THE ROLE OF DESIGN IN HUMAN-WORLD ENGAGEMENTS: BOUNDARIES OF SELF IN TECHNOLOGICALLY MEDIATED IN-CAR NAVIGATION

Date

2024-5-22

Author

Büyükkeçeci, Elif

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The study aims to identify varying relations occurring between the driver, environment, and navigation technology during in-car navigation, guided by phenomenology, postphenomenology, and related approaches. In the field research employing autoethnography and participant observation, 26 driving sessions conducted with the assistance of navigation technologies. The drives were performed by a total of 15 drivers, involving the researcher. Participants were chosen from 83 respondents to a user survey. Each session was followed by an interview focusing on their navigation experiences. The results illustrate embodiment relations where the boundaries between the driver and environment partially dissolve, resulting in the unity of the two. Based on the results, the study examines embodiment from two perspectives. The first aspect concerns the driver synchronizing with the surroundings and moving accordingly without noticing. The second entails applying tacit knowledge, which was acquired from previous navigation practices, during the drive. Notably, no instances of embodiment relations were observed between the driver and navigation technology throughout the study. The study found no evidence suggesting that navigation technology disrupts the unity of the driver and environment. Instead, it offers alternative connections between the two. The context- specific and customized information it provides may enhance the diversity of those connections. Such information may also lead to a reduction in shared environmental experiences. Repeated navigation practices on specific routes may allow the driver to acquire skill in navigating those routes. The study concluded that consistent use of navigation technologies does not impede such skill acquisition.

Subject Keywords

Navigation Technologies, Phenomenology, Postphenomenology, In-Car Navigation

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/110050

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis