Collaborative Driving - A Fiat-Chrysler Project

For this semester long project, the Fiat Chrysler Automobile Group challenged us to rethink what the third space is, and how we can redesign it. The third space is defined with parameters of the transition space between the first space - usually considered home -, and the second space - work or destination -. With this open-ended question, not only were we tasked to design for this space, but also to define the boundaries and possibilities for the third space. 

For the first two to three months, we dedicated our efforts to exploratory and generative research. At this point, we were mostly researching for opportunity gaps involving this transition space. We came up with a research plan in order to refine and break down our concepts, while simultaneously not limiting ourselves, by constantly broadening and refining our topics and findings. During phase one, we began with exploratory, behavioral, and generative research in order to understand a full spectrum of opinions and concerns.

After a lot of research, feedback, and critiques, we moved forwards with a feedback system that would instill trust and comfort between a user and an automated vehicle. To cater to the needs, we initiated phase two of research, which focused on much more generative research. While finalizing the research, we were able to frame the project. We deduced that the main goal for this system was to ease the transition from “manual” cars to automated driving, to build the system to cater to the user’s life and their individual needs.