Prototyping connected driver experiences with real vehicle data

I co-created and led a prototyping system that helped Volvo teams explore connected driver experiences across hardware, software, sensors, and services.

The challenge was to prototype a holistic experience when mobile apps, APIs, cloud services, vehicle data, physical controls, and in-car interactions all need to work together. Static screens and transition charts could not make those relationships tangible enough to evaluate.

I connected UX, creative technology, vehicle data, physical controls, mobile interfaces, and service concepts around a reusable prototyping capability.

• Co-created the technical and experience architecture
• Framed the system around realistic vehicle states and end-to-end journeys
• Led collaboration across design, product, and engineering
• Used tangible prototypes to replace unnecessary specification overhead

The system used tablets, Arduino, 3D-printed controls, and a custom CMS that could ingest and replay captured CAN and LIN data. This made it possible to test interaction models with realistic vehicle states while keeping the physical setup flexible enough to change quickly.

These environments made it possible to visualize, test, and discuss connected-product ideas earlier and with higher fidelity than static screens. They also helped bridge technical and creative execution without increasing documentation overhead.

• Improved Volvo's ability to develop distinctive connected-product interfaces
• Shortened the path from concept to testable driver experience
• Increased cross-functional collaboration between design, technology, and product teams
• Built in-house capability for strategically important connected experiences

The system was designed to explore more than one screen. It connected vehicle state, glanceable primary information, secondary touch interfaces, steering-wheel and physical controls, connected services, and the living environment inside the cab.

Public launches from 2017–2018 make that whole-environment problem visible across Volvo Trucks, Mack Trucks, and Renault Trucks. The repeated architecture is consistent with the system-level direction we were helping Volvo Group explore in 2014–2015: driver information in the cluster, deeper tasks on a secondary display, frequent actions near the driver's hands, and physical controls retained for safety-critical and work-specific tasks. These are public production references, not interfaces I claim to have personally designed.

These examples demonstrate downstream product lineage and the breadth of the systems problem; they do not establish individual authorship, a shared production codebase, or direct causation.

The rollout spanned regional, long-haul, vocational, construction, and heavy-haul vehicles. Its significance is not visual similarity alone, but the recurring balance between digital information, touch interfaces, nearby physical controls, and the larger driver environment.

• Volvo VNL launch, July 2017
• Mack Pinnacle and Granite interior launch, September 2017
• Renault Trucks Roadpad launch, July 2018