Smoothly flashes green area mapping to show the car is able to detect and drive correctly
Cut-in
Sudden Stop
The green path indicates the safety distance when the car is making a rapid stop
Shows the predication path of the car while the car is making a great direction change
U-turn
The green mapping indicates the car can make a pass through narrow streets with illegal parking vehicles
Narrow road
Show the real-time information about the road and environment
Mapping
Product
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Apply user-friendly visual design principles to inform and entertain the user within dynamic self-driving car scenarios
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Ensure that the key information is easy for users to quickly capture visually, and has good visibility and legibility in various environmental scenarios, without laborious search and recognition of the rider
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Design for accessibility such as the display of safety-related information, visual warnings, text legibility, and display and audio options
It's important to bring out the most user-friendly experience to the rider, as the final product involves designing a series of voice interactions, 3D renderings, and digital interfaces to meet the objectives.
About the project
For the self-driving car industry, newly emerged robotaxi services start to move people around without the driver behind the wheel. Rideo is an in-car infotainment system that not only informs users
about the driving behaviors of the car but also elevates the riding experience during the trip.
My Role: Research, Ideation, Design, Test
Duration: 12 weeks
Location: New York
As the higher automation features of the car have been developed by the car companies and manufacturers, numerous technologies have been developed and iterated to elevate drivers’ experience to ensure they reach destinations safely and efficiently.
With the emergence of L4 autonomous vehicles appearing on the streets, certain locations have provided self-driving robotaxi services to move people around. However, the technology is still new and many people may develop ambiguous opinions regarding the safety concerns, the credibility of the technology, and relevant anxiety.
Background
Research
In order to gain precise reflections from the riders, the research group consisted of a total of 6 interviewees living in the United States who have moderate to many experiences with riding the self-driving robotaxi.
Interview Questions
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What type of self-driving car services did you use? Tell me about your experience with riding self-driving cars?
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Is there a screen display located in the car? Tell me about your experiences while using the screen display.
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What's your intention or what do you expect to see before using the screen display?
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What part of riding the self-driving car do you like/dislike the most? What about the screen display?
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Do you have any other feedback or concerns for either riding the self-driving car or using the screen display?
For the riders who have taken the self-driving car services, they found out that the screen that is mounted on the posterior side of the passenger seat would assist them to understand the movement and navigation of the vehicle better. In addition, they tend to believe that the diverse functions of the screen system would not only reduce their stress and anxiety while riding the self-driving car but also lead to a more interesting and dynamic experience for the riders.
Findings
Since the car is driving independently, riders may find the experience to be anxious and confusing and develop different levels of untrust toward the technology. In addition, the current screen system does not provide many options for riders to interact with during the trip.
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People rely on and expect the in-car infotainment screen could inform them more about trip information, environmental mapping, and driving route
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Voice guidance and entertainment service will make them feel more relaxed and less anxious and less boring
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Having some controls of the car would be helpful in terms of feeling more secure such as personal media upload, speed mode change, and emergency stop option
Takeaways
Issues
How might we design an in-vehicle infotainment system to provide informative, reliable, and enjoyable experiences for the riders who use the self-driving robotaxi services?
Problem Statement
User Journey Map
The entire self-driving car riding experience actually formulated as a linear-based timeline journey in which there are several observable interaction opportunities between the user and the screen system.
Ideation
After conducting the research, the direction of building the infotainment system becomes more explicit to determine what type of user experience the rider is truly trying to pursue. In addition, I executed a series of brainstorming and mapping design strategies prior to finalizing the design concepts of the prototypes.
A great part of the product includes 3D objects and animation to present the concept of how the self-driving car is able to deliver useful information regarding the environment, and how certain driving scenarios can be shown specifically in order to reduce the rider's anxiety and confusion.
The collection of the interface designs aims to reach the objectives of the project, which is to provide both informative and entertaining experiences to the riders.
Day Time
Night Time
Takeaways
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Designing for an in-vehicle environment project varies from designing other products in terms of the user habits, behaviors, and mental models
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More design opportunities are presented as every user’s cognition, vehicle capabilities, driving scenarios, and other factors are truly diverse and are also constantly evolving with technology
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In order to meet the diverse needs of riders with different backgrounds, it's important to reach out to more groups for user research and testing purposes for the iterations
Information Architecture
The information architecture ensures users to manipulate the car function settings such as adjusting the accessibility features, changing the display, and pulling over the vehicle.
In terms of providing solutions to address the rider's confusion, anxiety, and communication issues, I listed some basic features of the IVI system that may have, which may include a series of visual and audio design prototypes to fulfill their needs and make the robotaxi ride more informative, reliable, and enjoyable.
Once the rider gets into the vehicle, the IVI screen will provide both visual and voice welcome onboarding experience
Onboarding
The system provides useful settings and accessibility feature for riders in different needs
Accessibility
In terms of a long trip, the rider can always use the entertaining services to browse their favorite media
Entertainment
(this one has audio in it)
In order to assist the rider, a voice command system is included to enhance the interaction
Voice Command
Based on the preferences, the rider can slightly adjust the style of driving of the self-driving vehicle
Speed Mode
Prior to eventually deciding the design language and guidelines of the project, I sketched drafts to gain a fundamental overview of the visual components and layout The drafts serve as an initial impression of the interface appearance and set a reference for the following design outcomes.
After adding a bit more details...
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