Alerts for in-vehicle information systems: annoyance, urgency, and appropriateness

This study assesses the influence of the auditory characteristics of alerts on perceived urgency and annoyance and whether these perceptions depend on the context in which the alert is received.

Alert parameters systematically affect perceived urgency, and mapping the urgency of a situation to the perceived urgency of an alert is a useful design consideration. Annoyance associated with environmental noise has been thoroughly studied, but little research has addressed whether alert parameters differentially affect annoyance and urgency.

Three 2(3) x 3 mixed within/between factorial experiments, with a total of 72 participants, investigated nine alert parameters in three driving contexts. These parameters were formant (similar to harmonic series), pulse duration, interpulse interval, alert onset and offset, burst duty cycle, alert duty cycle, interburst period, and sound type. Imagined collision warning, navigation alert, and E-mail notification scenarios defined the driving context.

All parameters influenced both perceived urgency and annoyance (p < .05), with pulse duration, interpulse interval, alert duty cycle, and sound type influencing urgency substantially more than annoyance. There was strong relationship between perceived urgency and rated appropriateness for high-urgency driving scenarios and a strong relationship between annoyance and rated appropriateness for low-urgency driving scenarios.

Sound parameters differentially affect annoyance and urgency. Also, urgency and annoyance differentially affect perceived appropriateness of warnings.

Annoyance may merit as much attention as urgency in the design of auditory warnings, particularly in systems that alert drivers to relatively low-urgency situations.