Designing a heads-up-display to solve distraction free driving.
Do you know everyday 9 people get killed in accidents involving distracted driving and this number is in hundreds globally. Exploride is an automotive Heads-up-display that will improve road and drivers safety by keeping users' eyes on the road and not getting distracted. Let’s make this world a safe place to drive!
Introduction
Exploride was a stand-alone device that could be mounted on the dashboard of any vehicle, allowing users to see through the transparent frame with sufficient distance between eyes and user interface, to resolve the distraction issue and it looks like this
Why I joined Exploride ?
I joined Exploride in early 2016 as the head of design to create a design strategy and provide direction on product design so that we can take the first MVP product to market and test it with thousands of pre-ordered customers.
The founding team had almost figured out the technology (Optical engineering), but they were not involved in thinking holistically about the product experience. Hence, I joined their mission of solving distraction-free driving.
My primary responsibilities included defining the first roadmap with product management and engineering, staffing the effort with the right scale of UX direction, including user research, and aligning the team's objectives with those of key stakeholders. To assure the success of the team in this design-driven initiative.
Design Principles
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Keep users focused on driving
We wanted our designs to be lightweight, performant, and save time by avoiding heavy graphics and images as we wanted to show minimal information. This can be achieved through adaptive UI theme. So our design will look good on any environment (sunset, sunrise, daytime, night) -
Improving driver’s confidence
Actionable content strategy so users don’t have to think twice for the meaning and can take immediate take decision -
Don't overwhelm. Let user love it
Today's users have access to a multitude of controls, pathways, and features in a car. To prevent confusing navigation, our design should be quick and easy to understand.
Let’s get into Design concepts
Once we gained some confidence from early testing of our prototypes we have started designing high-fidelity for the next stage of users testing in cars and we were excited and worried too as some of the tests were happening in the US, UK and a few parts of Asia too.
Ideation - Concept designs
As we desired extremely early feedback and did not wish to endanger the lives of our users by inviting them in early user testing, I and other members of the engineering, product, and operations teams tested the prototypes in their earliest stages. We evaluated our ideas in a variety of conditions, including heavy traffic, Daylight, Nighttime, and various terrains.
Concept 1
Grid or list based
As we desired extremely early feedback and did not wish to endanger the lives of our users by inviting them in early user testing,
Concept 2
Browse
As we desired extremely early feedback and did not wish to endanger the lives of our users by inviting them in early user testing
Concept 3
Personalized and on-demand concept
As we desired extremely early feedback and did not wish to endanger the lives of our users by inviting them in early user testing
Wireframes
Once we gained some confidence from early testing of our prototypes we have started designing high-fidelity for the next stage of users testing in cars and we were excited and worried too as some of the tests were happening in the US, UK and a few parts of Asia too.
Concept 1
Grid or list based
As we desired extremely early feedback and did not wish to endanger the lives of our users by inviting them in early user testing,
Concept 2
Browse
As we desired extremely early feedback and did not wish to endanger the lives of our users by inviting them in early user testing
Concept 3
Personalized and on-demand concept
As we desired extremely early feedback and did not wish to endanger the lives of our users by inviting them in early user testing
Designs in reality
Once we gained some confidence from early testing of our prototypes we have started designing high-fidelity for the next stage of users testing in cars and we were excited and worried too as some of the tests were happening in the US, UK and a few parts of Asia too.
Concept 1
Grid or list based
As we desired extremely early feedback and did not wish to endanger the lives of our users by inviting them in early user testing,
Key decisions which improved design decisions
As we had received a high number of pre-orders and customers were disappointed with the delayed product deadlines owing to production/manufacturing difficulties, optical calibration, and other concerns, investors and customers exerted a considerable lot of pressure on us to deliver the product rapidly. However, we began sending email updates with video progress of designs and explanations for the delays, and the majority of customers recognized that this is a complex product.
Key decisions which improve design decisions
Building hardware in India in 2016 was much more difficult than it is today, and delivering specifications and receiving our product in tiny batches for internal testing was incredibly time-consuming and expensive, taking weeks and costing thousands of dollars. Then, we began to construct rough and functional prototypes in-house by piecing things together.
We have developed our initial functioning prototype without incident and have begun to sell in small quantities for early feedback so we can iterate it prior to investing in hardware production. Approximately ninety consumers have utilized it extensively, and they have praised both our product and our competitor's unique experience. Unfortunately, we had some heating issues, restarts, and other problems, but the most of them were simple and realistic modifications that we began to address in subsequent versions. It was a productive experience that users enjoyed.
Outcome
What I have learnt
Influence by Design - To test my designs, I drove several car models using the device at least once a day with at least two developers to demonstrate first-hand concerns like form factor thickness can be thinner, Brightness can be more adjustable. I was able to influence software and hardware design improvements and create design trust. We celebrated team successes and rectified team problems.
Unleashing leadership - My work depended on other teams as well, and I have headed not just the design team but also other teams without a formal title. I am committed to fostering a culture of collaboration, learning from mistakes and resolving issues, and having fun. I served as a facilitator in many teams' collaborative efforts.
Wearing multiple hats - I was fortunate that our CEO had faith in my product skills, and while he was in the United States for business expansion, I was talking to all the top tier VC to raise some funding. In the course of these conversations, I presented various product demos, shared our business pitch, and fielded extremely challenging questions about our future expansion plans.
DEMO
Testing videos
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