User Education in Automated Driving: Owner’s Manual and Interactive Tutorial Support Mental Model Formation and Human-Automation Interaction

Automated driving systems (ADS) and a combination of these with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) will soon be available to a large consumer population. Apart from testing automated driving features and human–machine interfaces (HMI), the development and evaluation of training for interacting with driving automation has been largely neglected. The present work outlines the conceptual development of two possible approaches of user education which are the owner’s manual and an interactive tutorial. These approaches are investigated by comparing them to a baseline consisting of generic information about the system function. Using a between-subjects design, N = 24 participants complete one training prior to interacting with the ADS HMI in a driving simulator. Results show that both the owner’s manual and an interactive tutorial led to an increased understanding of driving automation systems as well as an increased interaction performance. This work contributes to method development for the evaluation of ADS by proposing two alternative approaches of user education and their implications for both application in realistic settings and HMI testing.