-- Envision future lincoln and ford series vehicles' experience.
During summer of 2021, I worked at Ford ECDX innovation studio as a User Experience Intern. Ford ECDX Innovation Studio is an internal creative studio that generates design concepts for future vehicle experience. And I worked tons of design concepts exploring future Ford and Lincoln experience including HMI, App, service, and so on.
The design process starts from strategy department. Several themes are decided and us, Innovation Studio, will brainstorm based on these themes. Diverse design concepts including App, HMI and service design are generated. Then, we combine different design concepts into several moments to better illustrate use scenarios. Each moment will be prototyped, and workshops are conducted to collect user feedback. After analyzing workshop results, further in-depth interviews will be conducted. Based on all insights, we conclude and categorize moments in different priorities. Finally, internal workshop will be held to present research and design report. Moments of final selection will be moved forward into a product roadmap and finer prototypes will be done.
Our final results may be reflected in Ford and Lincoln vehicle models 3-10 years from now.
Conducted 5+ interviews, analyzed data of 20+ focus groups, and facilitated design sprints as well as workshops
Prototyped and tested 20+ low-fi and mid-fi design concepts including mobile App, HMI interface, multi-modal interaction and service design
Collaborated with product managers to drive 3 design concepts into the product roadmap
Experience of working as UX design intern here is different from other UX design internships. We strive to generate creative and cutting-edge design concepts, which means we always need to ideate widely and explores unknown.
Different from single mobile or web App, vehicle experience can be much more complex since it may include HMI interface, dashboard, audio, ambient light, and more. Except software feasibility, multiple physical products and sensors may be considered.
As the innovation studio, we design for future vehicle experience, which requires designers think ahead. I found it helpful to imagine a future worldview based on all technical, social, economic and political clues.
Want to know more about my projects? Feel free to reach out!
