A-EV – Speculative Design – UX Project

Project Background
I worked with 3 others (Michael Jr Bengwayan, Christina Geoghegan and Conor Steesnon) on a Speculative Design project. The aim of this assignment was to research and explore emerging technologies and trends in UX design. We were tasked with engaging in a speculative design process (also known as design fiction, critical design, or design futures). Speculative design allows one to expand one’s thinking beyond the constraints of the present day to consider the potential of the future. As we think about how things will be in the future we can consider the myriad of probable, plausible and preferable futures. Speculative design allows us to design for these possible futures.
We chose A-EVs as our emerging technology.
Research
Discover
We began the project by researching the current state of the technology and where it might realistically be in the next 5-10 years. We looked at the ways in which A-EVs communicate with their users and the world around them.
Refine
Michael, Christina, and I then had a look at the various Stakeholders that might be impacted by our chosen technology, in order to choose a user and use case to focus on. We narrowed our scope down to Public Transport and then created a signal map to explore the area in depth. From here settled on After School Transport as our use case.
This was an area that was close to my heart. I have a young boy who has started school. He is currently brought to his Afterschool care from school by a Garda vetted driver. While the group were researching the different use cases for A-EV's we thought it might be interesting to look at my scenario and how this could play out in an A-EV. As we had access to a real use case, this seemed like the logical direction for our project, given the time available to us.
Define
Persona's
Two personas were created – the primary user being a young boy, Oisin, who must travel in the A-EV and the secondary user being his mother, who needs to be updated regularly on how her son is doing.
Oisin is 4.5 years old and has just started school. Both his parents work so he needs to be brought from school to after school. In the present day, a Garda vetted driver brings him and other children to the after school in a bus. In our future scenario, Oisin will be brought by an A-EV. He is nervous travelling without his parents in the A-EV. 
Leah, Oisin's mum, is a key secondary persona. In the present day, she is anxious when Fionn is travelling between school and after school as she never knows if he has been picked up from school or if he has arrived at after school safely. She also has no way of contacting him while he is in transit. In our future scenario, she has access to Oisin and updates on his status.
Customer Journeys
We then conducted an as is and to be customer journey for Oisin.
The main pain points were that
1. Oisin is nervous travelling without a parent or someone he knows
2. Oisin's engagement with the drive
- The driver could be late, making him nervous or 
- maybe sick so not showing up
- Oisin may not like the driver
Opportunity here was that an automated vehicle could be more reliable and could have a personality tailored to the child. We are also giving the child a level of control as they can get in touch with their parent or guardian at any point in the journey. This allows them to feel as if the parent is actually present on the trip, making them fell more safe
On the To Be journey, a pain point was the type of communication that Oisin could have the  car. Being 4 and a half, he is not literate (so can't read text updates or menu items)and may not find it easy to learn control hand gestures. so it was imperative that he could communicate and make commands via voice.
From here, we created a number of JTBD and HMW statements before settling on the ones below.

Jobs To Be Done
How Might We
Benefits
Oisin – easy access to parent or guardian resulting in a happier child who feels safe and confident travelling in the A-EV.
Leah – updates on childs whereabouts and easy access to childen route resulting in happy confident parent/guardian.
The Story

Below is how I created the first iteration of the story. I used a number of storytelling devices – including Freytags 5-Part Dramatic Structure. The topline is Oisin is travelling to Afterschool in an A-EV when the A-EV takes an unfamiliar route, as there are roadworks, and Oisin panics.

Storyboard
Design
Tech Moodboards
Future tech was researched to get a better understanding of how users could gain access to A-EVs. We also looked at the types of future tech that might be part of our daily lives in the next 5-10 years to ensure the tech we suggested fit into this future world.
UI Moodboards
Messaging and communication app UI's were researched by Michael before design began on our A-EV screens.
UI Iterations
Michael went through a number of iterations of the screen design that was to be incorporated into the film.

Iteration 1

Iteration 2

Iteration 3

UI Accessibility
Accessibility was an important consideration for this tech – as it may be used to transport the mobility impaired and users (like children) with poor or low literacy skills. Below is some research conducted by Christina.
User Flows
A number of user flows were explored by Christina to understand how the A-EV may communicate with an app on the parent/guardian's phone. What information would a parent need versus a child or a teacher? How would this information be accessed?
The Brand
Christina and I created a brand for the operating software that would work on the A-EV. These designs were incorporated into the screens and the chosen font (Roboto) was used in the UI design.
The Final Film
Credits
Camera operator: Conor Steenson
Editors: Conor Steenson & Sorcha Hogan
Oisin: Fionn Steenson
Leah: Sorcha Hogan
Teacher: Michael Jr Bengwayan
Katie: Christina Geoghegan
Hermes Vocals: MacOs Text to Speech Feature
Hermes Voice Motion Graphic: Videezy.com
Defocused Background, Hermes: Videezy.com
Geolocation graphic: Google Maps
Project Evaluation
Strengths
• Extended resources when conducting the videography
• Strong communication through frequent meetings
• Proper task delegation and management
Weaknesses
• Poor internet connection
• Limited hardware and software resources
• Could have spent more time looking at problems and coming up with solutions before choosing a story
• Could have spent more time on UI dev pre-story so more UI could have been integrated into the story
• Could have looked more at the risks associated with this tech and use case
Future Work
This project looked specifically at tech being developed for one car manufacturer only. Future considerations could also be:
• What entertainment can be added to the app?
• Can this software be used by other companies? BMW, Audi, et
Project Members 
Technology Research: Michael Jr Bengwayan
Ethics & Legal Research: Christina Geoghegan
Project Manager: Sorcha Hogan
UI Design: Michael Jr Bengwayan
Task Flows: Christina Geoghegan
Identity: Christina Geoghegan & Sorcha Hogan
Story & Related Personas and Journeys: Sorcha Hogan
Script: Sorcha Hogan & Christina Geoghegan
Storyboarding & Shot List: Sorcha Hogan
Camera person: Conor Steenson
Editors: Conor Steenson & Sorcha Hogan
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