Client
BMW Research and Technology
When
2008
Team
Research team of Psychologists, User Experience Designers and Researchers, Developers
Role
User Experience Designer and Researcher
BMW Head Up Display and Console
Summer 2009, I moved to Munich, Germany to work as a User Experience Design Research intern at BMW Forschung und Technik (BMW Research and Technology). Our ConnectedDrive team was comprised of a diverse group of Computer Scientists, Psychologists, and Designers.
During my time at BMW, I was responsible for Cross-Cultural Design Research and Design and Research for the Head Up Display, Dashboard, and Center Console On-Board Computer.
Cross-Cultural Design Research
Our goal was to understand how aging societies and growing city size might affect our automotive infotainment design both within Germany and abroad. I researched and analyzed demographic data on aging societies, megacities, and their implication on the automobile and drivers. I also researched the latest findings on augmented reality and how we could apply them to the driver experience.
As the sole Design Strategist, I led the team through Design Thinking workshops and facilitated brainstorming sessions.
Head Up Display, Dashboard, and Center Console
Using our cross-cultural design research as a foundation, we designed innovative interactions, UX, and UI for the Head Up Display, Dashboard, and Cluster Instrument Panel (entertainment and driver assistance functionalities). By conducting quantitative research and usability studies, our designs iteratively improved to achieve our priorities. Specifically, we conducted market research and competitive analysis, card sorting, walkthroughs, task analysis, and eye-tracking with 360 degree dynamic and static driving simulators.
Publications
Our user experience design research on Point of Interest selection was published and presented at the First International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications (AutomotiveUI 2009) Sep 21-22 2009 in Essen, Germany.
Toggle Strategies for Point of Interest selection via the iDrive controller
Abstract: The importance of spatial and geo-based information has increased over the last few years. The most prevalent example of this kind of information is points of interest (POI) like hotels, restaurants, gas stations, etc. As cars are made for individual transportation, interacting with geo-based information via the In-vehicle Information System (IVIS) should be possible. At present, state-of-the-art IVIS only permit a list based or center based selection on the map, which makes it difficult to handle a high closeness of geo-based data. In this paper, we present alternative approaches for selecting geo-based data with a multifunctional controller. In our work, visual cues help users predict the selection order. An explorative user study showed potential advantages of our concepts.