My role
UX/UI Design
Project type
Case study
Year
2017
What is “Clarity”?
“Clarity” is a design concept for a cross-platform infotainment system. The system is composed of two modules:
- an iOS app concept and QT prototype
- a infotainment unit concept and QT prototype
Why “Clarity”?
Most vehicle infotainment systems are composed of different components that have different design languages and behave completely different.
What is unique about “Clarity”?
Clarity is designed as a whole. The user does not need to learn two different user interfaces in order to control the exact same thing: his/her car.
Learn it once, use it everywhere. The interface is adapted to each platform, yet it is similar.
Other considerations
The whole system is designed with simplicity in mind. Nothing is more than two taps away. This is especially important for in-car infotainment systems as the user needs to pay attention to the road ahead.
Competitive research
The first step of the project should always include a competitive analysis.
During this step all the alternative existing solutions are explored and our USP (unique selling point) starts to take shape.
The Initial Sketches
The initial ideation was done using pen and paper. Most efficient and lowest cost method. This is an exploration phase so using the least time consuming method is important.
The First Wireframes
After the initial research and a few hand sketches, wire-framing is the next logical step. This sets up the controls in their space and allows a first view of the entire product layout.
The full color design
Here are a few key screens that show the design in more detail. Both platforms are places side by side in order to better compare the similarities and differences between the two.
Interactive QT iOS prototype
In order to test the ease of use, I build a functional click dummy prototype in QT-QML. The prototype runs on iOS and was used for the initial user tests, being refined along the way based on user feedback.
Car dashboard. Interactive QT prototype
Visualizing the interactions of the actual infotainment unit is very important. The layout is different from the iOS prototype therefore I also built a separate prototype for further testing.
Many of the components are shared between the two prototypes and this benefits two things:
- minimizes the actual development time
- aligns the design