Responsible for developing and managing all aspects of our design and creative output. Providing UX leadership and vision while defining the experiences by incorporating user research and establishing design practices.
Working with designers and engineers in creating commercially successful products for Honda and Acura. In 2008 I was requested to build a new group focusing on UX/UI in our studio in Torrance.
The intent was to establish foothold in Southern California in order to leverage the extraordinary talent pool in residence in LA and to assemble and lead a team to understand US customer’s expectations for UX/UI. As the development cars came into focus, I helped define the hardware and software strategy and developed the look and feel of the UX/UI and digital brand expression for the latest Honda and Acura brands.
My background in Industrial Design, Transportation Design, User Interface, Experience Design, and Strategy have enabled me to see things holistically. I like to look at the entire customer experience – the entire journey and every touch point and interaction a user has with a brand or service along the way. Product approval and loyalty are the result of an unbroken chain of positive interactions that fulfill (and hopefully exceed) expectations and desires.
Good User Experience Design addresses each of these interactions in a way that is pleasurable, seamless and effortless. Good User Interface Design helps the user navigate through often complex series of interactions to achieve the desired result. It is also an extension and expression of a company’s brand identity. Over the past 23 years I have found myself in the Automotive interior space, fascinated by its technological and interactive challenges and the absence thus far of an elegant solution to the digital – aka “infotainment” – experience.
Furthermore, we are in a transitional phase in mobility as we relinquish control and embrace the driverless car. The experience of traveling from place to place – of not actively driving – is evolving, and as designers we must assist in this transition. We must help users feel both safe and in control. We also must envision what this experience will be like and what passengers will do with that time and how to facilitate their wants and needs. On top of it, the current ownership model of the vehicle as we know it is in transition as well.
This is what drew me to lead our UX/UI with Honda at this pivotal time, yet the issues that are addressed in this rather unique industry apply to many others as well as we move into the unknowable future.