined to prioritize relationships over tasks, show loyalty to their collectives, communicate implicitly, strive for harmony, and feel shame over mistakes. Countries with individualistic cultures are more likely to have a low power distance, with some exceptions, such as France and Belgium, which are individualism societies with relatively high power distance.

Masculinity cultures prioritize success and achievement, whereas femininity cultures focus on interpersonal relationships and quality of life. Masculinity and femininity embody the sources of people's motivations. This dimension is less intuitive and difficult to understand, yet remains crucial. In masculinity cultures, life is often perceived primarily in the context of work, success is admired, dominant views are expressed, ambitious goals are pursued, and a result-oriented mentality is emphasized. Conversely, in femininity cultures, work is considered as a means to enhance the quality of life, sympathy is shown towards the unfortunate, consensus and cooperation with others are valued, the goal is to pursue a higher quality of life, and a process-oriented mentality is emphasized. It is worth noting that, although the terms “masculinity” and “femininity” have gender connotations, the value orientations they represent are not inherently related to sex and certainly should not be equated with male or female chauvinism. For example, a man who is good at coordinating multiple interests and achieving work–life balance fits the description of femininity, but this does not necessarily mean he is a “feminine” man. Furthermore, masculinity is occasionally confused with high power distance, but the two are significantly different. High power distance means that the weak accept the gap with the strong, whereas masculinity represents the desire to become strong. The gap in power distance between individuals is often inherent and difficult to reduce, whereas the gap in masculinity between individuals can be narrowed through personal effort.

Uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations. This dimension reflects how people deal with the unknown. Cultures with high uncertainty avoidance tend to choose traditional things, fear change, be forced to innovate, need authoritative figures, have the self-drive to work hard, and use more deductive logic. By contrast, cultures with low uncertainty avoidance tend to choose trendy things, accept change, innovate spontaneously, do not necessarily need authoritative figures, work hard when needed, and use more inductive logic. In today's rapidly changing society involving numerous domains such as economics, politics, employment, and consumption, people are continuously creating and consuming new products, which makes the uncertainty avoidance dimension increasingly important. Of note, low uncertainty avoidance does not mean people like or prefer uncertainty. In fact, everyone is afraid of and resistant to uncertainty, but some are more willing to bear higher levels of uncertainty when presented with potential gains. For instance, no one wishes to experience a mobile software failure, but some would choose to update to an unstable new version to try new features as soon as possible. Additionally, uncertainty differs from risk. Economic risks can usually be calculated statistically, whereas uncertainty cannot be measured. The British economist John Maynard Keynes pointed out that the issue with uncertainty is that “there is no scientific basis on which to form any calculable probability whatever. We simply do not know.” [3].

Long-term orientation emphasizes nurturing and encouraging virtues that are oriented towards future rewards, particularly perseverance and thriftiness. Short-term orientation encourages the pursuit of virtues related to the past and present. Long-term versus short-term orientation reflects people’s attitudes toward time. Cultures with a long-term orientation tend to work for the future, value perseverance, believe in the flexibility and diversity of reasoning (encapsulated in the Chinese saying “specific issues require specific analysis”), and emphasize obligations. Conversely, cultures with a short-term orientation are inclined to work for the present, expect quick results, believe in absolute truths, and emphasize rights.

Indulgence represents the tendency to allow the relatively free gratification of basic and natural human desires related to enjoying life and having fun. Restraint represents the need to suppress and regulate such gratification of desires via strict social norms. Although the term “indulgence” might carry negative connotations in some languages, in this case, it is completely neutral, similar to the other dimensions. Indulgence versus restraint is a measure of how societies manage natural human desires and impulses. Cultures leaning towards indulgence tend to have fewer moral norms, consider leisure time important, spontaneously express emotions, and place more emphasis on outcomes. By contrast, cultures leaning towards restraint often have more moral norms, consider duty and responsibility important, suppress the expression of emotions, and place more value on effort.

Among the six dimensions, the first four appeared in the first edition of Hofstede’s “Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind”, whereas long-term versus short-term orientation and indulgence versus restraint were introduced in the second and third editions, respectively. Therefore, the first four can be regarded as the most original and fundamental dimensions, which already possess strong comprehensiveness and independence. The latter two dimensions can be considered complements that further enhance the comprehensiveness of Hofstede’s model. However, these two new dimensions are relatively correlated with some of the earlier dimensions and are not completely independent. For instance, individualistic cultures tend to prefer indulgence, whereas collectivistic cultures favor restraint. Therefore, some scholars have opted to use only the first four or five dimensions when applying Hofstede's model [4, 5]. For example, Huib Wursten's theory of culture clusters categorizes countries worldwide into seven major groups based on combinations of the first four cultural dimensions in Hofstede’s model.

Hofstede’s 6D cultural model may not necessarily be the only comprehensive or in-depth theory for cultural research, but it is the most user-friendly, particularly for researchers outside the field of social sciences. This is because it is highly systemic and quantitative, allowing complex cultural phenomena to be abstracted into a few standardized numerical values. When using Hofstede’s model, two points should be noted. First, the primary aim of these cultural dimensions is to provide a holistic perspective to guide our corresponding analyses and deliberations. The scores are simplifications and abstractions of the analysis results under each perspective. Hence, researchers should not merely focus on comparing the scores while overlooking the specific underlying values and practices. Second, although culture is important, it is one of the influencing factors in the process of social development and cannot replace the impact of other elements such as economics, politics, and technology.

10.2 Typical Values of Intelligent Vehicle Users

Compared with users in other markets, Chinese automotive users have several distinctive demands for automotive experience design, particularly for HMI design. The emergence of these demands can largely be traced back to the core values of Chinese culture. Figure 10.3 shows Hofstede's 6D cultural model scores for China, Germany, Japan, and the United States. It is evident that China has significant differences in most dimensions compared with other countries, and these differences are precisely the fundamental reasons for the different needs of Chinese users.

Fig. 10.3

(Source Hofstede Insights)

Hofstede's 6D cultural model scores for different countries

The six dimensions in Hofstede's model are highly abstract and cannot be used to directly guide or evaluate the user experience design. Therefore, we need to analyze and organize these dimensions in a more concrete manner to obtain the typical values of Chinese automotive users. These values reflect the subjective feelings that users hope to gain when purchasing and using vehicles. Although these values are not as abstract as the six dimensions in the model, they still belong to the innermost level of cultural manifestation shown in Fig. 10.2. The specific manifestation of these values in products primarily involves the two levels of practice: rituals and symbols.

Compared with European users, Chinese automotive users hold several unique values. In this section, we will mainly introduce the three most typical values: companionship, honor, and surprise and delight. There are two reasons for choosing these three values: first, Chinese users pursue these values more strongly than users in other major markets worldwide, and the reason for this is attributed to the uniqueness of the Chinese culture in Hofstede's cultural model. Second, these values are highly relevant to the automotive product experience, especially the automotive HMI experience. They can be easily realized in automotive products and form differentiated competitive advantages.

The analysis of these three unique values not only facilitates our understanding of the values of Chinese automotive users but also provides ideas for reference when studying automotive users in other countries. This can help product designers analyze the needs of different users in a more objective, comprehensive, and efficient manner.

In addition, reassurance is a value that is crucial to intelligent vehicle development worldwide and will also be discussed in detail in this section.

10.2.1 Companionship

Companionship is a value that is primarily reflected in the automotive HMI as the ability to allow users to interact with other people or anthropomorphic avatars. Companionship primarily stems from China's high collectivism culture or, in other words, its low individualism culture.

Chinese people are more willing to live in larger collectives and interact frequently with the members of these groups. Many Chinese individuals have very close relationships with relatives outside their immediate family. Group entertainment activities, such as square dancing, are very popular in China. Even commercial films expressing heroism often center around a small collective, such as “The Wandering Earth” and “Operation Red Sea,” which is completely different from typical Hollywood superhero films. For contemporary young Chinese users, the sense of companionship remains highly significant but is also becoming increasingly complex. They no longer desire an all-encompassing sense of companionship but instead are seeking timely and moderate companionship, which allows them to feel at ease. Additionally, the groups with which these young users identify are shifting from familial relations to interest-based circles.

Companionship is essentially not involved in the basic usage of vehicles. Whether it is driving the car or using the HMI system for navigation and listening to music, these tasks are performed by the driver alone, without the need to involve others or the use of anthropomorphic figures to achieve clearer information transmission. Therefore, companionship is not a necessity in the automotive experience but rather a bonus. However, the importance of companionship should not be overlooked. In fact, certain automotive products that provide users with companionship have achieved remarkable success in the Chinese market and are now popular case studies.

The most common manifestation of companionship is an anthropomorphic (or zoomorphic) voice assistant avatar. Compared with other interaction modalities, voice control in automotive HMI is more suited to the application of avatars. First, the voice control interaction process is more similar to a conversation between people, in which the introduction of an interactive avatar can make users feel more natural. By contrast, the interaction process of touch screens and buttons involves step-by-step commands, which are somewhat different from human conversation. Furthermore, voice control does not have a visible interface, making it difficult for users to perceive the interaction status of the system. A voice assistant avatar can display the interaction status, such as listening, processing, speaking, and so on.

Voice assistant avatars can be divided into anthropomorphic (or zoomorphic) and abstract types. Anthropomorphic voice assistants will present a human or animal face to display emotions, lip shapes, and other features, with some even having a body and limbs to show body language and personalized attire. Currently, several mainstream Chinese car brands have adopted anthropomorphic voice assistants. In fact, anthropomorphic or zoomorphic mascots are widely used by Chinese companies in various fields. For instance, Tmall has a cat-like mascot and JD.com has a dog-like mascot, whereas international mainstream shopping websites such as eBay and Amazon do not have similar mascots. Abstract voice assistants are typically dynamic geometric shapes or waves used to display the interaction state. A typical abstract assistant is Apple’s Siri, while many European and American car brands also use abstract voice assistants, as shown in Fig. 10.4. An avatar similar to a human or animal feels very similar to having a family member, a companion, or a pet communicating and interacting with the user, thus generating a stronger sense of companionship. Conversely, an abstract voice assistant avatar primarily displays the interaction state, making it more difficult for users to feel a sense of companionship.

Fig. 10.4

Voice assistant avatars of Apple's Siri and Mercedes-Benz C-Class (2023)

Anthropomorphic (or zoomorphic) voice assistants can be further classified. From an image realism perspective, they can be classified according to style as sketches (e.g., Li Auto One shown in Fig. 10.5), cartoons (e.g., Xpeng P7 shown in Fig. 10.5), and full simulations. Theoretically speaking, the more realistic the avatar, the stronger the sense of companionship it conveys; however, it is also vital to avoid the “uncanny valley” effect. In terms of image completeness, they can be primarily classified as eyes (e.g., Li Auto One shown in Fig. 10.5), mainly eyes and mouth, a complete head, and a complete body with limbs (e.g., Xpeng P7 shown in Fig. 10.5). The more complete the avatar, the more human-like it looks. However, the eyes are the easiest way for the voice assistant to convey rich emotions, and complex mouth shapes and body language might distract the user. Regarding the display format, the voice avatar can be displayed on a screen, as a small physical robot (e.g., NIO ET7 shown in Fig. 10.5) or as a holographic projection. Small robots can easily attract users’ attention and become a prominent selling point for the product; however, owing to hardware constraints, there is limited room for innovation. By contrast, on-screen or holographic avatars can be more creative in their dynamic expressions and accessories. For example, the avatar Vicky designed by AMMI for the Volkswagen:UX prototype cockpit can appear on the screen or hover above the dashboard and has approximately 30 different expressions and accessories, as shown in Fig. 10.6.

Fig. 10.5

Voice assistant avatars of Li Auto One (left), Xpeng P5 (center), and NIO ET7 (2021) (right)

Fig. 10.6

(Source Volkswagen Group China)

Wide variety of expressions and accessories displayed by the voice assistant of the Volkswagen:UX prototype cockpit (2021)

In addition to having anthropomorphic avatars, voice assistants can also interact with users for recreational purposes, such as chatting, telling jokes, playing riddles, and other activities. These features can help users feel a sense of companionship similar to that of real humans. The current usage frequency of these features is relatively low, partly because several users are not accustomed to chatting with machines and partly because the dialogue capability of voice assistants is not as natural as that of real humans. With the cultivation of user habits and the advancement of technology, the importance of these features will gradually increase.

Apart from interacting with voice assistants, another important direction in companionship is to facilitate user interaction with other people. For example, if the HMI system supports mainstream social messaging software, it not only allows having conversations with friends but also enables the sharing of driving-related information such as the current location, destinations, and driving routes. Driver distraction is a limiting factor for the widespread use of in-vehicle social software. Currently, whether it is in-vehicle WeChat or the SMS feature in Apple CarPlay, these can only support the voice input and output of conversational content, which greatly reduces visual distractions, but also significantly lowers conversational efficiency, causing the reluctance of some users to use these applications.

Phone calls are another means of connecting in-vehicle users with other people. This method is simple and direct; however, several automotive HMI systems have overlooked its importance. Adding a feature on the home page or in the shortcut menu to call designated contacts with one tap would make users who are accustomed to socializing on the phone feel that contacting their friends and family is right at their fingertips.

Interaction among in-vehicle passengers is also important. Many car models are equipped with an increasing number of screens, not only for the driver but also for the front and rear passengers. Each passenger's screen can provide individual audio–visual entertainment while also serving as a tool for interaction among vehicle occupants to enhance task efficiency and foster emotional bonds. For instance, the front passenger could browse restaurant information on their screen to make a selection and send the chosen address to the navigation system, which in turn would guide the driver to the selected destination, as shown in Fig. 10.7. This not only avoids driver distraction caused by searching for restaurants but also increases the interaction among passengers. Passenger interaction between multiple screens not only requires product designers to fully investigate and define various scenarios but also places higher demands on the hardware architecture of the HMI system.

Fig. 10.7

Ability to send destinations searched from the front passenger screen to the navigation system on the central information display in Geely Xingue L (2021), translated from Chinese language

10.2.2 Honor

In an automotive HMI, honor as a value is primarily embodied by the use of eye-catching or achievement-symbolizing designs to enhance the user's confidence and sense of pride as well as fostering the respect and recognition of others. This value primarily arises from the high masculinity and high power distance of Chinese culture. The former dictates people's motivation to pursue honor and the latter explains why products have sufficient diversity to reflect honor.

Concerning masculinity, Chinese people generally agree that everyone should have dreams, work tirelessly, overcome their competitors, and achieve higher accomplishments. Therefore, long overtime hours are common in Chinese companies, and successful entrepreneurs and founders are idolized. The pursuit of achievements naturally implies that people are more willing to showcase their accomplishments, such as by purchasing luxury goods to show off. The ostentation engendered by the masculine culture is focused on the price of the item rather than the enjoyment of its functionality. For example, some people buy Rolex watches not because they like its specific style but because its price and the wealth it symbolizes are widely recognized.

Understanding the manifestation of honor in the automotive user experience also requires studying the power distance culture. Chinese people are subjected to ranking by exam scores in schools and encounter various performance assessments at work. Even the number of steps walked each day can appear on a leaderboard in WeChat. Within an organization, the leader not only manages the team but often also has a high level of authority and enjoys more resources such as a larger office area. Therefore, in the design of products and services, there will be a rich variety of differentiation to reflect different levels or grades. For example, the German researcher Martin Karaffa found that, in countries with high power distance, premium car brands have a higher market share. These brands, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and others, do not exhibit the same consumption characteristics as watches, bags, and other luxury goods. The high price of premium cars usually includes better functionality and usability, such as more power and more comfort configurations, whereas the difference between other luxury and ordinary goods in terms of functionality and usability is not significant.

When investigating vehicles as a type of consumer product, we can observe that the user preferences caused by masculinity and power distance are indeed strongly associated. However, this does not mean that these two dimensions are similar. In domains where other cultural models are applied, such as corporate management and business communication, these two dimensions have very significant differences, and the similarity manifested in the field of consumer goods is just a special case.

Honor is a subjective perception and does not intrinsically embody any functionality or usability attributes. However, a specific product design that embodies honor often encompasses functionality or usability as well. For instance, the visual impact produced by a larger in-vehicle screen can be associated with honor, while its ability to display a more extensive range of information contributes to its functionality. When analyzing such designs, it is essential to isolate the attributes of honor for a more targeted discussion.

Honor plays a crucial role for many Chinese consumers when choosing automotive products and could even potentially serve as a decisive factor in whether to purchase a specific car model. Larger body sizes are very popular, despite the fact that the rear seats of some vehicles are rarely occupied. Larger wheel hubs are equally appreciated, even though they might amplify the roughness of daily roads. Panoramic sunroofs are also very well-liked, even if the vehicle owner does not particularly enjoy basking in the sun. These features and equipment do not necessarily enhance functionality or usability and may even impede these aspects. However, these aspects are all readily visible to others and, hence, are easy to show off. By contrast, some design elements that enhance personal user experience are not valued by Chinese users but are prevalent in the German market. These include seat ventilation and heating, custom interior leather stitching, and so on.

In automotive HMI, honor can be embodied by hardware devices with sensory impact, the most common among which is to have more and larger in-vehicle screens. Currently, there is no consensus on whether more and larger screens will improve usability. Although these screens can display more information and reduce operational steps, they often increase the cognitive load and the difficulty of touching the screen with one's fingers. Moreover, when the in-vehicle screen area increases exponentially, it becomes necessary to assess what information can and needs to be displayed. These issues are still in the preliminary exploration phase of automotive HMI design, and a consensus has not yet been reached. Therefore, some car models have remained restrained with respect to the size and number of screens, using only two central information displays and an instrument cluster display not exceeding 12.3 inches. Some vehicles even use an instrument cluster display with an area of only approximately 5 inches, even smaller than the screen of current mainstream small-sized smartphones.

However, from the perspective of honor, having several and larger screens offers a clear advantage. The screen serves as the core input and output hardware for the automotive HMI system, naturally becoming an important symbol for a sense of technology in the cabin. Most Chinese users agree that having larger and more screens will convey a stronger sense of technology, and the vehicle will be perceived as more advanced and valuable. This impression is subjective and not necessarily linked to the actual performance and usability of the HMI system. This impression is also critical because when choosing a vehicle, many consumers only spend a few seconds or minutes experiencing a few functions in the HMI system, and such experiences are inevitably subjective, general, and incomprehensive. Therefore, several and larger screens are likely to persist as a prominent trend in automotive HMI development. This is not because users genuinely need to see a considerable amount of information on the screen but because users appreciate the atmosphere and feelings created by the screens, as exemplified by IM L7 shown in Fig. 10.8.

Fig. 10.8

(Source IM Motors)

Retractable instrument cluster display, central information display, front passenger display, and lower control display in IM L7 (2022)

In addition to screens, other HMI hardware can also provide a sensory impact that instills a sense of honor in users. Examples include large-area dynamic ambient lighting, exquisite retractable speakers, buttons and knobs with a crystalline texture, and steering wheels with a distinct, non-circular design.

The concept of honor in automotive HMI can also be manifested in the scoring and ranking of user performance. This approach is widespread in mainstream mobile applications in China, such as the step count ranking on WeChat Sports, the hot search list on Weibo, and various gaming rewards and rankings. Some popular navigation apps in China, such as Amap and Baidu Maps, provide rich data and beautifully animated summaries at the end of the navigation, a feature absent in Western counterparts such as Google Maps and Waze. Automotive HMI can offer performance scoring and ranking, as shown in Fig. 10.9, but such designs are still at an early stage. Automotive companies can use scoring and ranking to reinforce their brand attributes. For example, they can emphasize their environmental friendliness by scoring energy consumption or carbon reduction, highlight the worry-free range of electric vehicles by ranking the number of remote destinations, or demonstrate a vehicle's control performance by providing statistics on longitudinal and lateral acceleration. These scores and rankings should have dedicated interface designs to better achieve the theme-related atmosphere and should also be sharable with friends to further emphasize the sense of honor in a social environment.

Fig. 10.9

Driving scoring interface of Geely Xingyue L (2021), translated from Chinese language

Owing to cultural differences, the value needs of car users around the world may differ significantly from those in the Chinese market. For instance, in the Nordic concept of Jantelagen, boasting about one's wealth is considered off-putting, and one should instead present oneself as ordinary, without any sense of superiority. In such cultures, certain elements of Chinese automotive design that express a sense of honor might not be suitable.

10.2.3 Surprise and Delight

In an automotive HMI, the values of surprise and delight are primarily expressed by satisfying people's desire for novelty through unique or continually updated designs. This value mainly stems from the lower uncertainty avoidance of Chinese culture, which implies a greater willingness to accept uncertainty.

Chinese people are generally more willing to embrace uncertainty. In terms of career development, many young people aspire to create or join start-up teams. In the realm of consumption, people are eager to try new cell phone brands, new automotive brands, and new tech products. In Europe, many families tend to stick with the same automotive brand in the long term, even opting for successive generations of the same car model. However, in China, many people wish to experience as many automotive brands as possible. The reason they switch brands is not because of any dissatisfaction with the products they previously purchased and used but merely the desire to try another brand. Furthermore, according to a report by Worldpay, more than 50% of e-commerce payments by Chinese users were made through e-wallets in 2016, whereas the proportion of e-wallet payments was only approximately 20% in Europe and America, where traditional methods such as credit cards still dominated. Whether it is career choices or consumer behavior, new options introduce the potential for uncertainty. However, the novel opportunities and experiences they offer are also more enticing, thus prompting users to forsake certainty. Novelty does not necessarily imply better usability—novelty itself is a type of surprise and delight, and an improved usability is yet another form of surprise and delight.

The lower uncertainty avoidance of Chinese culture also provides excellent opportunities for emerging automotive brands. In 2021, 6 of the top 10 best-selling brands in the Chinese A-segment and above electric vehicle market were new brands, despite having been in the Chinese automotive market for less than 10 years. Upon their initial launch, the products of these new brands not only had potential software faults but also features that were temporarily unavailable. Nevertheless, the introduction of new ideas, products, services, and experiences still attracted a substantial number of customers, thereby supporting their growth.

In automotive HMI systems, surprise and delight encourage more proactive innovations in products, which may entail exploring better interactions at the risk of potential failure or simply altering superficial forms to create a sense of novelty.

Over-the-air (OTA) updates for automotive HMI systems have become widespread in recent years. They allow not only the remote fixing of system faults but also the optimization of the system's logical architecture and the addition of new features, thus serving as an important means of introducing surprise and delight to users. For instance, when the Tesla Model 3 was upgraded to the v11 system, significant modifications were made to the layout and colors of the shortcut icons at the bottom of the page as well as the introduction of new features such as in-vehicle karaoke and exterior light shows. OTA updates impose higher demands on the automotive system architecture. Not only do the relevant software and firmware need to be updated under unified coordination, but an almost 100% success rate needs to be ensured during the update process. Furthermore, OTA updates bring new opportunities and challenges to the automotive business model. Under traditional transaction models, consumers pay a one-time fee to receive all functions at once. However, in the new model, the fees paid by consumers cover not only the currently delivered functions but also expectations for future, yet unseen, features. In addition, additional fees can also be charged for some new features implemented through OTA updates.

Surprises can also be delivered to users through greetings and salutations that appear at a specified time or in specified scenarios. For example, playing celebratory videos for users on special occasions such as the New Year, Christmas, or the user's birthday (Fig. 10.10) or achieving more precise triggering by incorporating factors such as the vehicle's location and weather conditions. The content of these greetings and salutations can be stored in the vehicle's system in advance and triggered at a specified time or scenario and, hence, do not necessarily have to rely on frequent OTA updates. With the technology of AIGC (Artificial Intelligence Generated Content), the contents can even be generated real-time and to achieve the complete personalization. Typically, the content of these greetings and salutations does not generate actual functionality but consists of interesting designs. Additionally, this content should not contain advertisements or other information that may annoy the user.

Fig. 10.10

(Source BMW Group)

Video celebrating Christmas played in the BMW’s central information display (2020)

10.2.4 Reassurance

Reassurance is not only a value demanded by Chinese users but also critical for the development of intelligent vehicles worldwide.

The values demanded by intelligent vehicle users are often varied and dependent on their respective cultures. Nevertheless, there are certain universal characteristics in the values demanded by users worldwide that are determined at the human nature level (instead of the cultural level) of the human software of mind structure depicted in Fig. 10.1. Theoretically, these universal values are abundant, but because they are shared by all users worldwide, most of them are obvious and need no further explanation. For instance, when executing non-gamified tasks, all users strive for higher efficiency under the principle that fewer steps are always better. When entering personal information, all users seek better privacy protection and believe that the storage and communication technology should always be as secure as possible. Different groups of people may pursue universal values, such as higher efficiency and information security, to varying degrees, but these differences are limited. Thus, these universal values are usually considered less important in research compared with value differences resulting from cultural differences. However, with the rapid advancement of automotive HMI systems, users’ understanding and habits often cannot keep up with technological advancements. Hence, some universal values and patterns need to be studied in greater depth.

Avoiding uncertainty in development is a common human tendency. In the discussion on the cultural dimension of uncertainty avoidance, we mentioned that everyone is fearful of and resistant to uncertainty. However, when presented with potential gains, some people are willing to experience greater uncertainty. Predictable, controllable designs can eliminate uncertainty and provide users with a sense of reassurance. This sense is the subjective feeling that the system conveys to users rather than the stability and reliability of the system. For example, if a refrigerator door does not have an exposed handle, the user will assume that the handle is hidden on the edge of the door even without proper signs. However, if the door switch is a pedal, such as in a trash can, users will feel that it has subverted their expectations and subjectively believe that it is inconvenient. Another example is the progress bar shown on many mobile applications when online content is loading. This progress bar does not increase the speed of content loading, and its display may even be an illusion (e.g., it can show 99% loaded even when completely disconnected from the internet). However, it can make users feel that the software is working normally, and the progress appears to be predictable and controllable.

Reassurance is becoming increasingly important for automotive HMI systems. With the rapid development of technology, an increasing number of new features and new interaction modalities have emerged. Several users have no experience in using them and, thus, find it difficult to establish expectations. Therefore, automotive HMI design not only needs to achieve functionality and theoretical efficiency, it also needs to guide users in establishing expectations and make them feel that they are in control of the system.

Larger elements and fewer content clusters in the main interface can convey a sense of reassurance. Such a design not only enhances the visibility of elements and the speed of content retrieval but also ensures that users do not feel overwhelmed by the amount of information, thereby preventing subjective anxiety and resistance. The design of larger elements does not only simply mean enlarging the existing elements on the page but can also involve the creation of a new design style. In addition to featuring larger-sized elements, this style often employs vibrant colors, significant color differences between elements, and neatly arranged clusters. Typical examples include smartphones running the Windows 8.1 operating system and Google's Android Automotive operating systems, as shown in Fig. 10.11. However, for various reasons, both operating systems have not achieved a high market presence.

Fig. 10.11

Central information display homepage of Polestar 2 (2019) (left, translated from Chinese language) and the HTC Titan II smartphone (2012) (right; image source: HTC)

Voice control can also convey a sense of reassurance by displaying the user's spoken input in real time on the screen. With current technology, voice control in automotive HMI is still less natural than human-to-human communication. Issues such as the misrecognition of proper nouns and incorrect judgment of the starting and ending points of a conversation can occur. Therefore, users need real-time feedback to determine whether there are any issues with the interaction process and whether it is under their control.

In addition, users should be provided with tutorials or tips for voice control. For example, when initiating a voice dialogue, the screen can display a message such as “You can say 'Navigate to xxx',” or it can anticipate the user's needs in specific situations and ask proactively. Although voice control is becoming increasingly powerful, users are not clear about its limits. This is considerably different from on-screen interactions. If a new function is added on-screen, users will see a new icon. When Apple's voice assistant, Siri, is activated without a usage guide, many users will not know what it can do.

The introduction of autonomous driving, including driver-assist features, has altered the traditional paradigm in which a vehicle is solely controlled by the driver, causing many drivers to feel uneasy when the vehicle is not under their control. Therefore, even though autonomous driving does not require frequent interaction with the driver in terms of working mechanisms, it should still present the surrounding conditions in real time on the screen to assure the driver that it is “constantly monitoring” and “working reliably.” Tesla Model Y can even identify whether the surrounding vehicles are sedans, SUVs, buses, or motorcycles, and display this information on the central information display, as shown in Fig. 10.12. Although categorizing the surrounding vehicles may not directly aid the strategy of the autonomous-driving algorithm, it can make users feel that the vehicle's recognition capability is very powerful, thus building more trust in the reassurance of autonomous driving.

Fig. 10.12

Surrounding environment displayed on Tesla Model Y (2023)

The values of reassurance and surprise and delight might appear contradictory; however, they have different application domains. Reassurance primarily applies to functions with a clear purpose, especially when users are not accustomed to their interaction modalities. By contrast, surprise is primarily applied to features beyond the users' expectations, and the presence or absence of these features does not affect the primary functions of the HMI system. Therefore, it is absolutely possible for a vehicle to simultaneously provide both reassurance and surprise and delight.

10.3 Other Reasons for Differences in Automotive User Experience

The research methods for culture and values are not only applicable to automotive HMI systems but can also be employed in several other areas such as overall automotive experience design, product definition, and marketing strategies. This is especially true when automotive companies venture into international markets, where understanding the culture of the local market is vital for the success of their products [6].

However, cultural differences are not the only reason for differences in automotive user experience. We should not attempt to explain all differences in user experience with cultural research, even if we have mastered the comprehensive methodology. In addition to culture, differences in user demands can be attributed to two major factors: generational and habit differences.

10.3.1 Generational Differences

Digitalization is becoming increasingly important in automotive cockpits. Users in different markets show varying onset times and speeds of accepting digitalization. Thus, the users of some markets have a more advanced understanding of digitalization in the automotive cockpit, resulting in more pioneers. Conversely, the users in some markets are slower at grasping digitalization, thus yielding more followers. However, the general trend of digital development is similar for all users, such that the demands of digital followers will develop in the direction of digital pioneers, albeit with a time lag.

The influence of the Internet is a significant factor in creating this generational difference. China is among the countries where the Internet has spread the fastest worldwide. In 2022, the market share of 5G smartphones in China was approximately 84%, with an average daily cell phone usage of up to 3.3 h per person. Since 2016, the “cashless” lifestyle has become increasingly prevalent in Chinese cities. Most daily transactions are completed via smartphones, eliminating the need for banknotes, coins, or physical bank cards. This heavy reliance on smartphones and the Internet has also made users more familiar with the interaction paths, hierarchical logic, and menu naming of smartphones. Therefore, transferring interactions similar to those on smartphones to vehicles or other home appliances is very easy to grasp for many users.

Furthermore, the intelligent vehicle industry is thriving in the Chinese market. Since 2018, more than 50 new automotive brands have been established in China, and traditional car manufacturers have been constantly innovating. For most automotive brands, the intelligent cockpit is among their most important selling points. This has enabled Chinese users to experience more, better, and newer HMI systems, which has cultivated their usage habits and raised their expectations.

Additionally, the Chinese automotive market had a relatively late start. In 2019, more than 50% of consumers in the Chinese market were first-time car buyers, meaning that most Chinese users have no experience with traditional automotive HMI systems (i.e., car models produced between 2000 and 2015). They have never tried controlling a non-touchable central information display with a knob and searched for information on a small 5- or 7-in. central information display. Therefore, automotive HMI interfaces inherited from traditional designs are not appealing to Chinese users but may appear strange and outdated.

For these reasons, the design of automotive HMI systems in the Chinese market exhibits a considerable generational difference. The unique design characteristics resulting from these generational differences and not driven by cultural differences are expected to be gradually followed in other markets. For example, China's NIO ES8 began using a central information display interaction design with maps and widgets as the homepage as early as 2018, whereas Mercedes-Benz started using a similar homepage design, namely, the MBUX Zero Layer, in 2021.

10.3.2 Habit Differences

In addition to cultural and generational differences, differences in user habits are also reasons for varying needs in user experience design. Some habits stem from cultural differences; however, the corresponding experience demands are not directly caused by culture. Some typical habit differences include the following:

Differences in the family structure: compared with European users, a significant proportion of Chinese users live in three-generation households. Therefore, in addition to daily commuting, a vehicle often needs to pick up and drop off children and the elderly, which increases the importance of scenarios involving rear passengers, children, and elderly individuals.

Expression characteristics of Chinese characters: Chinese characters are block-shaped, and most words are composed of 2–3 characters. The text for options on the central information display usually does not exceed five Chinese characters; therefore, the corresponding icon cards do not need to be very wide. However, languages such as English and German are made up of alphabetic words, and the length of each word varies greatly, requiring icon cards to have sufficient width to accommodate words of different lengths. Therefore, if only the typesetting of Chinese pages is considered, the interface layout will have higher flexibility.

Frequently used smartphone applications: specific frequently used smartphone applications can also shape user habits. For example, Western users often use Google applications; therefore, they are accustomed to Google's interaction logic and page layout. However, the majority of Chinese users do not use Google applications; instead, they use local applications such as WeChat and AliPay, which will affect their habits accordingly.