Women's perceived security in shared autonomous vehicles : The impact of identifying co-passengers

Abstract: The present thesis aims to establish ideas and technical solutions that can have a positive impact on women's perceived safety while traveling in autonomous vehicles, made for sharing with strangers. The method follows the Design Thinking model which contributes to a user-centered design approach. Initial literature research was performed to understand the problem area, which included women's issues in public transportation, the development of autonomous vehicles, the foundation of a trusting behavior and authentication technologies for identifying users. Following ideation workshops with eight potential users of the service contributed with ideas based on the female perspective and their expectations of traveling in a shared mobility alternative. These results provide a foundation that contributes to a specific purpose of the thesis to create and evaluate strategies for authentication of co-passengers due to being advocated by the participants. Two versions of a high-fidelity mobile application prototype were created in Figma with different strategies for how to interact with the service and authentication methods to align with the autonomous vehicle prototype provided by NEVS during the following tests.  The final user tests, with 14 participants, indicate that an identification method should be included in the service, especially during the night. Six of seven female participants appreciate a combination of Bank ID while requesting a ride and facial recognition when boarding the vehicle. However, the results of the male participants vary to a larger extent. The results do not indicate where the identification technology should be implemented, in the private phone or the vehicle doors. To create a solution available to a larger target group, the mobile application need to adopt and provide option alternatives regarding identification methods due to individual differences and previous experiences which lays a foundation for the users' ability to contribute to a trusting behavior. Furthermore, an onboarding process for the first-time user is proposed to prepare the user and describe how the service could be used and what is expected by them.