Effective smart cockpit interaction design can address the specific needs of
children, offering ample entertainment and educational resources to enhance
their on-board experience. Currently, substantial attention is focused on smart
cockpit design to enrich the overall travel engagement for children. Recognizing
the contrasts between children and adults in areas such as physical health,
cognitive development, and emotional psychology, it becomes imperative to
meticulously customize the design and optimization processes to cater explicitly
to their individual requirements. However, a noticeable gap persists in both
research methodologies and product offerings within this domain. This study
employs user survey to delve into children’s on-board experiences and
utilization of current child-centric in-cockpit interaction solutions (C-SI
Solutions), that over 50% of the interviewees (children) got on-board at least
several times per week and over half of the parents would pay for C-SI
Solutions, but less than 8% of the interviewees reported actual usage. By
employing an interdisciplinary approach that harmonizes Design Thinking and
Developmental Psychology, this research reveals that the traditional cockpit is
actually a liminal space for children, and introduces the ICE Model (Evaluation
Model for In-Cockpit Child-Centric Interaction Solutions) for providing insights
into C-SI solution design. This model is consisted of two modules: IPO-Based
Structured Module and I&C (Intelligence & Consciousness) Evaluation
Module. IPO-Based Structured Module is based on the IPO (Input-Process-Output)
Model and for interpreting C-SI Solution’s structure, so that to realize the
paradigm shift in Design Thinking. I&C Evaluation Module, the second one, is
for analyzing C-SI Solution’s psychological developmental function. The ICE
model is then applied to conduct market research, aiming to identify challenges
and shortcomings with current C-SI Solutions. Subsequently, this research offers
recommendations and possibilities for the improvement of designing C-SI
Solutions, that it requires not only seamless cooperation between designers and
engineers, but also interdisciplinary collaboration.