A Study on Ergonomic Layout of Automotive Electronic Shift Buttons

Automotive gear shifters are among the most important control devices in driving tasks, and their user-centered design has a direct impact on the driving performance and safety. In recent years, shift-by-wire systems with electronic shift buttons have replaced conventional transmission systems due to their advantages, such as the ease of shifting and space utilization inside vehicles. However, there are no minimum requirements or specific regulations for electronic shift button layouts. Thus, different car manufacturers and models have adopted different layouts, and this in turn has induced the risk of driver confusion/error in the shifting operation. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the ergonomic performance of different electronic shift button layouts and examine the variance in performance depending on driving experience. Here, 21 survey respondents with different levels of driving experience subjectively evaluated 12 different shift button layouts for 7 ergonomic evaluation measures (accuracy, convenience, rapidity, learnability, intuitiveness, safety, and preference). The outcomes of the study elucidate ergonomic layouts that receive high rankings in each driving experience group (all, novice, and experienced drivers) and principles that should be considered when designing shift button layouts for each group. These findings are expected to contribute to the ergonomic design and international standardization of shift button layouts, thereby preventing driver confusion/errors and improving road safety.