As the world transforms at an unprecedented pace with electric advancements, innovative methods, Chrysler must embrace the lessons learned and forge ahead towards a brighter future. With a mission to promote sustainability and micro-mobility, our team of designers from architecture and industrial design came together to tackle the challenge and redefine the Chrysler brand as a champion of global, social, and economic sustainability.
This design project is motivated by the need to find innovative solutions that can effectively mitigate the challenges posed by increased car ownership in China, while also promoting sustainable living and providing an optimized transportation experience for our users.
Implementing a shared transportation system can provide many advantages for both individuals and cities. Such benefits include lessening traffic congestion, decreasing emissions, encouraging sustainable mobility, and ultimately offering affordable solutions for local residents.
Our team recognized the changing landscape of electric technology and sought to enter the Chinese market, aiming to enhance brand visibility and promote sustainability and micro-mobility. We discovered that Chinese people valued family and sought solutions that could be passed down to future generations. To address the issues of traffic congestion and pollution, we developed a unique car concept that focused on reuse and longevity. By offering a durable chassis and various subscription plans for interchangeable car bodies, we aimed to reduce car ownership burdens and provide efficient transportation. As a UI/UX designer, I played a crucial role in creating an intuitive digital experience that connected users with our sustainable transportation system.
This design project is motivated by the need to find innovative solutions that can effectively mitigate the challenges posed by increased car ownership, while also promoting sustainable living and providing an optimized transportation experience for our users. We have two models this time the Mountain and the River. The larger model Mountain fits five to six people, and the smaller one fits one to two each time. The model River meets the need of users who travel in a small party. The vehicle's compact size made it easier to move through the traffic while model Mountain provides more space and interactive areas inside the vehicle to enhance the travel experience.
We are trying to provide a seamless travel experience that minimize time spent on commute time and release the burden on car ownership.
With customization, our customers get to showcase their one-of-a-kind style and preferences. This transforms their product into something that truly speaks to them, making it more meaningful and relevant.
In our business model, customers are renting car shells rather than owning them. But, that doesn't mean we don't give them the chance to make their ride truly their own. We offer customization options based on their subscription tier, giving them the opportunity to add a personal touch. This can result in customers being more willing to pay a premium price for a customized product.
Our user research began with the aim of identifying the pain points and motivations of our users, which would enable us to more precisely define our product and service.
To better understand the user experience and the project concept, we came up with a storyboard that illustrated how the user interacted with our product. In this story, our user, Bowen, a 35-year-old man, works in an advertising agency and lives in Beijing. He usually has a busy schedule during workdays and loves to spend quality time with friends and family and enjoy outdoor activities. However, he is frustrated about being stuck in a traffic jam and only has a limited budget to purchase a second vehicle used for family field trips. With our service, Bowen only needs to purchase one chassis and join our subscription plans to change different shells according to his needs.
Given that this project involved designers from both industrial design and architecture, our team collaborated closely to ensure that our ideas were cohesive and that the product was well-integrated. By working together, we were able to connect the different components of the product seamlessly, resulting in a unified final design.
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Once our users have set up their subscription plan, they can easily arrange a family trip during the weekend. To switch to a larger model, all they need to do is schedule the service for Friday night, indicating the desired time and location. The service will be completed quickly, within 10-15 minutes.
Market research has shown that customer sees the value in a product that is custom-made according to their wishes and needs. This means that offering customization could heighten the experience and increase engagement, revenue, and margins.
That’s why we provide different options to our customers on customizing the car shell both interior and exterior, it comes with various colors, patterns as well as the engraved message or signature that is meaningful and unique to the family. In this case the vehicle became an investment for future generations, especially a way to preserve family memories.
While waiting at the lounge, customers can enjoy meals or use other amenities in our multiple relaxation areas.
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By looking at a product's entire life cycle—from materials extraction to end-of-life management, we can find new opportunities to reduce environmental impacts, conserve resources, and reduce costs.
Therefore, in order to speak Chrysler’s vision and take the social responsibility, we are proud of offering the recycling service that allows customers to recycle their car shells when they reached the lifespan and replaced with new one. With the advanced 3D printing technology, the materials used in the old car shell can be recycled up to 75 %, reconstructed with recyclable materials extracted from waste.
Initially, I aimed to give the product a futuristic look that would appeal to the Chinese market. I incorporated cultural elements with a "cyberpunk" style. However, I overlooked the branding aspect, and the styles did not align well with Chrysler's image.
After a captivating visual exploration, I decided to focus on a direction that was heavily influenced by traditional Chinese painting. By incorporated cultural elements like paintbrush strokes and ink into the aesthetic language, I used simple lines, shapes, and patterns to evoke images of majestic mountains and flowing rivers. The color palette was inspired by the rich, organic hues found in these paintings, capturing the essence of nature and perfectly complementing our overall concept. It's essential to strike a balance between incorporating cultural elements and maintaining a design that resonates with the brand and its users.
We've taken a thrilling journey in crafting our feature set and digital interface, dabbling with a spectrum of color options, experimenting with various icons, exploring typographical styles, and refining the design of buttons to create a truly exceptional experience.
The Chrysler team provided feedback on my initial UI designs, advising me to focus on readability rather than taking the cultural element too literally. I had created both bright and dark versions, but the visual message was overwhelming and the complex UI elements made the content difficult to access.
Based on the feedback, I decided to use dark UI with fewer decorative elements to maintain a modern, sophisticated, and minimalist approach while maintaining the Chinese culture with subtle lines and shapes in the background. This enhanced the user experience and made important information easier to read and understand.
We put together all the designs to showcase the experience when users using our service and product including Interactive prototype and a promotional video.
Exploration and iterations should be driven by purpose
Design is a treatment, and hypotheses and explorations are ingredients for great design because they made me a truth-seeker instead of an egoist. Throughout the project, we received valuable feedback from Chrysler’s designers to help us stay on track and refine the designs. My most valuable experience was collaborating with people from different industries to accomplish design goals, including architecture and transportation design. Working with people from different disciplines often gave me fresh ideas and inspiration for my designs. It wasn’t easy at the beginning when we worked together to connect each other’s ideas on this project. Learning how to communicate and solve problems from different angles was a challenging yet rewarding experience for me.
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