Exploring digital identities in the automotive space: a study of digital variability and implications for user experience design, with a focus on the future automotive environment

Understanding users, and building empathy, is a main objection of exceptional user experience design, however this avenue, like the users themselves, is constantly evolving. Inclusivity, and catering to vastly different digital skillsets, is the driving force behind effective user experiences. Different user groups have unique skills and demands that must be met to ensure a pleasurable experience for the user.

Two such user groups, Digital Native and Digital Immigrant, emerged from Mark Prensky’s seminal paper (2001a), “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants”. This dichotomy predicated digital variability on the user’s age, sparking debate since it was first introduced. While its original ties to age have been largely refuted (Adams & Pente, 2011; Akçayır et al., 2016; Bakla, 2019; Bennett et al., 2008; Teo, 2013), there have been no studies outside of education age participants (Akçayır et al., 2016; Huang et al., 2019; Teo, 2016; Yong & Gates, 2014) testing the conjecture. An accurate method for categorising digital ability is important, not only in the education sector, but also in the area of user experience design.

The primary aim of this thesis is to understand the current variability in digital behaviour and identify how this could affect user experience. This was then explored in an in-vehicle context. Originally created as a cross-cultural study with China, the project was amended after the first study, due to the SARS COVID-19 pandemic, to concentrate solely on digital behaviour in the United Kingdom.

To achieve the thesis’ aim, Prensky’s existing dichotomy for characterising digital behaviour, Digital Native and Digital Immigrant, was explored through an online survey. This study was conducted with UK participants, then translated into Mandarin and replicated with Chinese participants. Results from the UK study showed that age is not a reliable indicator of digital ability. The China study concluded with a similar outcome.

Semi-structured interviews were then undertaken in the UK to identify attitudes or behaviours that were more significant for identifying digital ability. Nine themes emerged through a thematic analysis. When compared to digital ability scores, only two themes, Connection and Trust in Technology, resulted in a dichotomous split between high and low scores. From these themes, two digital personas, Digitally Dynamic and Digitally Burdened, emerged to describe users on opposite sides of the digital ability spectrum.

The final study examined the digital personas as a user experience tool, using the personalisation of an in-vehicle Human Machine Interface as the premise for assessment. Participants used three different methods of customisation to personalise a ‘newly purchased vehicle.’ Each method had varying degrees of environmental context, as well as varying levels of digital technology. After personalising a vehicle using each method, participants ranked their favourite methods. While the personas explained some of the personalisation method rankings, the study concluded that it would be more appropriate for the personas to be used as a user experience tool for phone-based activities.

This project was the first to explore the Digital Native Assessment Scale with participants older than school age; the key finding was that age was not a reliable predictor of digital intelligence. Consequently, two digital personas emerged to replace Prensky’s Digital Native and Digital Immigrant. This thesis was also one of the first to explore user on-boarding in a vehicle context.