Xevo Market

I helped launch Xevo Market, the first in-car e-commerce platform available in over 10 million vehicles.
WHAT I DID
  • Research
  • Design System
  • UX Design
  • UI Design
  • User Testing
  • Usability Testing
  • Prototyping

01

Role
I led the design of the Xevo Market platform for Stellantis and assisted with the design for GM. Our design team consists of five designers.
I collaborated with companies such as Panera and Pay by Phone to streamline their offerings into an in-car application.

I worked with our internal engineering team to develop my designs for the merchants' apps. Once completed and tested, the apps are installed onto the Market platform.
Accomplishments
We launched Xevo Market in the first 2 million GM vehicles in late 2017.Read CNBC articleIn 2019, we integrated Xevo Market into the FCA uConnect infotainment system. FCA later merged with the PSA Group and rebranded as Stellantis. Stellantis manages 14 vehicle brands, including Jeep and Maserati.Read CNet articleDue to Xevo Market’s success and potential, our company was acquired by Lear in April 2019.Read GeekWire article

02

Final Design
Paying for food, gas, and parking is an integral part of a daily commute. I designed an intuitive platform for drivers to complete those transactions through their vehicle infotainment system.
Pay for fuel
Pay through the car and limit credit card fraud.
ORDER COFFEE
Skip the line, and order ahead within five taps.
Curbside pickup
Auto-notify that your vehicle has arrived at the curbside pickup zone.
PAY for Parking
Avoid the rain and pay from the comfort of your car.
Standardizing user workflows.
I streamlined all merchant applications by creating templates and standardizing workflows. That resulted in an intuitive user interface and experience for the drivers, enabling them to complete transactions more easily.
Watch responsive design demo
Watch Stellantis Market demo

03

The Problem
Xevo Market was initially driven by innovation to integrate e-commerce into passenger vehicles. The product eventually evolved through user testing to address real-world issues.
Distracted Driving
Phone usage is a major cause of distracted driving. Xevo Market helps perform routine tasks safely via the vehicle's larger touchscreen.
Fraud
Credit card readers can expose users to fraud. Xevo Market enables easier and contactless payments.
Waiting in line
No one likes waiting in line for food or groceries. Xevo Market uses GPS, in-vehicle notifications, and machine learning to help commuters save time by ordering ahead and checking in.
Most smartphone users have multiple food, parking, and retail applications. Each one required an account and a payment method. Each app has a unique user interface, making it challenging to use especially on the go.

Xevo Market created a universal account profile and wallet. This enabled drivers to pay for goods and services with any merchant. We achieved this by sharing our vision for a superior in-car user experience and collaborating with merchants to enable guest transactions.

04

Approach
Through the user research I've conducted. We confirmed that working professionals and millennials are more likely to use Market once they understand our product’s value proposition.
I led over 20 user testing and usability testing efforts.
Using UserTesting.com, I recruited vehicle owners to identify drivers' pain points, assess their understanding of product features, and evaluate the intuitiveness of our UI and task flows.
Watch a test report
Established a lab for live, moderated usability studies.
I recruited participants for our simulator setup to interact with my prototypes. These studies allowed me to evaluate the usability of specific designs and the level of driver distraction they caused.
Watch testing video
The fifth screen has arrived and it's in the car.
Car companies are dedicated to introducing more vehicles equipped with larger touch screens. This presents an opportunity to develop applications that complement and enhance our in-car experience.

05

Design System
Aligning with the brand's styles guide
Every vehicle brand and model infotainment system presents a unique user interface and user experience. To ensure seamless integration with a specific model. I conducted audits of the infotainment systems, either using the bench provided by the OEM or by leasing actual vehicles from dealerships. If our partner did not provide a styles guide, I would create one to ensure consistency and coherence in our designs.
Crafting flexible, user-friendly, and responsive
I developed master templates composed of reusable components, designed to offer flexibility in cases where data may not be readily available.

‍Each new template undergoes usability testing to ensure it is intuitive and safe for use on the road.

06

Challenges
Offerings and APIs vary or is not be available
Streamlining a task flow like paying for fuel across multiple merchants was straightforward. As for food, parking, retail, and service merchants, the offerings vary widely, which made it challenging to create a standardized user workflow.
Driver Distraction Guidelines
All task flows designed must adhere to NHTSA driver distraction guidelines. Specifically, any task flow enabled for the driver to interact with while driving must be completed within 12 seconds, with a total of 22 seconds allowed, including the time the driver glances back at the road. The structure of the task flow can reset the clock depending on how it is structured.

07

Solution
A framework that can work interchangeably
Above is a diagram of paying for fuel. Regardless of which merchant the user selects, the options and flow are curated to be very similar. If there are optional selections, they always follow the same screen structure. The framework also applies The Serial Position Effect by ensuring that the first and last screens are consistent, offering familiarity and predictability.
A framework that meets NHTSA guidelines.
Ordering food from the full menu or customizing it was not a viable option if the vehicle was in motion. This feature is only available while the vehicle is parked.However, re-ordering from history, accessing subscription orders, and checking in for curbside pickups were useful alternatives that meet NHTSA guidelines.

08

Impact
Process
The testing I've done helps our team stay focused on developing features that have been user-tested.
Business
The framework I developed has significantly expedited our process for onboarding new merchants. That brought the process timeframe from 12 weeks down to six.
The framework serves as an educational tool to teach merchants about the Xevo Market Platform and outlines our constraints. Once merchants are well-informed about how it works, it becomes easier to discuss and work on the APIs.
Product
With each new iteration of Xevo Market, I consistently enhanced it by integrating insights gathered from user testing and usability tests.
I fine-tuned the UI to boost accessibility, eliminating unnecessary screens and friction points to mitigate driver distractions.Furthermore, I leveraged the Relevant Engine that our engineers developed to anticipate, auto-suggest, and streamline user actions, advancing Market toward its full potential.

09

Colleagues
Ethan vigilantly seeks to solve user problems and he does so collaboratively across all organizations.
Jared Corzine - VP of Design
When faced with multiple, competing priorities, Ethan focused on each one, carving out time in his busy schedule to make things happen.
Tara H - Senior Program Manager
Ethan is a highly creative and productive designer with strong visual design skills. He is methodical and thorough in his design thinking and truly cares about his work.
Yurii Sytar - Senior QA Lead
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