TCL On Road
Client
TCL, R&D Division
Role
Product Designer
Digitalist Team
UX Leads: Fangshu Zhu, Cris Cristina
A robust navigation assistant which speaks to the needs of the daily, rush-hour commuter. It plans, organizes and entertains so you can focus more on the road.
Enjoy the journey
On Road is much more than your typical navigation app. It was designed to be an assistant, which keeps you company and makes the long commute interesting and easier. The team concepted a robust set of features including navigation, music, chat, and reserving parking spots.
It’s a hands free and voice activated experience, since a driver’s attention should be focused on the road.
Reserve your spot
Rushing to make a meeting on time and encountering traffic is an an all too common use case. The team concepted a feature that would enable a user to book parking ahead of time.
Key decision criteria, such as pricing and how close it is to your final destination is also featured in the UI.
Split screen voice calling
While navigating to your destination, users could call their contacts and still have access to the map in the background. A tap on the map would dismiss the contacts panel, should the driver need to focus again on navigation. Designing a split screen application with different modes proved to be quite challenging.
The central focus on the driver’s safety and keeping their attention on the road, constantly informed our design decisions.
Music on the go
Entertainment was an important feature we wanted to include. This feature allowed you to listen to your favorite music and podcasts while you navigate toward your destination.
Designing a split screen UI with multiple contexts proved to be a challenging UI task, since the complexity is at odds with keeping a driver’s attention focused on the road. To mitigate this, I opted for a UI with a subdued color palette. As well, larger touch targets with a clear call to action on each layout were implemented since the driver would operate the app at arms length while they’re driving.
Voice Memos
Send a memo to a business contact, while the idea is still fresh in your mind. Voice Memos offer a non-intrusive way to get your ideas out there, without having to set up yet another meeting or a follow up reminder.
