Development of human factors guidelines for advanced traveler information systems and commercial vehicle operations : definition and prioritization of research studies

Kantowitz, B. H.; Lee, J. D.; Kantowitz, S. C. · 1997 · ROSA P / United States. Federal Highway Administration

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Summary

This report documents the analytic phase of a Federal Highway Administration project aimed at developing human factors design guidelines for Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) and Commercial Vehicle Operations (CVO). The primary objective was to systematically define and prioritize research studies to guide future data acquisition. The authors sought to identify which human factors issues were most critical for ensuring that in-vehicle information systems are safe and usable components of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). The methodology involved a three-step process. First, 91 candidate research issues were compiled from earlier working papers and organized into 11 categories, including coordination of ATIS functions, driver information requirements, interface modality, and driver acceptance. Second, the researchers defined 14 rating criteria: nine substantive criteria (congestion, safety, mobility, environment, economic impact, existing data, guidelines applicability, older drivers, and younger drivers) and five methodological criteria (cost, time, practicality, generality, and suitability). Eight experienced human factors experts rated all 91 issues against these criteria, generating a dataset of 17,472 rating entries. Third, a linear psychometric model was applied to prioritize the issues. The model’s validity was confirmed through a validation study where experts reviewed prioritized lists and a random sample; experts deleted significantly more items from the random list, confirming the prioritization model’s accuracy. The results identified nine "most vital" studies and issues that require immediate attention. These include examining the cognitive demands of transitioning between ATIS functions, understanding complex interactions among ATIS functions, and determining how In-Vehicle Signing Information Systems (ISIS) and In-Vehicle Safety Advisory and Warning Systems (IVSAWS) influence driver behavior. Other critical issues involve the effects of low information reliability, strategies for displaying multiple messages, features requiring standardization, the comparison of single versus multiple display channels, the effectiveness of multimodal displays, and the impact of display modality on CVO driver workload. Additionally, twelve other important issues were identified, such as how information needs vary by driver characteristics and the timing of safety warnings. The significance of this work lies in providing a validated, prioritized roadmap for future human factors research in ITS. By filtering a large set of potential studies through expert consensus and psychometric analysis, the report ensures that limited research resources are directed toward the most critical safety and usability challenges. Addressing these specific issues is deemed essential for the discipline of human factors to make substantial technical contributions to the development of ATIS and CVO systems, ultimately ensuring that these technologies enhance rather than compromise driver safety and performance.

Key finding

The nine most vital human factors research issues for ATIS and CVO are cognitive demands in transitioning across functions, complex interactions among functions, influence of ISIS and IVSAWS information on behavior, effects of low information reliability, displaying multiple messages, features requiring standardization, single versus multiple display channels, multimodal displays, and effects of display modality and format on CVO driver workload.

Methodology

survey

Sample size: 8

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• feedback modes
• mental demand
• hud ar windshield
• nav systems
• ehmi external hmi
• road complexity

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Applied Guidance: design guidelines
• Empirical Findings: self report data
• Theoretical Contribution: theory or model