CLIENT: PLATFORM SCIENCE
Platform
Scalability.
Virtual Vehicle in-cabin HMI on Android Automotive OS
— one driver experience across phones, rugged devices,
tablets and OEM infotainment.
CLIENT
Platform Science — Virtual Vehicle
Platform
ROLE
Senior Product Designer — research & interaction lead
TIMELINE
Mar 2022 – Nov 2023
San Diego, CA (remote)
DISCIPLINES
Product design, interaction design, UX research, product strategy
1
CHALLENGE
Customizable by fleets, uniform for drivers.
2
RESEARCH
In the cab and the dispatch office.
3
CONSTRAINTS
Rules that can't bend.
4
DESIGN
Flows, states, widgets, specs.
5
OUTCOME
What changed, and for whom.
01
CHALLENGE
A platform built to be customized by every fleet had to become modular and uniform — across devices and contexts of use, without losing what fleets relied on.
I designed and shipped the in-cab experiences on enterprise Android tablets and multiple OEM infotainment systems, and set the strategy framework extending the same system to mobile phones and Zebra rugged devices outside the cab. Each brought different input methods, screen sizes and driving-time restrictions.
02
RESEARCH
[FIELD — CABIN]
[FIELD — DISPATCH]
[RESEARCH SYNTHESIS]
I went where the work happens, then turned what I
saw into documents stakeholders could act on.
METHOD A
Field rides
Ride-alongs with last-mile truck drivers.
METHOD B
Dispatch shadowing
Observing fleet managers and dispatch in the office.
METHOD C
Interviews
Drivers, fleet admins and internal teams.
03
CONSTRAINTS
FIG. 03 - AUDIT OF THE LEGACY TABLET EXPERIENCE - A FEW HIGHLIGHTS
FRAGMENTED USE OF COMPONENTS, READABILITY, PASSWORD REQUIREMENTS FRICTION VERSUS COMPLIANCE, DRIVING SAFETY, INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE WITHOUT CONTEXT OF USE
Operational and regulatory requirements became
the design brief — not a checklist at the end.
Partners: OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, plus internal compliance, fleet management, marketplace integrations, productivity apps and telematics teams — and a visual designer on the shared design system.
04
DESIGN
A widget-based driving interface: the right information at a glance while moving, deeper tasks only when parked.
User flows
INCL. TEAM DRIVING
Interface states
DRIVING / PARKED / ALERT
Widget-based driving UI
MODULAR
Production specifications
ENG. HANDOFF
FIG. 04A — TEAM DRIVING FLOW
FIG. 04B — [LEGACY TO WIDGETS - SHOWN IN PARKED MODE]
FIG. 04C — [WIDGETS ON PORTRAIT HMI - SHOWN IN DRIVING MODE]
05
OUTCOME
Moving the driver experience into the dash removed a failure point: a tablet losing its link to the truck.
On the legacy tablet, a dropped connection to the telematics device counted as an ELD malfunction — drivers had to switch to paper and rebuild the past 7 days of logs by hand. Built into PACCAR's factory-installed infotainment, the HMI stays connected to the vehicle, so hours of service keep logging automatically, alongside team driving, safe-driving widgets and context-aware tools.
Impact.
0
PAPER FALLBACKS FROM TABLETS DISCONNECTS IN OEM INSTALLS
EVOLUTION / VISION
From legacy tablet to factory-installed HMI
Shipped in-cab on Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks through Platform Science's Virtual Vehicle — the platform behind fleets including Walmart, Schneider, C.R. England and Werner.
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