Understanding the Lived Experience of Older Pedestrians: Combining Walking Interviews and Participatory Design to Anticipate Autonomous Vehicle-Pedestrian Communication / Nathan W Davis.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Older pedestrian safety has gone largely unnoticed in studies anticipating future autonomous vehicle (AV) design. Fields such as HCI, mobilities, and road user safety are increasingly converging to better understand the human/vehicle interface and design for safe future interactions. However, there is a tendency to focus on able-bodied users and those inside of vehicles - rather than vulnerable road users (VRUs) outside of vehicles. A small but growing literature has brought increased attention toward the need to anticipate and design for safer future interactions between autonomous vehicles and vulnerable road users (AV-VRU interaction). This study combines walking interviews, scenarios, and participatory design (PD) activities (drawing and embodied enactments) to answer two research questions: (RQ1) What is the lived experience of older pedestrians?; and (RQ 2) As vehicles become more automated, what features and future vehicle design do older adults envision might help ensure their safety as pedestrians? Older adults (n = 19) were recruited from WellMed Senior Activity Center (Austin, Texas). Data collected includes audio recordings and artifacts. Combining theoretical-methodological approaches from HCI, mobilities, and aging studies, this dissertation brings attention to how aging pedestrians' experience detecting and avoiding collisions vehicles in dynamic environments might inform future AV interface design. Through reflexive thematic analysis I identified that participants are self-aware and engaged (overarching theme), but they are only part-time pedestrians (satellite theme) - relying primarily on automobiles for transportation. I also found that they: identify as defensive walkers (Theme 1); seek safe walking environments (Theme 2); are cautious about direct interactions with other road users (Theme 3); and desire to be seen and heard in future AV design (Theme 4). The results of this dissertation (a) demonstrate how both the body and human-machine interface can be operationalized and studied as either object or actions and (b) illustrate the benefits of framing aging, mobility, and mobile interactions with technology as active and ongoing processes rather than static. By focusing on human experience this study draws attention not only to older pedestrians as an often-overlooked population, but more generally to how better understanding human experience can inform vehicle design and public awareness.