Emma Sage Kalayjian
Fisker Ocean UI Design
OVERVIEW
The following is a final project for Interaction Design at the Art Center College of Design - Extension Program.
The goal was to do the following:
- Research the most common psychological and physical impairments in driving.
- Create driving modes that, by way of certain features and/or specific User Interface designs, serve as a solution to each discovered impairment.
- For each Driving Mode, create one portfolio piece to showcase its design, ideal users, and suitable vehicles.
ROLE
User research, information architecture, interaction design, visual design, prototyping
September 2023 - January 2024
TOOLS
Google Forms, Mural, Figma, ProtoPie
Addressed Automotive
Design Principles
+ Driver distraction mitigation
+ VUI integration
+ Colorblind accessibility
Why Fisker?
None of this design is directly affiliated with Fisker.
There are four Drive Modes that have been designed in total: Do Not Disturb, Cruise, Adventure, and Track. This presentation is for Cruise Mode.
Each mode is intended to address one psychological impairment. For an additional challenge, I added in one physical impairment to design for as well in each mode. This is meant to highlight my skills as an accessibility researcher and designer.
Not all Drive Modes make sense for all vehicles. I chose the Fisker Ocean to display it on to make the design feel more real, as this is one of the many vehicles that would make sense to have it.
Why Colorblindness?
According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 1.3 billion people - around 16% of the global population - currently experience significant disability.
Although colorblindness impacts both men and women, men are at a much higher risk...specifically 1 in 12 men, according to the National Eye Institute.
When designing an interface for a moving product, such as a car, it's crucial that the user is able to rely on the information being displayed by not having to rely solely on the color palette. There cannot be room for error or confusion.
In this case, there's a couple of ways to create a colorblind friendly palette; either have an accessibility toggle to modify the original UI for these scenarios, or create one single palette that single-handedly satisfies the needs of all 4 levels of color vision: Trichromatism, Deuteronomy, Protanopia, and Tritanopia.
I chose the more difficult option - one single color palette that satisfies the needs of all users at once.
This aligns with my philosophy of having accessibility baked-in to my designs.
Limitations
This design, including the architecture, is meant to align as fully as possible with Fisker’s branding and UX/UI guidelines.
Without having full access to these guidelines from Fisker, some assumptions with information architecture had to be made and branding/design decisions are based off of the design for www.fiskerinc.com.
Additionally, due to not having the necessary equipment (i.e. a buck), this design has not been tested for usability.
The Challenge
Design a driving focus mode that...
+ Decreases smartphone dependence
+ Enables spontaneity in the drive with enhanced functionality
+ Uses an accessible color palette
The Question
Which psychological impairments are most frequently associated with driving?
Discovered Impairments + Their Antitheses
01.
Stress ➡️
Joy
02.
Distraction ➡️
Peace of Mind
03.
Boredom ➡️ Engagement
04.
Overwhelm ➡️ Understanding
Cruise
Do Not Disturb
Adventure
Track
Turning Stress into Joy
According to the survey, drivers expressed feeling stressed due to the following reasons:
1. When on a road trip or a group drive, they want to be able to keep up with other trip members without the manual task of a phone call...or multiple.
2. They want to fully enjoy the surroundings of where they are by way of discovering unique venues and experiences on their route without having to do a deep Google search on their phone.
3. The in-vehicle experience doesn't offer much in the sense of building a community. Whether by communal playlists, adding driving leaderboards and profiles to the brand's interface, or other ideas...drivers want more of a sense of community with other drivers.
As it stands, they have to rely on their phones to do all of these tasks in a reasonably efficient timeframe.
Let's Cruise.
Cruise encourages drivers to get off the phone and be fully present in the drive by seamlessly integrating UI and Voice Assistant for hands-free collaboration among drivers in Navigation and Music.
The Joyrider
Alex is taking a solo cruise up Pacific Coast Highway to catch the sunset with some of his friends.
He needs to not have to rely on his phone to look up spontaneous, interesting destinations along the way and check up on his friends.
Alex also has Deuteranopia (red-green colorblindness). He needs a UI that is simplistic, robust, and colorblind accessible.
Market Research
Cruise Mode is a unique Driving Experience Mode that works best with Crossovers, 4x4s, and small SUVs.
They can be modernized cult classics like the Ford Bronco or something completely new that offers radical tech like the Fisker Ocean.
Design Inspiration
Coastal blues, golden hues, and the open road.
