L’expérience vécue et les valeurs en acte des accompagnants pour la conception d’un service de transport par navettes destinées à être autonome

Abstract

As part of an industrial project to design autonomous (driverless) shuttles, our research analyses the experiences and values of the supervisors, so as to identify their contribution to the acceptance of the shuttles and related services and to be able to continue to design this transport service. It would seem that the system under investigation is currently not autonomous to the degree that had been expected, with a human supervisor operating on-board during every trip. In 2015 and 2016, studies were carried out at four sites where shuttles were being tested. The following were performed : systematic analyses of critical situations dealt with by the supervisors, composite interviews (semi-structured, based on elicitation interviews) with 19 supervisors. Results show that supervisors mobilize seven values in their activity. We have identified 14 critical situations involving arbitration, in which these values appear to be contradictory. The responses of the supervisors, in situation, show that the prioritization of these values depends on various situated arbitrations. We then discuss how these responses contribute towards the acceptance of the transport system, notably by making its performance more reliable, maximizing its usefulness and developing a service relationship with the passengers. These results thus lead us to question the status of the human being in autonomous technology and related services, design and acceptance processes.

Keywords

• new technologies
• ergonomics
• service design
• experience