Improving the In-vehicle Experience and Scaling Design Globally with Toyota
At Toyota Motors, where innovation and legacy drive the future of automotive excellence, I played a pivotal role as a UX and design systems designer. My contributions enhanced the user experience for millions of customers and advanced Toyota's next-gen design system for improved global collaboration.
UI/UX Designer
User Experience Design, Design Systems & User Research
Automative
375,00+
40+
50+
April 2022 - Present
Role and Responsibilities
My role within Toyota was primarily driving UX improvements, research, and creating new features for the 21 Multimedia System or the current generation of Toyota's infotainment system. The 21MM product was the first infotainment system to have been designed and developed in-house by Toyota. I worked collaboratively with cross-functional team members and subject matter experts across many domains (Media, Navigation, Personalization, Communications, and Electric Vehicles to name a few) to create an in-vehicle experience that is intuitive, personal, and delightful.
Eventually, I began to take up projects on the next-generation teams to support multiple R&D projects for Entertainment and User Profile domains. I then joined then joined Toyota's design system team and facilitated design system stewardship within our program. I worked with designers and developers across North America, the EU, and Japan to improve design velocity, and create visual harmony for our product teams. I created, maintained, and documented design patterns for over 40+ designers and developers across many infotainment domains and regions.
Accomplishments
Conceptualized an automated EV charging navigation experience that added charging stations along routes based on complex vehicle data points, while overcoming severe internal resource constraints. The result was a solution that significantly alleviated battery range anxiety for EV owners.
Led design work on new revenue streams, creating partnerships with Toyota preferred charging locations within our system's navigation app.
Shipped numerous UX improvements driving up usability scores by automotive industry institutions such as JDPower by 12% since joining the current-gen team.
Maintained a complex design system of Figma components, patterns and a versatile color system for 40+ designers and Flutter developers.
Contributed to a complex responsive design system strategy using Figma's new variables to make designing and developing across multiple screen sizes faster and easier.
Supported design research teams by contributing to research plans and creating multi-faceted prototypes using Protopie. These prototypes were used test experiences that required communication between a vehicle and a user's personal device, testing the holistic vehicle experience.
12%+ IQS
Reported JDPower usability score increase since joining the team. Based on rigorous testing and evaluations by JDPower.
4,300,000+
Vehicle experiences improved through over-the-air updates.
+75
Components designed, documented, and maintained for use globally.
Want to learn more?
Through my work, I've embodied Toyota's commitment to sustainability and smart mobility, pushing the boundaries of automotive UX design. I've learned a lot and would love to share how my experience can benefit your organization. Most of my work is under NDA but if you'd like to learn more please don't hesitate to reach out through email or LinkedIn. I am looking forward to connecting with you!