Effects of automotive interactive interface visual complexity on driver performance: an exploratory analysis of gender-related differences

The popularity of cars as a mode of transportation has led to a more equal gender balance among people participating in driving activities. Individual differences in drivers’ responses to increasingly complex in-vehicle interfaces may influence performance during concurrent driving and interface interaction. In this study, the experimental scenario was constructed using the ErgoLAB Simulator and the relationship between the visual complexity of automotive interaction interfaces and the gender of the driver was investigated. The sample set contains 34 male drivers and 36 female drivers. Participants performed visual search tasks with high and low levels of visual complexity during driving, and their visual search performance, driving performance, glance behaviors, and subjective workloads were recorded. The findings of this study show that the visual complexity of automotive interaction interfaces significantly affects driver performance, some results indicate that the stronger effects observed in female participants. These findings highlight the importance of controlling visual complexity in automotive interactive interfaces and considering gender-related individual differences in driver-centered HMI design.