OVERVIEW
Mobility Lab is a co-creation workshop where users configure modular autonomous vehicles for extreme scenarios. The exercise explores how we might reimagine our relationships to vehicles in the coming age of driverless mobility.
TEAM
André Orta, designer and facilitator, Teng Yu, cameraman
TIMELINE
3 weeks
SKILLS
Qualitative research, experience design, workshop facilitation
CONTEXT
MFA Products of Design, School of Visual Arts
Driverless capabilities and electric powertrains will soon allow cars to have flat-floored, modular interiors. Much like apps on a smartphone, this will enable users to add to, remove from, and reconfigure their cars around specific tasks and lifestyles.
Mobility Lab is a co-creation workshop using prompts and custom tools to learn how users might configure modular cars in response to unique scenarios. The qualitative data from this workshop can later be used to design the modular, shared, driverless vehicles of the future.
The workshop enables participants to sketch out the interior layouts and features of a modular driverless vehicle. Users choose scenarios to build their vehicles for then share among the group. The facilitator may also add unique design constraints like having to design for deaf users or children.
I outlined a facilitator’s script with step-by-step instructions. This included: times, key ideas, outcomes, supplies, and tips.
I created unique situations one might encounter and asked participants how they might configure a modular, upgradable vehicle to meet the needs of that scenario.
I made custom whiteboards using laser-cut acrylic, drafted scenarios, and prepared design constraints.
The experience is fundamentally social, so it was important to understand both the sequential and emotional journey users would be taking.
Our group went several rounds creating inventive, unique vehicles to meet challenges relating to: space, privacy, accessibility, interaction, and protection.
After the event, I looked over the data we gathered and pulled out 4 key learnings from our users.
Cars are a relic of the Industrial Revolution. Their layout, key features, and business model remain largely unchanged since their invention. Meanwhile, society faces new challenges like climate change, population growth, and higher costs of living.
Fortunately, new tech like autonomy and electrification give us a chance to reimagine the automobile for the first time since its invention, and hopefully, create new ideas to answer the needs of a modern world.