The UnScripted Trip: Fostering Policy Discussion on Future Human-Vehicle Collaboration in Autonomous Driving Through Design-Oriented Methods
Xinyan Yu, Julie Stephany Berrio Perez, Marius Hoggenmüller, Martin Tomitsch, Tram Thi Minh Tran, Stewart Worrall, Wendy Ju
TL;DR
The paper addresses the gap between Human-Computer Interaction research on autonomous mobility and the policy landscape governing future human–vehicle collaboration. It introduces The UnScripted Trip, a design-oriented card game grounded in fictional AV narratives that surfaces tensions through two stages: backstory construction using Social Relationships and AV Functional Roles, and a Trip of Tensions driven by scenario cards and randomized Human Action/AV Response. Participants reflect on design solutions and potential policy directions, enabling speculative policy development informed by AutomotiveUI perspectives. An implementation plan details pre-workshop outreach, a half-day workshop with 20–30 attendees, post-workshop reporting, and an evaluation loop to refine the game for broader deployment. This approach offers a practical pathway to bridge policy and HCI communities and to stimulate concrete policy discussions around future AV ecosystems.
Abstract
The rapid advancement of autonomous vehicle (AV) technologies is fundamentally reshaping paradigms of human-vehicle collaboration, raising not only an urgent need for innovative design solutions but also for policies that address corresponding broader tensions in society. To bridge the gap between HCI research and policy making, this workshop will bring together researchers and practitioners in the automotive community to explore AV policy directions through collaborative speculation on the future of AVs. We designed The UnScripted Trip, a card game rooted in fictional narratives of autonomous mobility, to surface tensions around human-vehicle collaboration in future AV scenarios and to provoke critical reflections on design solutions and policy directions. Our goal is to provide an engaging, participatory space and method for automotive researchers, designers, and industry practitioners to collectively explore and shape the future of human-vehicle collaboration and its policy implications.