Jul 24, 2018
In this episode, Aidan Simpson interviews Ryan Powell, Waymo’s Head of UX Design, about the company’s Early Rider Program and the challenges of designing during a technology paradigm shift. Plus, Powell unpacks the thinking behind how his team decides what details to include in the car’s interfaces so they foster trust with users. A few highlights:
On the challenge of replacing human
drivers
“I think there's some number out there that
says more than half of all communication is nonverbal. When you
don't have that human in the driver's seat, how do you recreate the
[nonverbal] communication that takes place?”
On building trust with the
passenger
“I
think there’s a fine line between providing the user with just the
right amount of information versus overloading them or being
intrusive. We think a lot about when we should try to draw your
attention out of what you're doing in the car versus providing
ambient information that's available in case you glance up and want
to see something.”
On the value of quick
prototyping
“What's nice about the way that Waymo works is
that my team and the engineers all sit very, very close
together. We're able to try ideas and get something into the
vehicle on a weekly basis. We're able to get out and just hop in
the car right outside the door, go for a test drive, and try
something out.”
Handy info and links for this episode:
- Waymo’s Early Rider Program: Launched in Phoenix in 2017
- Waymo 360: An interactive 360 degree video showing a self-driving car’s POV
- Kitt: A self-driving car from the classic 1980s TV series Knight Rider
Ryan Powell is head of UX at Waymo, formerly Google’s self-driving car project. Before joining Google’s UX Leadership team in 2014, Ryan worked for Samsung, Microsoft, and Motorola developing consumer product experiences.