Title: Understanding the Lived Experience of Older Pedestrians: Combining Walking Interviews and Participatory Design to Anticipate Autonomous Vehicle-Pedestrian Communication

Abstract: Older pedestrian safety has gone largely unnoticed in studies anticipating future autonomous vehicle (AV) design. Fields such as HCI, mobilities, and road user safety are increasingly converging to better understand the human/vehicle interface and design for safe future interactions. However, there is a tendency to focus on (a) able-bodied users and (b) those inside of vehicles – rather than vulnerable road users (VRUs) outside of the vehicles. A small but growing body of literature at the intersection of HCI and mobilities has brought increased attention toward the need to anticipate and design for safer future interactions between autonomous vehicles and vulnerable road users (AV-VRU interaction).

This qualitative study combines walking interviews, scenarios, and participatory design activities (drawing and embodied enactments) to answer two research questions: (RQ1) What is the lived experience of older pedestrians?; and (RQ 2) As vehicles become more automated, what features and future vehicle design do older adults envision might help ensure their safety as pedestrians? A total of 19 older adults participated in the study, all of which were recruited from WellMed Senior Activity Center in Austin, Texas. Data were collected in the form of audio recordings from walking interviews and artifacts (scenario drawings) and discussions from participatory design sessions. Combining theoretical-methodological approaches from HCI, mobilities, and aging studies focusing on the subjective experience of human activity, this study brings attention to the ongoing relationship between aging pedestrians and vehicles in dynamic environments. Through reflexive thematic analysis I identified that participants are self-aware and engaged (overarching theme), but they are only part-time pedestrians (satellite theme) – relying primarily on automobiles for transportation. I also found that they: identify as defensive walkers (Theme 1); seek safe walking environments (Theme 2); are cautious about direct interactions with other road users (Theme 3); and desire to be seen and heard in future AV design (Theme 4).

The results of this dissertation illustrate how it can be beneficial to study aging, mobility, and interacting with technology as an active and ongoing process rather than static and or object-oriented. Additionally, this study illustrates how both the body and human-machine interface can be operationalized and studied as either object or actions. By focusing on human experience this study draws attention not only to older pedestrians as an often-overlooked population, but more generally to how better understanding human experience can inform vehicle design and public awareness.

Committee: Bo Xie (Chair), Danna Gurari, Jacek Gwizdka, John Traphagan