Background: Both professional and personal car drivers use smartphones as In-Vehicle Infotainment System (IVIS) and generally mount it wherever they feel convenient. Inappropriate or sub-optimal positioning of navigation devices increases off-road eye-glance duration and fixation frequency.
Objective: The current research aimed to develop a smartphone holding device to facilitate the mobile-phone's easy mounting on the steering wheel's hub, ensuring the screen's visibility at a comfortable viewing angle in a vertical upright position irrespective of the steering wheel's rotation.
Methods: A systematic product design methodology was adopted to develop the final product. The morphological chart was adopted for generating the different concepts of the smartphone mounting device. A Pugh chart was used for screening the various concepts generated in the previous step. Finally, a prototype of the selected best concept was made. User acceptance was assessed by taking feedback from users, and System Usability Scale (SUS) was used for usability evaluation.
Results: The developed innovative mounting device was light-weight and easy to use (SUS score 83.5). The final prototype was very effective in changing the angle of the smartphone to facilitate easy visibility at a comfortable viewing angle through the use of a ball and socket mechanism at the base. A ball bearing system was used in the mobile-phone holder for maintaining vertical stationary position during steering wheel rotation.
Conclusion: As the device is useful for mounting the smartphone on the steering wheel's hub, it might reduce driver distraction.
Keywords: Driver distraction; automobile accessories; design methods; usability; viewing comfort.