Designing for Anticipation: Centring Cyclist Perspectives on Trust for Automated Vehicle Interaction

Abstract

As automated vehicles (AVs) become increasingly present on public roads, they introduce new challenges for vulnerable road users (VRUs), such as cyclists. We report findings from a qualitative diary study with (N = 90) cyclists in Brazil, using reflections on everyday interactions with conventional vehicles to inform the design of future cyclist-AV interactions. Our analysis suggests that anticipation provides a useful interpretive lens for understanding how cyclists coordinate traffic interactions. Cyclists continually integrate cues, social consideration, and contextual resources to develop reliable expectations about how interactions will unfold. Building on this perspective, we derive design considerations for cyclist-AV interaction, identify an overlooked perspective in AV trust research concerning secondary road users, and outline directions for investigating anticipation as a mechanism for evaluating AV interaction design across diverse traffic contexts.