Consumers Do Not Trust Autonomous Driving Technology, Finds Strategy Analytics

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BOSTON - July 26, 2018: Consumer awareness of autonomous driving technology is growing due to the inclusion of these features as standard, in multiple classes of vehicles for the last few years. A new report from Strategy Analytics’ In-Vehicle UX (IVX) team, “Consumers Remain Skeptical of Automated Driving Features,” has surveyed vehicle owners in the US, Western Europe, and China regarding their interest in automated parking and driving features. After several years of uniform increases and decreases, Strategy Analytics has found that interest in these varied features is now beginning to fracture. Consumers are providing feedback: not all autonomous features are equal.

Key report findings include:

• Consumer interest in park assist remains modest, but a good proportion of all consumers would avoid any autonomous driving feature, a trend driven largely by females and older demographics.
• Among consumers who would avoid an autonomous feature, a large percentage of consumers in all markets say they do not yet trust the technology.
• Additionally, large swaths of consumers in the US and Western Europe say they would never trust self-driving technology.

Derek Viita, Senior Analyst and report author commented, “This finding should be especially instructive for any engineer or designer in the autonomous transport space over the next 5 to 10 years. User-centric design which communicates status clearly, concisely and in context, should be paramount.”

Continued Viita, “Trust remains the elephant in the room preventing widespread consumer demand. In order to get consumers on board with fully automated driving services, and hasten profitability of these services, providers need patronage from not just early adopters and willing beta testers, but from some portion of the large percentage of consumer base who are currently distrustful of the technology. At present, large swaths of consumers in the US and Western Europe are actively avoiding automated parking and driving technology.”

Added Chris Schreiner, Director, Syndicated Research UXIP: “The usefulness of these features remains questionable; as does the interface design and usability of these features. An extensive human factors related overhaul of existing systems, and even pilot test systems at the HMI level, would go a long way toward addressing both of these issues.”

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About In-vehicle UX

Our In-vehicle User Experience (IVX) service investigates UX innovation opportunities in the connected vehicle. By understanding the emerging behaviors, needs, motivations, use cases, pain-points and “must-have” experiences of lead adopters and future target consumers, IVX delivers a roadmap to help you design the optimal experience. IVX forms part of the User Experience Innovation Practice (UXIP) at Strategy Analytics. Through both syndicated and proprietary user-centric research capabilities, UXIP delivers strategic insights and analysis on how to optimize the user experience of new and emerging technologies. Click here for more information.