Design Guidelines for the Size and Length of Chinese Characters Displayed in the Intelligent Vehicle’s Central Console Interface

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Figures 1 and 2 are missing.

Author Response

The original figures 1 and 2 have been deleted. Now we've reordered the figures.

Reviewer 2 Report

I have the following minor notes:
- The upper border of all the charts is missing
- I think that these citations could still be added to better represent the state of the art:
       - On combining Big Data and Machine Learning to support eco-driving behaviours. Journal of Big Data
       - The use of guidelines in interface design. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
       - Toward best practice in human machine interface design for older drivers: a review of current design guidelines. Accident Analysis & Prevention
Finally, a further proofread is needed to correct errors and typos.

Author Response

• The upper border of all the charts is missing（sorry，I'm not sure what it means）
• Thank you for your references. We have used them to illustrate our articles

This manuscript is a resubmission of an earlier submission. The following is a list of the peer review reports and author responses from that submission.

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

In this manuscript, the important variables in legibility are the size and length of the letters. There is a reference to why the size of the letters is important, but there is no reference of why the length is important. The length of the letters may also have a relationship, but the spacing between letters, the line spacing, and the shape of the font can also be important.

Reading to the end, it seems that it is not just a matter of legibility, but rather glanceablilty, but there is no such explanation in the abstract and introduction. The glanceablilty is a concept that includes temporality that can be read quickly, and is different from legibility, but it seems that the introduction did not explain it well.

This manuscript explains the Driving Cognitive Model, but it would be nice if there was a design guide that included temporality as an example in the reference. Still, if we read it all, it makes sense, but it seems that the authors did not write the introduction and reference parts well.

In particular, the manuscript keeps using the word "obviously", but the authors shouldn't say it without evidence such as references or experiments.

In the experiment: If the car was tested at 30 km, wouldn't it be too slow? 
Particularly, the point of the experiment is to focus on driving while doing other things, but it is a little insufficient to explain what the driving task and difficulty look like.
  Plagiarism:
- Figure 2 is copied and pasted from Endsley, Mica R. "Toward a theory of situation awareness in dynamic systems." Human factors 37.1 (1995): 32-64.
- Figure 1 is copied and pasted from Bottoni, Paolo, Stefano Levialdi, and Gheorghe Păun. "Successful visual human-computer interaction is undecidable." Information processing letters 67.1 (1998): 13-19.  

Any academic paper should contain the authors' contributions. 

Reviewer 2 Report

Strengths:

The subject of the manuscript is interesting and actual, the aim and purposes are clearly defined, the literature review is well done, the methodology is adequate to investigate the type of subject analysed and the results of the study are presented and discussed.

Weaknesses:

-The investigation would be enriched if, in addition to investigating the size and length of Chinese characters on the intelligent vehicle’s central control screen and its impact on the usability of the characters and on the driver’s workload, the authors had also analyzed the dimensions of icons, colours and layouts in the central console interface design, as mentioned in section “6. Conclusion” as future lines of investigation.

-Figures 2 and 4 are too small, readers are unable to read the contents of these figures.

-There are two Figures 9.

-Section “6. Conclusion” should be improved with the limitations of the research. A conclusion with only one paragraph is too short.

Reference [18] was not mentioned in the text.

In lines 160-161, replace “vehicle Settings” by “vehicle settings”.

 

Reviewer 3 Report

This paper presents a study on the vehicles human-machine interfaces, with a particular focus on the size and length of Chinese characters. 

The topic of this paper could be interesting for this journal and the work is technically solid.

I have the following comments:
- Authors state that "In our previous study, we investigated the central console interfaces". They should cite such a work.
- At the beginning of sections 2, 3, and 4, before the first subsection, authors add some texts to describe the content of its subsections.
- Figures 1, 2, 4 are of low quality
- Some citations could be added to the Introduction and the Related Work sections. I suggest the authors consider adding the following articles:
       - An analysis of the suitability of a low-cost eye tracker for assessing the cognitive load of drivers. Applied ergonomics
       - On combining Big Data and Machine Learning to support eco-driving behaviours. Journal of Big Data
       - The use of guidelines in interface design. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
       - In-vehicle human machine interface: an approach to enhance eco-driving behaviors. In Proceedings of the 2017 ACM workshop on interacting with smart objects
       - Toward best practice in human machine interface design for older drivers: a review of current design guidelines. Accident Analysis & Prevention
       - Driver distraction by digital billboards? Structural equation modeling based on naturalistic driving study data: a case study of Iran
       - Effects of interface layout on the usability of in-vehicle information systems and driving safety. Displays

Finally, a proofread is needed to correct errors and typos. Here, there is a non-exhaustive list:

Abstract

have rarely been discussed in human-computer interaction community -> have rarely been discussed in the human-computer interaction community
performing simulated in-vehicle secondary task -> performing simulated in-vehicle secondary tasks
a set of recommended values for size and length -> a set of recommended values for the size and length

Introduction

live weather reports, vehicle fault warning -> live weather reports, vehicle fault warnings
intelligent in-vehicle systems, static hardware buttons and simple dashboards -> intelligent in-vehicle systems, static hardware buttons, and simple dashboards 
Therefore, interface design of characters -> Therefore, the interface design of characters
intrinsic [3] .Extrinsic -> intrinsic [3]. Extrinsic
they are assumed to have great impact -> they are assumed to have a great impact
Evidently, we carry out experiment to draw  -> Evidently, we carry out experiments to draw 

Related Work

Previous research on legibility of text -> Previous research on the legibility of text
whether looking on a smart phone or scanning at in-vehicle screen -> whether looking on a smartphone or scanning at an in-vehicle screen
the in-vehicle screen has a significant impact on the safe driving -> the in-vehicle screen has a significant impact on safe driving

Visual Signals’ Classification and Human-Computer Interaction Model

composed of text, icons and colors -> composed of text, icons, and colors
such as color, luminance and contrast -> such as color, luminance, and contrast
height, length, shape, spacing and periodicity -> height, length, shape, spacing, and periodicity
optimal locations in vehicle -> optimal locations in vehicles
In addition, sensory and stimulus dimensions -> In addition, the sensory and stimulus dimensions
its meaning for human and the computer respectively. -> its meaning for humans and the computer respectively.

Standards and Guidelines about the Size and Length of Text

Optimum text presented in the driver-vehicle interface are legible -> Optimum text presented in the driver-vehicle interface is legible
Here are a lot of literatures about reference -> Here are a lot of literature about reference
size of Chinese character is 24 *24 pixel -> size of Chinese characters is 24 *24 pixels
minimum size of Chinese character -> minimum size of Chinese characters
there is few standards providing reference values -> there are few standards providing reference values
the main features of Chinese character, especially in terms of the size and length -> the main features of Chinese characters, especially in terms of size and length
and the average number of per row -> and the average number per row 
Based on these literatures and our statistical results -> Based on this literature and our statistical results

Driving Cognitive Model

Among above cognitive models, we choose Endsley’ Situation Awareness -> Among the above cognitive models, we choose Endsley’s Situation Awareness
perception of elements in current situation, comprehension of current situation -> perception of elements in the current situation, comprehension of the current situation

Participants

A representative sample of experienced drivers were recruited -> A representative sample of experienced drivers was recruited

Experimental environment

the reading and understanding of text -> the reading and understanding of the text

Task and Stimuli

Naming task has been used -> Naming tasks have been used
entertainment, vehicle Settings and driver assistance -> entertainment, vehicle settings, and driver assistance
independent variables: size of the character (3mm,4.5mm, 6mm and 7.5mm) and the length or the number of characters per row (7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 per row). -> independent variables: the size of the character (3mm,4.5mm, 6mm, and 7.5mm) and the length or the number of characters per row (7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 per row). 
against a background of at pure black -> against a background of a pure black

Procedure

provided a familiarisation with simulator environment -> provided a familiarisation with the simulator environment
driving smoothly at a speed about 30km/h -> driving smoothly at a speed of about 30km/h

Questionnaires and Data Analysis

questionnaire about visual subjective rating, a usability questionnaire and a global workload rating questionnaire -> questionnaire about the visual subjective rating, a usability questionnaire, and a global workload rating questionnaire
visual impressions of the text regarding size and length -> visual impressions of the text regarding the size and length
describes efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction -> describes efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction
which showed the consistent results as -> which showed consistent results as

Reaction Time

Longer reaction time may indicate -> Longer reaction times may indicate
Therefore, shorter reaction time might make less uncertain -> Therefore, shorter reaction times might make less uncertain
the reaction time tend to increase obviously -> the reaction time tends to increase obviously
and the driver’ performance is unclear -> and the driver’s performance is unclear

Visual Subjective Rating

while the 3mm Chinese character were particularly small -> while the 3mm Chinese characters were particularly small

Usability Scores and Workload

Regarding to workload -> Regarding the workload
the change trend of usability -> the changing trend of usability

Guidelines and Discussion

it is recommended that the maximum numbers of Chinese characters per row should not to exceed -> it is recommended that the maximum number of Chinese characters per row should not exceed
each row of text need be set within -> each row of text needs to be set within
window about warning or notifications -> window about warnings or notifications
the results in design program -> the results in the design phase
a 12.3-inch screen with 16:9 ratio -> a 12.3-inch screen with a 16:9 ratio

Conclusion

the dimensions of icons, colours and layouts -> the dimensions of icons, colours, and layouts