Lynkie:Go
VA on the Go
During Vehicle B project, a family oriented SUV, I led the design process of Lynkie:Go, portable version off Lynk&Co's beloved VA with extended scenarios.
Brief
We got the brief describing what can be expected for Vehicle B.
According to the brief, the scope can be listed as:
-Modularity, functionality, Surprising
-New Design language
- Family oriented & Child Focus
-Great Technology
-Comfort, Extended experience
-Physical & Mental Health
Strategy
According to our research / insights, we identified the remarkable areas and the intersection of them is the sweet spot for us to explore.
Brand targets: Enhancing community, Rich Experience
Target users: Family & Kids, Safety, Educative
Global & Local Trends: Latest Technology improvements, Rising mental & physical health awareness, Smartness
Brainstorm, Workshop
During our Workshop, one of the big chunk of ideas were accumulated under Voice Assistant (VA) part.
This is Lynkie
Lynkie is LynkCo's VA, providing experience on screens, a fine representation of LynkCo brand.
How far can we push Lynkie and extend the VA experience?
User Research Insights
''Safety is first, Comfort and Smartness are very important''
A User, 35, Shenzen
The keypoints that our users and potential customers ask for and impact their purchase decisions.
- Smartness: Intelligent car, like Convenient Voice Assistant, Advanced Navigation etc., is one of the biggest priorities for Chinese community as, in general, they like and adopt newest technology easily.
- Safety: Advanced technologies like ADAS, Driving assistant etc.
- Kid Oriented: Parent-child travel market size is about $52 billion. 50% of the users drive their kids everyday so they have Family-Kid focus. For instance, they ask for educative technologies in their vehicle.
- Entertaining & Fun: According to users, their vehicle should be fun as they consume a significant amount of time in there. They also want to customize their experience.
- Promoting Health: Both Physical and Mental. China camping market size reaches $29.9 billion by2021, a 400% growth compared to 2020.
Ideation
1st Iteration
Screen
We proposed to customize Lynkie digitally. Especially kid-friendly fun adjustments were made like color and costume based contextually.
2nd Iteration
Break the screen boundaries.
Stakeholders asked us to explore sliding CSD to passenger side. We took the advantage and proposed Lynkie to appear as a Hologram there. In this case Lynkie will act as a Driver-focused copilot.
3rd Iteration
Travels in the car freely
We decided a richer experience in this Iteration and make Lynkie travels in the car. The main scenario is Lnkie travels to the Kids, sitting at the 2nd row, to be their Education partner, travel mate.
All these iterations made us closer to more compelling experience we want to create. We freed her from screen but she was still bound to vehicle. Then I revisited the question:
So, HMW make Lynkie more tangible by enhancing interaction through additional use cases to strengthen brand value?
Meet Lynkie:Go
At the end of a Design process I came to a point that Lynkie should be more tangible to extend user experience. I decided to make a physical version of Lynkie for seamless experience, which was highly appreciated and supported by the stakeholders.
Plug it intentionally
Together with Interior team, I decided to plug LynkieGo at some points in a car intentionally.
1 - IP: Plug on IP to make LynkieGo a Co-Pilot
2 - Seatback: Make LynkieGo the kid's Educational or Practicing Partner.
3 - PlayGround: Make LynkieGo the kid's Game Partner.
3
1
2
Smartness
Lynkie smartly knows where it is plugged and acts accordingly.
LynkieGo - Seatback:
1 - Changes the voice to communicate like a kid.
2 - Brings educational or practicing content.
LynkieGo - IP:
1 - Communicates with DIM, guides accordingly.
2 - Brings driver-related information.
LynkieGo - Home:
Creates a seamless, continuous experience both in car and at home. As your in-car experience starts from home.
The Process
Benchmarking & Research
We thoroughly analyzed major competitors, explored DigiPhysical touchpoints, and researched topics related to the brief. While the Chinese market is competitive and challenging, it also presents many opportunities.
Learn & Analysis
Key Differentiator
Over 60% of Car Buyers say Voice Assistant availability influences their purchase decisions.
130 million users are currently using VA, with 83.8 million active monthly users.
Enhancing Safety
“If VA was ubiquitously used, Euro NCAP wouldn't encourage car makers to use separate, physical controls for basic functions."
Technological Advancements
“With the growing success of voice AI, the need for vertical solutions in the automotive sector will soar,” Holger G. Weiss, Co-founder and CEO of German Autolabs.
Rising Investments
While some brands use their own VA, others prefer to integrate Google, Alexa, Apple. In addition to that, brands started to implement ChatGpt to their systems.
The PainPoint:
1 - Car makers using third-party VAs struggle to build brand loyalty
2 - Those with own VA just offer limited, vehicle-bound experiences
Ideation
Based on our research and identified pain points, I concluded that our VA should be as smart and flexible as possible, offering a personalized experience.
SMART: Knows better to whom it is dealing with
FLEXIBLE: Behaves accordingly. For example, deals with an adult like an adult; with a kid like a kid.
This reminded me of Chameleon, which shifts color according to the context it is in. It blends, it adapts.
Brainstorm & User Journey
I held a brainstorming session and created user journeys for various scenarios to identify how and when we may need a VA.
I've found out that, a physical twin of Lynkie could be a good idea. It can be carried anywhere, plugged at any point in vehicle, even can become a smart home assistant so the experience it provides seamlessly continues in all contexts. So I decided to go towards this direction.
Exploration
I, together with intern, started to explore, create scenarios.
I modelled Lynkie and prepared 2D drawing for paper prototype in order to test it.
Test
We tested the paper model in foam vehicle. We workshoped how Lynkie can behave at different locations in a car, how it becomes a flexible touchpoint.
Concept Presentation
Along with our test results, I prepared a concept presentation by rendering and animation in Blender.
Prototype
After the concept is approved, I made a solid model and 3D printed in order to show&tell.
