Context

The Ford F-150 is the truck that “keeps the lights on” in the company. It is highly priced, but the current technology in it was outdated. Other strong competitors in the field were creating innovative designs, and the F-150 was falling behind. Most importantly, the existing IP display was engineering focused rather than user focused.
A full design refresh of the instrument panel screen was in order.

The ask

The objective was to design a refreshed human-centered 12” IP display that reflects the needs of the customer. It should be intuitive, useful, and fun. It should also be flexible enough to scale down to 8” and 4” sized displays for other trim levels.

Current state

The current display had been out for a few years and had some usability issues. I performed an audit and documented the main pain points:
1. Tabular architecture made it difficult to navigate with the limited functionality of steering wheel buttons
2. Bloat, including information research indicated customers did not care about
3. Low levels of customization, difficult to surface information customers care about daily
4. Functional, but not delightful

Researching the customer

The F-150 is a vehicle that has a very strong customer base. A thorough research effort was led by an external firm, to understand who they are. Their persona is that of a “bold warrior.” Through research, there emerged two types of customers: Traditionalists & Younger demographic buying their first truck

There were three types of functions trucks are used for.

Day-to-Day driving

Work truck / fleet vehicles

Towing & Off-roading

Design proposal

Because of the sheer amount of information and the nature of driving, it was important to create a clear mental model for drivers. Drivers should be familiar with where their information is, so that they don’t have to search for what they want while they are driving.

Reducing clutter

Surfacing information that is relevant to the user

Cutting down any chances of driver distractions

The design proposal I created was based on the concept of information zones, which would allow flexibility for content that changes on context, which keeping certain elements unchanged for stability. I created full wireframes dictating general cases as well as special use cases (audio vs information screens vs driver assist).

Priority architecture
‍The gauges could shrink and move to allow for new information that was prompted by the user or the situation the vehicle was in.

Customization options
A menu in the middle allowed the user to choose their favorites screens.

Special Views
When needed, the whole screen would shift into a full screen view of the truck as the user chooses their Drive mode or enters a special mode, like towing.

Balance between new and old
Acclimating traditional customers digital experiences is a balance. I kept the large dials in place to feel like an analog cluster, but still used the space around them to display digital information. This will bridge the gap between our two customer types.

Off to Texas

The F-150 customer base is the strongest in Texas, where big trucks rule the road. With that in mind, we created a prototype, hooked it up to a vehicle, and headed off to test! I created a script that would walk users through a series of common tasks to give them a realistic feel of using the display.

Overall feedback from 85% of testers was that this was a display they would appreciate and would be a selling point for them to upgrade to a higher truck trim level.

Feedback for change:
- Traditional customers felt overwhelmed with customization choices
- Customers felt there was too much movement that was distracting

Iterate

To address these issues and create a more robust design, I made the following changes:

I added curated preset views based on function for those who do not want to customize in MyView.

Intentional animation, only when directing user attention or user triggered action

Deliver

It’s time for all the details. My deliverables spanned across cross-functional teams and included:

Complete UX Specs:
Logic & User Flows, Max/Min space, Feature specs

Arbitration document showing all the priority within the content, depending on the signals being sent by vehicle modules and the information being requested by the user

Full technical specs detailing how this system will connect to the other modules in the vehicle, for a vehicle holistic view

Translations documents, accessibility and Ford/NHTSA regulation checks

Deploy

The 2021 Ford F-150 launched with great success! The IP Display received great accolades for being innovative, intuitive, and an overall great customer experience.

"Ford has finally decided to abandon the round-gauge mimicry instrument panel (IP) design concept and has jumped quite fully into really re-thinking what a dash can be like. There’s still a hint to the old style of physical gauges with the round shapes, but, really, that’s about it. There’s no fake needles or simulated chrome trim or any bullshit like that. Just some good, clean information design. The typography is stylish but clean and highly legible; essential information is clear and readily apparent" - Jalopnik

"A new fully digital instrument cluster gives the F-150 a much more modern look. The available 12.0-inch unit displays key information such as speed, gear selection, and even off-roading data. When navigation is engaged, it will show turn-by-turn directions. The gauge cluster features unique graphics and animations that change depending on the drive mode." - Motor Trend

Not only was the design well received, I also delivered UX packages for ten full cluster displays spanning three screen sizes (4”, 8”, 12”) and eight vehicles. Released products include the 2021 F-150 12-inch, 8-inch, and 4-inch displays and 2022 F-150 12-inch display.