Cadillac CT6 User Experience
Lead Interaction Designer - General Motors 2011 - 2013
For this project, I was Lead Interaction Designer for the console touchpad and 10.2" touchscreen. I also acted as design support for the Instrument Panel Cluster (IPC) and Rear-Seat Entertainment system. These components make up the Cadillac User Experience (CUE) Infotainment system. I worked closely with Executive Leadership, Visual Designers and Program Managers in Detroit and Shanghai. I also worked closely with the suppliers in Germany and Japan.
Touchpad
I was responsible for creating a gestural language that would enable drivers to interact with CUE without having to lift their arm. This involved studying gestural languages across a number of devices and conducting contextual inquiries with respondents that owned and used such systems.
In addition to acting as a secondary controller, the Touchpad also has Character Recognition. A driver can scrawl the first few characters of a name and then click to initiate a phone call. Early tests indicate that this is significantly less distracting than a touchscreen keyboard for some tasks. To achieve optimal results, I spent time with luxury car owners in Shanghai to understand how they operate their vehicles daily. The result is a design that has tested well in the Chinese market.
I created a new gestural language for the Touchpad that was designed specifically for the user goals of a driver.
Interactive User Guide for Touchpad
I designed this for the 10.2" touchscreen to help users orient themselves with the Touchpad and to serve as a handy reference for any one who operates the vehicle.
“The touchpad is fast and responsive, as are the menu actions, and it seems as though it would be much easier to use while the car is in motion.”
Touchscreen
As an Interaction Designer for the 10.2" touchscreen, I was responsible for adapting the existing layout of the 8" CUE system to the extra space and making optimizations where possible. The result is a touchscreen system that has more readable fonts and more generous touch targets. Overall, the system is more convenient to use when the driver is focusing on the road.
