We conduct research and write thought-pieces while also building services and products around the connected car, including some of the largest manufacturing companies (eg. Ford GoPark, JLR) . Since most of our client work remains behind NDA's for now, we continually sharpen our skills and points of view with research projects culminating with thought pieces and tie-ups with Academia and Research institutions (University of Washington and Stanford University to name a few)
Here below are some of the pieces of research work I have been part of - as project lead in Interaction design and prototyping - besides from the book on Humanising Autonomy which is part of this site and described in detail.
1. 'Ustwo re-imagine the in-car cluster' : a provocative study which deconstructed modern instrument clusters from an experiential perspective, culminating in a writeup, video and multiple prototypes. Github archive of design assets and prototypes here. Seen below is a few branded prototype (Citroen Cactus)
Publications / Awards / Press
FastCompany: Innovation by Design Awards 2015 Finalist (Data Visualisation category)
FastCompany: Innovation by Design Awards 2015 Finalist (Experimental category)
Wired: Brilliant Car UIs From Monument Valley’s Design Geniuses
Road & Track: The clean, intuitive future of your car’s speedometer
Engadget: The creators of ‘Monument Valley’ are redesigning your car dash
Popular Mechanics: Here’s how the instrument cluster should look
The Verge: The design studio behind Monument Valley is rethinking in-car displays
Business Insider: The geniuses behind last year’s most beautiful mobile game are now designing futuristic car dashboards
2. 'Are we there yet? - Thoughts on in-car HMI' : Our first thought piece published as a book and a 5 part blog piece, which delves deep into design and technical history of automobile human machine interfaces, presenting patterns and future perspectives through insights from a piece of experimental client work. This received critical acclaim both from the Industry and beyond. The high point was being invited to speak to Jonathan Ive and his Special projects team at Apple in San Francisco during late 2014.
3. 'SHIFT - The end of texting while driving' : We worked with the Human-Computer Interaction & Design (HCI+D) students at the University of Washington in Seattle as advisors on their capstone project, after being approached following the publication of our cluster thought piece above. The project deals with the distractions involved in texting while driving. Using existing technology and targeting ordinary human behaviours, the solution brilliantly flips the problem on its head by placing the responsibility on the sender, rather than the driver via a “Car Mode” (think Airplane Mode but for cars) that informs them that the recipient is driving, prompting them to reconsider when to send the message. For a quick look at the solution in action, you can check out their video. We think this approach is both clever and brave, and it’s backed by a team asking the right questions at the right time. Happy to hear what you think!
