Testing In-Vehicle Display Concepts in Driving Contexts
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Context
As part of a two-year research engagement, a major automobile OEM preparing for increased production for model year 2029 wanted to ensure the central information display (CID) was usable for all audiences. Following an initial usability study on a single concept, the team expanded the scope to explore multiple concepts, generating both immediate recommendations and enduring usability insights to inform future models. As the team was relatively new to consumer research, light education was provided throughout the process to support application of findings and methods.
Process
Three concepts were tested in a prototype vehicle with 17 drivers completing the same tasks across each design. Building on prior research, the study focused on optimizing key CID components, including the home screen, Quick Control settings, and HVAC tray. In addition to evaluating specific interface elements, participants rated each concept against four design principles—simple, intuitive, safe, and current—to generate deeper insights into layout and in-vehicle interaction needs. I led client debriefs throughout the study, along with a mid-week workshop to synthesize findings and refine concepts for the second half of testing.
Results
Two types of reports were delivered: a near-term, tactical readout to support discussions for an upcoming executive meeting, and a comprehensive insights report structured around a three-part framework to guide design stakeholders and executives as the infotainment system evolved. Through live client observation sessions, executive stakeholders also developed a deeper understanding of good design components, including the importance of layout structures such as the grid.
My Role
Lead User Researcher
Timeline
Winter 2026 | 3 Months
Methods
Concept Testing
Ethnographic Observations
Stakeholder Synthesis Workshop
Research Video Summaries (Adobe Premiere)
Current State Analysis
Qualitative interviews with 5 high- and 5 low-adopting digital stores as well as voice of the team member analysis revealed system bugs and lags were the primary driver for low TM adoption. Through this current-state research, we came to understand key sentiments across 3 main groups:
Technicians abandoned the workflow and resorted to a manual process because of technology lags and the pressure of patients standing in front of them in lines.
Pharmacists served patients out of order because of an unclear user interface, and they spent excessive time signing off on patients during the post-vaccination review.
Patients who completed the digital paperwork in advance were disappointed when their visit wasn’t smoother and faster than those who did not do pre-work.
Future State Service Blueprinting
Building on the vision for a check-in and team member queue concept, I mapped seven unique happy and unhappy path blueprints and facilitated “power hour” journey-mapping sessions. These sessions aligned product, design, and operations teams around the patient, technician, and pharmacist journeys, highlighting key pain points to monitor during the pilot. Insights from past research were integrated to inform stakeholders of likely behaviors based on similar prior concepts.
These blueprints not only created a shared understanding of the future state—enabling informed decision-making—but also served as a practical tool for UX designers, providing a holistic view of the team member work queue and guiding prototype development.
Future State Research and Pilots
4 rounds of in-person ethnographic and virtual evaluative research was completed to evaluate the current state, 2 rounds of prototypes, and pilot of the concept before scaling nationwide, speaking with 50+ Walgreens’ team members and 19 patients throughout. Taking learnings and open questions from blueprints and prior virtual research sessions, the pilot research plan included key questions and the method for analysis (e.g., interview, observation, metric, etc.). Research was presented to 10+ ops, product, and UX stakeholders after every round, documenting recommendations ranging from critical to low. After qualitative research, I collaborated with the quantitative insights team to create survey questions.
Key Learnings
Bringing Teammates Along the Service Design Journey
The value of a service blueprint is only as good as the understanding it brings to stakeholders, many of which had not had as much familiarity with blueprints before and found them unapproachable to dig into. Walking teams through the blueprint as it evolved would have enabled earlier feedback, stronger shared ownership, and helped UX designers think more constructively about prototypes and the questions they needed to work to answer.
Designing for Real-World Constraints
Although field team members had mostly positive reactions to the new process, its success depended on unresolved systemic constraints, including limited in-store Wi-Fi. Without addressing these foundational issues, adoption risk increased despite strong product vision. Surfacing these infrastructure gaps, and the real-world team member sentiments behind them, might have better supported long-term adoption.