Mr Shahab Gholizadehdastjerd
PhD Student

Research area(s)

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) provide an exciting new opportunity for meeting the complex and multi-faceted needs of the disabled. Unfortunately, however, it is currently unclear what would constitute an appropriate set of functional, aesthetic and experiential characteristics in the case of autonomous vehicles in the eyes of this customer group. Furthermore, it is unclear what will be the future of autonomous vehicles and the extent to which they will be replacing the traditional transport system in future.

The research aims to extend knowledge relative to disabled users and to disabled mobility by considering the needs and desires within the new context of autonomous vehicles. Autonomous vehicle user classifications and autonomous vehicle design guidelines will be developed. This will assist the development of new autonomous vehicles by adding the opportunity to evaluate the impact of individual design choices on this particular group of users.  The research would be expected to facilitate opportunities for developing brand awareness and brand presence in the growing disabled mobility market. Further, the availability of both user classifications and design guidelines will facilitate commercial discussions with the providers of disability services. Finally, if disabled users are considered ‘extreme users’ as occurs in much current inclusive design practice, then the project output would provide a further tightening of the baseline ergonomic requirements relative to Autonomous Vehicles.

Research Interests

Inclusive design

Automotive design

UX design

Human Machine Interaction

Design for disability