SafeTuned

PROJECT OVERVIEW

SafeTuned: Redefining Safety and Simplicity for Inexperienced EV Drivers.

SafeTuned is an intuitive infotainment system for electric vehicles (EVs) designed to enhance safety and improve the user experience for inexperienced drivers. SafeTuned aims to minimize distractions and improve usability through an intuitive touchscreen interface, fostering a confident and safe driving environment.

A Safer, Smarter Approach to Driving

SafeTuned redefines driving with intuitive design, smart customization, and a guided onboarding tutorial—keeping drivers focused, confident, and safe while ensuring every journey is seamless and enjoyable.

Onboarding Experience made easy

First-time users can easily set up their vehicle and customize shortcuts with a guided tutorial before driving.

Enable customized driving mode

Effortlessly adjust your driving layout—resize maps, prioritize features, and customize controls to match your needs.

Streamline Your Drive —With Effortless Shortcuts

Access essential functions instantly with customizable shortcut buttons for a safer, distraction-free drive.

BACKGROUND

Touchscreens are becoming the new norm in modern vehicles.

The rise of EVs and advanced touchscreens brings exciting innovations but also challenges like high production costs, supply chain issues, and safety concerns. This project aims to design an intuitive, safe infotainment system that enhances user experience while supporting cost-efficient solutions for the industry.

DISCOVER

Where do users struggle with infotainment touchscreen?

Secondary Research

Understanding the Problem on a Deeper Level

We conducted secondary research to gather insights from existing studies and reports on how users interact with vehicle touchscreens, focusing on common behaviors, challenges, and usability trends.

01. Unfamiliar Touchscreens for New Drivers

Proper driver education is vital for using advanced infotainment systems safely, as lack of training increases accident risks, especially for inexperienced or distracted drivers.

02. Distraction: A Major Cause of Road Incidents

The rise of large, PC-sized vehicle screens offers new opportunities, but research highlights distraction as a major cause of accidents, underscoring the need for safer, user-focused designs.

03. Rising Accident Rates: Addressing Safety Concerns

While these systems offer innovative features, I recognized they can be highly distracting, particularly for inexperienced drivers, leading to serious safety concerns.

User Survey

Let’s step into the Driver’s Seat.

A total of 66 Tesla drivers, primarily residing in the United States and South Korea, participated in the survey. The questionnaire consisted of 23 questions and took approximately 7 minutes to complete.

Insight 1/6

73% of young Tesla buyers prioritize advanced technology above all else.

Insight 2/6

69% of drivers struggle to adapt to touchscreens during their first use.

Insight 3/6

52.5% of drivers struggle to adapt to touchscreens due to confusing menus.

Insight 4/6

56% of drivers experience frustration due to hard-to-find features.

Insight 5/6

83% of drivers rely on navigation most while driving.

Insight 6/6

52.5% of drivers prioritize customization most to improve driving safety.

Affinity Map

Connecting the Dots: Unveiling User Patterns

Using the affinity map, We organized and synthesized the survey findings to uncover patterns and connections between user feedback.

Design Decision

Prioritizing Design Opportunities and Limitations

I prioritized areas where design interventions could make a meaningful impact, while clearly distinguishing limitations that fall outside the scope of our control."

DEFINE

Who are we designing for?

User Persona / User Journey

User Perspectives and Insights

We developed a user persona and journey to understand target users, identify their pain points, and design intuitive solutions that improve infotainment system usability and safety.

Sarah Miller, a 52-year-old elementary school teacher with 25 years of driving experience, struggles to adapt to modern touchscreen interfaces. Accustomed to traditional controls, she values simplicity and safety but often feels overwhelmed by advanced technology. Her goal is to confidently navigate touchscreen systems with minimal distractions.

IDEATE

How can we design safer, distraction-free infotainment?

Idea Sketching

Finding the Optimal Safe Driving Layout

After completing the research and narrowing down to a few MVPs, we began sketching ideas on paper.

Paper Prototype

Paper Prototype: Visualizing Initial Design Concepts

We quickly sketched low-fidelity designs to explore layout ideas and gather early user feedback. This process allowed us to identify usability issues, iterate rapidly, and refine key interactions before moving to digital prototypes.

Implementing Feedback

What We Improved Based on Feedback

We improved the design based on user feedback, addressing usability and enhancing key features.

01. Shortcut Buttons Redesign: Horizontal to Vertical

02. Enhancing Visual Feedback for Button Taps

03. Refining Layout: Switching From Horizontal to Vertical

FINAL DESIGN 1/4

“Learnable” and “Customizable” Onboarding

The onboarding tutorial provides drivers with essential information about interactions needed before starting to drive and allows them to customize preferred vehicle settings and shortcut buttons for a seamless driving experience.

FINAL DESIGN 2/4

“Efforless” access to Shortcut buttons

Through onboarding, drivers can see at a glance how their customized shortcut buttons are applied to the actual driving layout. The buttons are positioned in the safest and most accessible locations for effortless use while driving, and enhanced visual feedback minimizes distractions by providing clear, immediate responses.

FINAL DESIGN 3/4

“Adjustable” Map Size for Safer Driving

Drivers can adjust the map and navigation size to fit their preferences, enhancing customization while minimizing distractions for a safer driving experience.

FINAL DESIGN 4/4

Seamless Music Player Accessibility

To ensure drivers can easily switch songs while driving, a vertical scrollable list format was implemented for the music player. After selecting a song, the music player can be resized to various dimensions to avoid obstructing other essential features like the map or navigation system during use.

USABILITY TEST

Let’s Evaluate and Refine the User Experience

From October 27 to 28, 2024, a usability test was conducted with five drivers over two days in an actual vehicle setting. The testing utilized a Galaxy Tab Pro 8 (16-inch) device, and each session lasted approximately one hour, including both questions and a System Usability Scale (SUS) evaluation.

View Usability Test Result

NEXT STEP

Defining the Next Steps: Areas for Improvement

After completing the usability test, we analyzed observations and survey results to identify further improvement opportunities.

01. Improving The Visibility Of The Slide bar

02. Redesigning The Arrow Icon

03. Enhance The Visibility of Music Player Tab

REFELECTION

What I Learned

Through this project, I gained valuable key insights gained from designing for user safety, quick interactions, and optimal device layouts.

01. Designing for Unique Device Dimensions

Vehicle infotainment systems require designing for larger screens and unique layouts compared to mobile or web interfaces. I learned how to optimize content and interaction elements for these specific dimensions while maintaining usability.

02. Creating Quick, Minimal-Action Interactions

In automotive UX, the focus is on enabling users to complete tasks quickly and safely with minimal physical movement. This project taught me how to design interfaces that present essential information clearly, allowing tasks to be performed efficiently without drawing attention away from the road.