AI assistant ridesharing experience in autonomous vehicles
Project Background
Team DSquare (Yuan, Lori, Shreya, Will)
Duration 2024.9 - 2024. 12
My Role UX Researcher, UX Designer
Contribution User interview, User journey mapping, Ideation, Interaction design, Hi-Fi prototype, Video documentation
Overview
- What do you value most during your ridesharing experience?
- What would your life look like if you no longer had to drive or stress over traffic?
The answers to these questions have been at the core of what our team has been exploring and solving. Ridesharing isn’t just about getting from point A to point B; for us, it’s about redefining how we experience the journey itself.
Have you ever imagined a car that doesn’t just drive itself but also feels like a friend—someone who understands you, keeps you company, and even predicts your needs?
Product Preview
Our team presents a user-focused AI system. Brooklyn, our AI-powered assistant, makes every journey intuitive, personalized, and engaging. Whether you're exploring NYC or commuting, Brooklyn provides smart navigation, entertainment, and safety features for a smooth and enjoyable ride.
Start the ride with exploring different features on the in-car screen
Ride& explore: browse the city and add a stop at your interests
In car entertainments: play music, videos, karaoke or take a selfie
Switching different modes
Safety drop off
Video Showcase
Design Scope
By mapping the entire user journey—from ride request to trip completion—we discovered that existing apps heavily rely on drivers for steps from finding a ride to drop-off. In contrast, in fully autonomous systems like Waymo, it shifts the focus of "autonomy" to the boarding and driving processes.
Ensuring that passengers feel informed, comfortable and in control, we identified design opportunities during driving and decided to focus on designing in-car systems.
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User Research
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We first conducted an online survey, inviting potential passengers to share their experience and expectations with ride-sharing. We found that 50% of the participants prefer conversations and willing to interact with drivers.
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When asked about riding with autonomous cars, 70% of participants expressed concerns on safety as well as how to interact with the car during the ride. This leads us to think about a severe question: besides the technical constraints, how to make the passengers feel that autonomous driving is safe and under control?
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After the survey, we would like to delve deeper into the real-world scenarios of ride-sharing experience. Therefore, we interviewed 5+ participants of their most recent/ impressive ride-sharing experience. Here’s one story shared by our participant:
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During the interview process, we found that many potential users would choose ride-sharing services in unfamiliar places, concern about getting lost, language barriers, and complex transit systems. While taxis cost more, users value the time saved and the control ride-sharing apps provide.
Target Users
Based on the previous research findings, we decided to narrow our focus to the scenarios where people use ridesharing services: travel and business trips. We set our persona as a female traveller who loves exploring different cultures.
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Design Question
The insights above led us to recognize the need for an innovative ride-sharing experience with self-driving technology. To refine our focus, we narrowed down our problem statement and came up with our design question:
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Ideation
Through a design sprint session, we voted for 3 main user cases to focus on:
(1) Pre-ride flow -> booking -> locating the car -> verification & enterin
(2) in-vehicle features & seamless trip experience during the ride
(3) arriving and exiting
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Prototype Iterations
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Initial prototype
During the usability testing sessions, we asked our participants to complete the tasks and try to find the goal of our product. The results indicated a strong interest in the entertainment features, with many participants eager to explore additional controls and content within the car. Therefore, we add more functions inside the entertainment feature, like videos, musics and selfies!
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However, we also observed that users had difficulty locating emergency assistance. In response, we decided to rename this feature to "Contact Support" to improve clarity and ensure users could easily understand its purpose.
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Refined prototype
Feature List for the System
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Hi-Fi Prototype
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Final Delivery
Scenario 01 Onboarding
This is Will's first time in New York. He had seen a poster about autonomous driving taxi before and decided to give it a try. After getting in the car, Brooklyn warmly welcomed him and introduced him to how to use the vehicle!
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Scenario 02 Intuitive System
Will interested in the bottom bar, and began exploring the different functions.
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Scenario 03 Ride&Explore
Will noticed the first function is called Ride&Explore, and he decided to explore some interesting spots and food in New York.
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Scenario 04 Media Entertainment
When Will was driving through the NYC, he felt a little bit “ quite”, so he asked Brooklyn to play some music. The AI assistant, Brooklyn recomended Empire State of New York to him and switched the car to music mode, which allows him to immerse in the NYC style.
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Scenario 05 Sleep Mode& Safety
The way to Times Sqaure is long, so Will decided to take a snap before arriving, Brooklyn helped him adjusting the light and strengthen the sound proof. When arriving the time-sqaure, Brooklyn woke up Will and noticed him to bring all the carry on and the surrounding is safe.
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Takeaways
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My project journey map
Research: Keeping Alignment Across the TeamThroughout the project, maintaining alignment among all team members is crucial.
Synthesize: Prioritizing Design OpportunitieIn group discussions, focus on selecting the most valuable opportunities by voting and refining research questions. It's important to ensure the team works toward a shared vision, optimizing the process of turning insights into actionable design directions.
Ideate: Embracing Diverse PerspectivesDuring brainstorming, it's essential to listen actively to each team member’s ideas, avoid unnecessary debates, and collaboratively explain and evaluate thoughts. This fosters creativity and ensures that all perspectives are considered while staying aligned with the design goals.
Prioritization: Knowing What (and What Not) to Focus OnIn time-constrained projects, distinguishing between essential and non-essential tasks is as important as defining the work itself.
Design Scope
By mapping the entire user journey—from ride request to trip completion—we discovered that existing apps heavily rely on drivers for steps from finding a ride to drop-off. In contrast, in fully autonomous systems like Waymo, it shifts the focus of "autonomy" to the boarding and driving processes.
Ensuring that passengers feel informed, comfortable and in control, we identified design opportunities during driving and decided to focus on designing in-car systems.
User flow sketch
User Research
When asked about riding with autonomous cars, 70% of participants expressed concerns on safety as well as how to interact with the car during the ride. This leads us to think about a severe question: besides the technical constraints, how to make the passengers feel that autonomous driving is safe and under control?
After the survey, we would like to delve deeper into the real-world scenarios of ride-sharing experience. Therefore, we interviewed 5+ participants of their most recent/ impressive ride-sharing experience. Here’s one story shared by our participant:
Target Users
Based on the previous research findings, we decided to narrow our focus to the scenarios where people use ridesharing services: travel and business trips. We set our persona as a female traveller who loves exploring different cultures.
Design Question
The insights above led us to recognize the need for an innovative ride-sharing experience with self-driving technology. To refine our focus, we narrowed down our problem statement and came up with our design question:
Ideation
Through a design sprint session, we voted for 3 main user cases to focus on:
(1) Pre-ride flow -> booking -> locating the car -> verification & enterin
(2) in-vehicle features & seamless trip experience during the ride
(3) arriving and exiting
Initial brainstorming sketch
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Refined sketch
Refined sketchWe brainstormed different scenarios and stories, and iterated the potential solutions. For examples, using AR as a real-time guide to help the passengers find the car. Finally, we decided to focus on designing a car dashboard that users can interact with during their ride in the absence of a driver.
Based on that, we have defined 3 main flowcharts for the following prototyping.
Based on that, we have defined 3 main flowcharts for the following prototyping.
Flow charts
Prototype Iterations
Design road map
Initial prototypeInitially, we put AI assistant as a pop-up icons. In the evaluation session, we found that it is hard to find the AI assistant when you need it. Therefore, we implemented the AI assistant as a permanent hovering button on the homepage, when it talks, the conversation frame will be expanded.
Additionally, we integrated the AI assistant into key features, such as Ride & Explore, to make it clear that recommendations are AI-driven, enhancing passenger engagement and facilitating more natural interactions with the assistant.
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Additionally, we integrated the AI assistant into key features, such as Ride & Explore, to make it clear that recommendations are AI-driven, enhancing passenger engagement and facilitating more natural interactions with the assistant.
During the usability testing sessions, we asked our participants to complete the tasks and try to find the goal of our product. The results indicated a strong interest in the entertainment features, with many participants eager to explore additional controls and content within the car. Therefore, we add more functions inside the entertainment feature, like videos, musics and selfies!
However, we also observed that users had difficulty locating emergency assistance. In response, we decided to rename this feature to "Contact Support" to improve clarity and ensure users could easily understand its purpose.
Information Architecture Sketch
In this stage, we further define our information system, what feature we should have, the feature name as well as what function should under each categories.
Refined prototypeFeature List for the System
Hi-Fi Prototype
Ride & explore
Contact support & vehicle details
Media entertainment
Final Delivery
Scenario 01 Onboarding
This is Will's first time in New York. He had seen a poster about autonomous driving taxi before and decided to give it a try. After getting in the car, Brooklyn warmly welcomed him and introduced him to how to use the vehicle!
Scenario 02 Intuitive System
Will interested in the bottom bar, and began exploring the different functions.
Scenario 03 Ride&Explore
Will noticed the first function is called Ride&Explore, and he decided to explore some interesting spots and food in New York.
Scenario 04 Media Entertainment
When Will was driving through the NYC, he felt a little bit “ quite”, so he asked Brooklyn to play some music. The AI assistant, Brooklyn recomended Empire State of New York to him and switched the car to music mode, which allows him to immerse in the NYC style.
Scenario 05 Sleep Mode& Safety
The way to Times Sqaure is long, so Will decided to take a snap before arriving, Brooklyn helped him adjusting the light and strengthen the sound proof. When arriving the time-sqaure, Brooklyn woke up Will and noticed him to bring all the carry on and the surrounding is safe.
Takeaways
My project journey mapResearch: Keeping Alignment Across the TeamThroughout the project, maintaining alignment among all team members is crucial.
Synthesize: Prioritizing Design OpportunitieIn group discussions, focus on selecting the most valuable opportunities by voting and refining research questions. It's important to ensure the team works toward a shared vision, optimizing the process of turning insights into actionable design directions.
Ideate: Embracing Diverse PerspectivesDuring brainstorming, it's essential to listen actively to each team member’s ideas, avoid unnecessary debates, and collaboratively explain and evaluate thoughts. This fosters creativity and ensures that all perspectives are considered while staying aligned with the design goals.
Prioritization: Knowing What (and What Not) to Focus OnIn time-constrained projects, distinguishing between essential and non-essential tasks is as important as defining the work itself.
