The effect of navigation modalities on driver performance, workload and user experience: a simulator study

Young novice drivers are overrepresented in crash statistics, highlighting the need for effective training interventions. Swedish authorities have discussed simulator-based screening tests to improve licensing outcomes. This study investigated how visual versus auditory navigation instructions affect driving performance, cognitive load, and user experience in a driving simulator. A highly relevant comparison as the real-world driving tests uses auditive navigation through an examinator. Fifty students at an automotive high school with prior driving simulator experience were assigned to either a visual or auditory instruction group. Participants completed urban driving scenarios with intersections and roundabouts, while metrics such as speed, lane positioning, acceleration/braking, distance to other vehicles, and adherence to traffic rules and instructions were recorded. Cognitive load and user experience were assessed post-drive using NASA-TLX and Likert-scale surveys. Participants receiving auditory instructions committed significantly fewer breaches than those with visual instructions, suggesting there is less driving performance compromise in the auditory navigation condition as compared to the visual navigation condition. No significant difference between groups appeared for cognitive load. These results suggest that auditory instructions better reflect real-world driving test conditions and may enhance the ecological validity of simulator-based screening tests for novice drivers.