Engineering Homework Help

Overview

The intent of this assignment is to determine your ability to apply the human factors knowledge that has presented in the class thus far. You were introduced to the vignette from Chapter 6 (Textbook: Designing for people: An introduction to human factors engineering) that described the challenges that Laura had while navigating to in an unfamiliar state in the United States.

Your tasks in this assignment:

(1) determine the extent to which the Google Map Navigation features can address the issues that Laura faced in the vignette (30 Marks).

(2) identify the current Google Map Navigation features that could be further improved (30 marks).

(3) suggest new conceptual ways in which Google Map Navigation can be advanced in relation to the vignette (40 marks).

The Laura Vignette from the Beginning of Chapter 6

Arriving at the airport rental lot after a delayed flight, Laura picked up a car and began to drive away, tapping the brakes to familiarize herself with the feel of the car. Laura was running late for an appointment in a large, unfamiliar city and relied on the in-car navigation system to guide her. She had read the somewhat confusing instructions and realized the importance of the voice display mode so that she could hear the directions to her destination without taking her eyes off the road.

She had reminded herself to activate it before she got into heavy traffic, but the traffic suddenly increased, and she realized that she had forgotten to do so.

Being late, however, she did not pull over but tried to remember the sequence of mode switches necessary to activate the voice mode. She couldn’t get it right, but she managed to activate the electronic map.

However, transposing its north‐up representation to accommodate her south‐bound direction of travel was too confusing. Finally lost, she pulled out her cellular phone to call her destination, glanced at the number she had written down, 303‐462‐8553, and dialed 303 462‐8533. Getting no response, she became frustrated.

She looked down to check the number and dial it carefully. Unfortunately, she did not see the car rapidly converging along the entrance ramp to her right, and only at the last moment the sound of the horn alerted her that the car was not yielding. Slamming on the brakes, heart beating fast, she pulled off to the side to carefully check her location, read the instructions, and place the phone call in the relative safety of the roadside.

Google Map – Navigate

Please refer to the link below for the latest features in Google Map Navigation which

contain both instructions for the Android and iOS versions of the app.

https://support.google.com/maps/answer/3273406?hl=…

Suggestion to Improve Quality of Work

To get a better sense of the context and to also improve the quality of your answers, it is strongly suggested that you try navigating with the app by putting yourself into Laura’s frame of mind and situations during these trials.

Format

Students are free to determine the structure of their answers to this assignment.

Word Limits:

3,000 words including references and annotations.