What I did for this project:
Nissan Box application
Summary
Nissan Box and Nissan Life are two mobile applications developed by Nissan for controlling and managing electric and thermal vehicles. The project extends beyond simple car function management. Both applications provide additional features such as valet service, management of gas and electricity consumption, and vehicle state management.
Problem framing
Nissan's user and client base spans significant territories divided into different sections: East Asia (Japan, China, South Korea), Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America. This means users have varying relationships with their vehicles and belong to different transportation cultures. Furthermore, each of these regions, and even countries, has specific legislation regarding the use of vehicle-related technologies. The aim is to create two apps that are flexible enough to produce a version for each of these contexts.
Role
During the project, I reviewed existing literature and conducted user interviews in France and North America alongside my colleague. In the second phase, I developed prototypes and the final interface for production.
Approach
To understand such a broad cultural and linguistic spectrum, we began with extensive research. We studied the evolution of car ownership and transportation culture through literature, data and statistics. This helped us prepare for our initial user interviews. During these interviews, we alternated between open-ended questions about the interviewee's relationship with their vehicle, and more structured activities like card sorting and prototype building. After several months of research, we shared our findings and prototypes with stakeholders. These prototypes were reviewed and revised by Nissan's product and account leaders, then tested again with a different group of users. This cycle was repeated three times. Finally, we developed the final user interfaces and worked closely with the developers and mechanical engineer to ensure the most accurate data flow possible.
Challenges
Understanding the cultural differences between regions was complex, particularly when considering variations in urban scale. The way users related to their cars differed in dense urban areas, suburban areas, small isolated cities, and other various scales varies a lot. This added complexity to our initial vision. We had to abandon the idea of an universal application that required little flexibility. Furthermore, we had to adapt to each country's legal environment, which necessitated a more dynamic framework to adjust easily to each situation.
Solution
The two applications were designed with functionalities that can be easily implemented on each user’s dashboard. Each of these functionalities offers local flexibility, providing the user with a highly localized set of information. As a result, users can customize the functions they're interested in without encountering any hindrances related to legal or technical limitation. The application covers the whole toolset of the car, from light management, heating system and many more. In addition to that, the fuel consumption data, combined with the interconnectivity between the GPS, provide a comprehensive report on the car's consumption and finances. The valet service allows full control over the car's activities without causing any inconvenience to the current user.
Working with a powerful brand like Nissan requires understanding the brand and its environment. Moodboards and storytelling assisted us in aligning with the account director and mapping the brand universe. These moodboards were also further developed with the user to express their perspective on a concept presented to them.
Numerous iterations of the electric vehicle have been required. Each of these has been evaluated through interviews, eye-tracking tests, and stakeholder feedback. The aim is to create a flexible environment that can incorporate the unique features of various vehicles without disrupting the overall concept.
Here we have the final mobile application, an example of the Nissan Leaf version for Europe. It offers accessible visuals while retaining a significant amount of information within the buttons. Users desire control over their vehicle, whether they are on board or away. Live information is transmitted to the app via a contextual button that gathers all necessary information for each feature.
This document provides details about the app and its construction. Each square button has a unique interactive pattern. Some buttons offer information, others have an on/off action associated with them, and others respond to a long press or double tap. Each action is designed to naturally correspond with its respective feature.
The app has developed its own internal branding. Although Nissan has its own visual code and branding guide, the app operates in an environment that requires it to cover areas not addressed by the global brand. Consequently, we developed a design system for both the digital brand and interactive patterns.
The identity evolves to fully embrace its varying functionalities. The goal goes beyond providing functional features; it also includes a degree of gamification. This implies that the app should serve as an extension of the car, not just an optional companion. User feedback and studies have indicated that most digital applications currently serve as mere accessories to their physical counterparts. Users expect these apps to play a more significant role on their phones.
Nissan Dark is a flagship project for high-end Nissan lines. The aim was to show how users could interact with the app while maintaining consistency across different models under this umbrella. Exclusive features, such as valet driving and major-domo services, are unique to this app. These were viewed as an extension of the line, an exclusive package. Here, we had to align business objectives with the broader digital environment strategy.
Many aspects of the application needed synchronization and adaptation concerning mileage calculation, fuel or electricity consumption, and data synchronization. Given that most interactions between a car and its user have potential serious implications, we had to create an environment where the information is understood in its full context. This proved to be an interesting part where we needed to inform and educate the user about understanding their vehicle.
Troughout the all project, we have used prototypes for many purposes. Those have been helpful to conduct user interviews. Some prototypes have even been made with the user live. While prototype were in more advanced stages, we have worked on dif
