Design guidelines for safety of in-vehicle information systems

These design guidelines are based on current understanding of ergonomic good practice and cover many issues that need to be considered when designing and evaluating in-vehicle information systems (IVIS). Safety and usability are paramount design concerns. The objective of these guidelines is to provide designers and manufacturers (and others in the supply chain) with a summary review of the factors that need to be considered in the design process of IVIS in an easy to use format. The guidelines deal primarily with systems that provide the private car driver with information specific to his/her journey such as congestion, incident warnings or route guidance information. Advanced driver assistance systems are not covered. The guidelines are divided into sections on: the different stages of the design process and the possible need for conducting assessments at these stages; documentation and user instructions; how the IVIS should be fitted within the vehicle; ergonomic issues; interface design; safety related aspects including timeliness of information; legal issues; references; and a bibliography.