Olli: Designing a Pilot App for an Autonomous Vehicle
My Role & Agency
Product Design Lead (Contractor at GreenStone)
Goals & Challenges
Note (September 2024): After successfully scaling production and gaining $15 million in funding, Local Motors unfortunately became defunct in 2021 due to the impact of COVID-19.
Olli, an autonomous vehicle brand by Local Motors in collaboration with IBM’s Watson, required a voice-controlled/touchscreen app for its pilot buses. In addition to building the needed pilot app, we redesigned Local Motors' corporate site to incorporate more visual storytelling to boost investor interest. The main challenge was working within an extremely tight timeline—less than a month—to create new brand assets and design work for the design system, product, and website.
Solutions & Outcomes
To meet the tight deadline of four weeks, we designed three MVPs centered on bus route navigation, activity recommendations, and music listening. I designed user flows to mimic natural human voice interactions for navigation and driving and crafted UI components that visually indicated when the machine was listening, analyzing, and responding to commands. Additionally, I updated the corporate site to introduce Olli and attract investor interest, boosting funding potential.
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After a successful pilot test, the app was expanded (by other teams) into a full version for installation in buses, with a separate app made available for riders to install on their phones around 2018.
Designing UI that Resonates with Voice Interaction
Within a two-week timeline, we designed the MVP features with UI elements that visually represent natural dialogue. The UI elements move, fade, or appear in sync with Olli or the user speaking, ensuring a seamless experience between voice and touch screen interactions.
Note (September, 2024): In 2017, accessibility was not widely prioritized in product design, which is reflected in my work from that time.
App asking a question to a passenger
App actively listening to a voice command
App searching for a destination
Creating a Memorable Product Story
We redesigned Local Motors' site using a long page format with horizontal panels, each focusing on a single point. This layout made it easier for users to grasp the overall product story before exploring the details.
