April, 2020 - May, 2020
Panasonic In-Vehicle Profiles UX Design
An exploratory project to better understand how we might be able to incorporate user profiles into the vehicle. With shared vehicles on the rise, and vehicle screens becoming more customizable, I sought out to develop an interaction system that allowed users to seamlessly change profiles and have the in-vehicle UI match their preferences and expectations.
The project started with simple sketches to convey the idea to internal stakeholders.
Inspiration and Research
The idea for the project began when our team was looking at new shared technologies and websites. With automotive UI continually riding on the coattails of mobile UI design, the first places I looked for inspiration was website profile design, as well as mobile phone profile design.
Frequently and widely-used pieces of technology allow users to customize them in ways such that the UI fits their expectations whenever they use it. Computer desktops allow users to configure their files, applications, toolbars and even keyboard shortcuts in a way that suits their needs and improves productivity. Smart phones allow users to reorganize their applications to their preference, usually to save time. Most used apps are often organized towards the first page or “start” of a users list of applications.
The Vision
Treating a user’s specific device setup as their “profile” was one way to approach this problem. Imagine if smartphones were blank slates that could be rented. Once you “log in” to your rented phone, all of your apps and accounts become arranged in the way you last left it - much in the way that a computer’s user profiles work. This is how I envisioned vehicles working in the future, especially with shared vehicle platforms on the rise.
To continue ideating on what information the vehicle profiles would contain/change, I began research specific use cases for the vehicle. I wanted to look at current ride-sharing (such as Uber/Lyft), last-mile delivery use cases, as well as general use cases for a personal vehicle.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, conducting usability tests and user interviews was not something that was feasible during the time that this project was taking place. Seeking to build empathy with these users, and using what was available to me at the time, I joined some Uber/Lyft Facebook groups, as well a GrubHub and DoorDash Facebook group to see if I could talk to some actual drivers.
In addition to the online chatting with these drivers, I also scoured YouTube for “Day In The Life” videos, where there are a surprising number of FedEx and UPS drivers that show what their days look like, complete with high points, low points, and their prep/ending routines. I took notes to ensure that any areas addressable by design were presenting themselves.
Prototyping and Visual Asset Creation
After organizing all of our team data and conducting ideation brainstorming sessions, I then set out to create an animation that would show the “ideal” of how a vehicle with many screens would handle multiple profiles. This is where the research on the gig-drivers and shared-vehicles came into play as well.
Lastly, I created a prototype in Figma to show how profiles could be manually selected, if they were not activated off of a user device once they entered the vehicle.