Designed in 2023 for 2033

MOBILE MENTOR

ROLE

Product designer

CLIENT

Honda, 99P Labs

DURATION

08 months

Project overview

In the year 2033, your car will be the driver. What will you do with this newfound freedom?

TL;DR

I built an AI tutor that understands your learning style and teaches you through casual conversation, mixed reality, and your personal biometrics. *If you want to go deeper on this project, please book a 30 minute meeting.

Watch Jacob use Mobile Mentor

Business challenges

Car manufacturers forecast declining revenue from auto sales.

Gen Z isn't buying into traditional American attitudes on car ownership.

How can companies like Honda make up for this lost revenue while attracting Gen Z users like Jacob (pictured below)?

Listening to users

Google design sprints provided the framework for weekly user testing and design iterations.

concept vehicle used for testing Mobile Mentor

Repurposed concept bus for user testing

Each week, after observing users experience my design iterations I asked myself 'so what' to get to their underlying needs and wants. Explore these affinity maps from each week's sprint.

This method provided data to support design decisions ranging from the AI character's appearance (relatable, not a cartoon or movie star)

AI generated characters from Midjourney and TikTok

to how information should be summarized at the end of a trip (a blend of limited text and images).

Learning summary versions tested with Gen Z research participants

With a basic UI in place, it was time to get out of the lab...

Diagram explaining the components of the Mobile Mentor UI

and into a real car.

Research session zoom recording of Mobile Mentor being used on a morning commute

There was just one problem. My 2018 Rav-4 wasn't a very good example of what cars will be like in 2033.

So I flew to Phoenix in order to experience Mobile Mentor in a self-driving Waymo.

Mobile Mentor teaching me about the Saguaro Cactus

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No driver no problem

To see more from my Waymo testing, check out this video.

Business outcomes

The 10 year roadmap for integrating Mobile Mentor relies on continuing technological advancement in generative AI and mixed reality as well as strategic partnerships with other major firms.

Mobile Mentor platform and proposed strategic partnerships

SaaS subscriptions like Mobile Mentor will help OEM's offset declining traditional vehicle sales.

Mobile Mentor platform and proposed strategic partnerships

Parting thoughts

This case has been brief because, let's be honest, you're probably just skimming through. The main takeaway is that users are going to continue demanding experiences to be:

• hyper-personalized
• context aware
• continually building on prior interactions

This project showed the potential of future human-machine teaming - an AI partner that predicts and acts on your future wants and needs to increase your impact, expand your knowledge, and reduce barriers to action.
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If you'd like to read more about this project, check out these deliverable reports.

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Ready to chat? Please book a 30 minute meeting.

MOBILE MENTOR

ALEX H