Evaluation and Optimization of In-Vehicle HUD Design by Applying an Entropy Weight-VIKOR Hybrid Method

Background: The interface design of in-vehicle head-up display (HUD) is an enlarging research area with interface usability as its core; usability reflects all perspectives of human—machine interaction and thus the evaluation and optimization of usability have multiple objectives. The evaluation and optimization of interface quality involved in usability are subjective and subconscious. Nevertheless, very little attention has been paid to these issues in optimizing usability across multiple objectives. Methods: In this paper, a hybrid scheme evaluation and optimization method based on entropy weight and VIKOR is proposed. First, according to the content of PSSUQ (Post Study System Usability Question), we have established a new usability evaluation system based on the characteristics of HUD. The entropy weight method was used to reduce the subjective factors of the decision-makers and to achieve the objective weight of each indicator. The VIKOR method was used for obtaining the order of alternate schemes and then the optimal interface design scheme was selected. Results: A case study was carried out to illustrate the applicability of the developed model in the usability evaluation of the HUD interface design. The results showed that scheme 1 was the optimized scheme, with minimal value of Si (0.141), Ri (0.119) and Qi (0.000) among the three schemes. When other decision-making methods were applied, the results showed that the optimized scheme was scheme 1, respectively, which verified the feasibility of the proposed method. The entropy—VIKOR model can be used to evaluate and optimize the HUD interface design effectively, which may serve as a reference for designers to achieve insights during the design process and scheme decision-making.