Lightyear set out to build the Lightyear One: a remarkably efficient solar-powered car with five square metres of solar panels on the roof. A car that charges while it drives asks different questions of its driver, and of its interface.
How do you show energy that comes and goes with the weather? There was no convention to lean on; the in-car UI had to be designed from first principles, worthy of the car's iconic ambition.
We teamed up with Lightyear and brought every discipline to the table: research, interaction design, visual design, engineering. We deliberately pushed past what in-car UIs conventionally look like, while staying grounded: our researchers tested with Lightyear's own customers throughout, including prototypes with a physical steering wheel. Ambition where it helps, evidence where it counts.
Design principles and research findings that became the foundation of the Lightyear One's in-car UI, carried through into implementation. A first-of-its-kind interface for a first-of-its-kind car, designed to make solar driving feel not experimental, but obvious.
