Whole cabin experience

My role

Led the UX direction and strategy for Google’s next-generation in-car platform, shaping how experiences scale across every screen in the vehicle. Guided the design team in developing platform rules, controls, and interaction patterns, and communicated this vision to automakers to influence their product strategies.

Scope

Deliver a scalable platform that works across panoramic displays, passenger and rear-seat screens, and instrument clusters.

Define how entertainment apps (video, games, media) would adapt to non-touch displays, including rules for driver control and passenger handoff.
Establish a widget framework optimized for glanceability and safe in-car interactions.
Partner with global automakers to align platform design decisions with their roadmaps.

The problems

Industry is going big

OEMs have consistently increased the size of their screens to differentiate from the competition and increase the value perception of their products. However, they struggle with utilizing the newly available space provided by massive displays, and their design teams are asking for our point of view.

Old tech

Much of the industry relies on old technologies like HDMI or poorly-optimized solutions like Fire TV (which require a physical remote for the best experience). The result is a subpar experiences for passengers and drivers.

While the Assistant is great for starting a playlist or sending texts, it is not very useful beyond that. It lacked proactiveness and limited functionality.

Scalability

Google needed a scalable UX framework that could work across panoramic dashboards, passenger displays, rear-seat entertainment, and driver clusters. The challenge was to enable rich experiences like video and games while maintaining strict safety standards, designing for non-touch displays, and ensuring clear control between driver and passengers. At the same time, we had to align these design rules with global automaker partners and present a cohesive vision to the industry.

“I think that it would be better to not have tablets just sitting around willing or waiting to be lost because I've lost a few tablets that way. Not fun.”

— Google Bulit-in user

GOAL

Design a scalable UX framework that expands Android Automotive OS from a driver display into a safe, seamless whole-cabin experience across every screen in the car.

Focus areas

System & apps

Core Framework, launcher, widgets, notifications, interaction patterns, keyboard, and stationary mode
Entertainment

Browsers, kids mode, content recommendation (concept),, and personalization
Sharing

Co-piloting, co-watching & sharing, and screen management

Principles

Personal by design

The system experience should enable and enhance personalization

Great alone, better together

Focuses on the driver while enabling entertainment for all

Surprisingly predictable

Provides familiarity and expected outcomes

Early visual explorations

Simplify

Recognizing an emerging trend in the automotive industry, we opted to concentrate our efforts on non-touch distant displays. While our solutions are readily adaptable to multi-touch screens, we embraced the challenge of initially developing something specifically tailored to unique automotive needs.

Testing interaction designs

Assistant forward

Contextual

Example use case: get recommended locations and then an option to share your ETA.
Recommendations

Get Assistant suggested media based on your listening habits and media services.
Messages

Quick options plus your most recent message is pinned on your dashboard.
Smart

Get smart quick replies based on the context of your messages.

The impact

Improved multi-tasking

65% of driving time is in the dashboard, -11.5% app switches, -38% app launcher use

Voice forward CUJs

+ 6% Messaging, +3.5% Media minutes, +2% Assistant DAU, +7.7% Assistant WAU/WAD

Improved customer satisfaction

Redesign resulted in the highest jump in CSAT score ever for Android Auto!