Error Recovery in Multitasking While Driving

Human-technology interactions involving errors undermine acceptance and performance. The effect of errors and the ability to recover from them represent a particularly important consideration for design in safety-critical multitasking situations. However, few studies have considered the recovery process of errors in multitasking situations, such as their contribution to driver distraction. This paper investigates errors that drivers make interacting with an infotainment system. In this study, participants (N = 46) drove a stimulated vehicle and performed word entry tasks on a touch screen. Errors undermined driving and task performance. We also identified four different error recovery strategies and found that the accumulated information related to the driving situation and the characteristics of an infotainment system affected the choice of strategy. Implications for in-vehicle interface design, driver models, and general multitasking design are discussed.