Reducing Connectivity Friction and Improving Hands-Free Adoption in Automotive

A look at five barriers to Bluetooth adoption and ways to overcome them

By Jeffrey Zellen

› REDUCING CONNECTIVITY FRICTION AND IMPROVING HANDS-FREE ADOPTION IN AUTOMOTIVE | 1

Distracted driving due to handheld cell phone use remains a persistent cause of car accidents in the U.S., despite many states enacting laws to limit this behavior. Hands-free technology could help alleviate this problem, yet many drivers are not taking advantage of this convenient feature. Bluetooth, which offers hands-free capability, has become a standard feature in today’s new vehicles; however, user adoption remains low. This may be due in part to the tedious, confusing and unintuitive experience of device pairing. In fact, according to the J.D. Power U.S. Initial Quality StudySM (IQS), “Bluetooth connectivity and pairing” has been identified the number-two problem with new vehicles consistently since 2013.

Increasing Bluetooth adoption requires a frictionless user experienceTaking advantage of hands-free calling technology that is already built into one’s vehicle should be an obvious choice. However, the unfortunate reality is that the pairing process required to establish Bluetooth connectivity is neither simple nor quick. With so many barriers to utilizing this hands-free technology, many drivers may simply decide the effort isn’t worth it.

Panasonic Automotive’s Friction Free Connectivity seeks to solve this issue by streamlining smartphone-to-vehicle connectivity. By making it easy for drivers to use the hands-free technology already present in their vehicles today, this solution could lead to improvements in vehicle safety by reducing distracted driving.

Here’s a look at some common barriers to Bluetooth adoption and how Friction Free Connectivity can help users overcome them.

Barrier #1: Long, complex pairing process

Pairing a cellular device with a vehicle often requires several steps, and this in and of itself is a barrier to adoption.

On the handset side, a user must access their Bluetooth settings menu; once there, he or she must search for a device to connect to. Depending on the phone’s operating system, the steps in this process can vary. Within the Android ecosystem, friction is compounded by the handset manufacturer’s customizations.

Once the user successfully navigates their phone settings, they must then put the vehicle into discovery mode. Depending on the vehicle, finding this setting may range from difficult to nearly impossible. Systems that are more expensive tend to be on the less difficult end of the spectrum, while less expensive systems, such as those found in rental cars, tend to be more difficult.

Friction Free Connectivity streamlines the pairing process with a smartphone app. In this case, a driver registers with the app, then verifies rights to the vehicle. From there, the user’s work is done – his or her handset gathers the required connectivity information from a cloud server and uses this information to establish a connection to the vehicle.

Barrier #2: Inconsistent or unintuitive user interface

The user interface (UI) differs from vehicle to vehicle, due to a lack of standardization within the industry. Each car manufacturer has its own distinct style, and there is no guarantee that locating the Bluetooth pairing interface will be simple or straightforward. Exacerbating the issue further, each successive design iteration introduces more changes to the logic and flow of the interface.

This diversity of designs could prove frustrating to drivers, who are forced to navigate an unclear or confusing UI in order to pair their hand-held device. This frustration almost certainly creates a barrier to Bluetooth adoption.

When Bluetooth pairing is handled via a smartphone app, user interaction with a vehicle’s UI can be minimized or even eliminated. Furthermore, since the app will work with any Bluetooth-enabled vehicle, drivers will only have to learn a single, simplified user interface – the app’s – rather than having to navigate a potentially confusing vehicle UI.

Barrier #3: Pairing multiple devices or vehicles

A family may have multiple vehicles, and each driver may cycle through many phones throughout the lifetime of that vehicle. Moreover, many people will utilize ride-sharing or rental cars during travel or while their primary vehicle is in the shop.

Each time the user gets a new phone or enters a new vehicle, the pairing process may be subtly different due to variations in the user interface and security checks. As a result, some drivers may begin to feel that the tedium of repeatedly pairing a phone outweighs the benefits.

A smartphone application that handles pairing can address some of the headaches associated with pairing multiple devices and/or vehicles by making the process of connecting to a new vehicle faster, easier and more secure. By employing the app, users won’t have to deal with learning a new UI every time they enter a new vehicle or upgrade to a new device.

This feature could also be integrated into ride-sharing, rental agency, and ride-hailing applications to further reduce Bluetooth connectivity friction.

› REDUCING CONNECTIVITY FRICTION AND IMPROVING HANDS-FREE ADOPTION IN AUTOMOTIVE | 2

Barrier #4: Excessive technical jargon

Research indicates that the technical ability of the average person increases over time. Even so, one could still make the case that there are too many technical terms used in Bluetooth implementations. Terms like “pairing,” “connecting,” “message access,” “phone-book access” and “discovery” may seem intuitive to the system’s designers, but such terms may not be familiar to the average person. Add to those features such as Bluetooth audio streaming and OEM frameworks such as SmartDeviceLink, and users may – understandably – feel overwhelmed.

Frequently, upon pairing their phone to the vehicle, the system prompts the user for various access rights to features they do not fully understand. Users might deny the permission out of an abundance of caution, and these denials can limit the functionality of the vehicle systems.

An app-based solution that makes the pairing process automatic could eliminate the need for confusing technical jargon, freeing the designers to present users with only the most important decisions as needed. For example, the vehicle could give the user a choice to cancel the connection with a countdown timer, or the system could be headless (no interface at all).

An app-based solution that makes the pairing process automatic could eliminate the need for confusing technical jargon, freeing the designers to present users with only the most important decisions as needed.

› REDUCING CONNECTIVITY FRICTION AND IMPROVING HANDS-FREE ADOPTION IN AUTOMOTIVE | 3

Barrier #5: Security issues

Although pairing a cellular device with a vehicle generally requires security checks, there are still several risks involved that could cause drivers to be wary of the process.

The first major security risk is commonly referred to as “drive-by pairing.” During this kind of attack, a person in close proximity to the vehicle could connect to it and cause harm. Another common security risk is accidentally pairing to the wrong vehicle.

The Friction Free Connectivity solution resolves Bluetooth pairing security problems – and increases the security of the pairing – by being able to cryptographically trust both the user and the vehicle, eliminating the chance to connect to the wrong vehicle. It leverages modern cryptographic standards for private data communication, making it very difficult for someone to hijack the connection.

With the right technology, distracted driving can become a thing of the pastMost people today understand that distracted driving is a serious problem. In fact, a recent survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (AAAFTS) found strong public support for laws restricting cell phone use while driving, with 87.6 percent of respondents supporting a ban on reading or texting while driving and 73.4 percent supporting a ban on hand-held cell phone usage in any form. Yet despite the growing awareness around the dangers of distracted driving and the increasing availability of Bluetooth-enabled vehicles, user adoption of hands-free technology remains low.

To increase the number of drivers utilizing hands-free Bluetooth capabilities, we must address the barriers above that add friction to the user experience. This can be achieved through technology that eliminates procedural hurdles, such as pairing and connecting, without compromising user security or privacy.

› REDUCING CONNECTIVITY FRICTION AND IMPROVING HANDS-FREE ADOPTION IN AUTOMOTIVE | 4