Product Prototype Development for a Futuristic In-Car Gaming System

Business challenge

Our client is a leading manufacturer of premium segment cars with an innovative spirit and a drive for industry disruption. Their vision of the self-driving future focuses on how things will change for people inside the cabin during a trip. When drivers become passengers, they will need things to keep them busy and entertained while being transported by a self-driving car. In support of their forward-looking concept, our client came up with an idea for an interactive in-car gaming system as an infotainment solution for fully autonomous vehicles.

This idea prompted our client to seek a partnership with a reliable technology and digital consulting company that provides product prototype development services.

Experience delivering advanced driver assistance systems and human machine interfaces for global OEMs combined with deep expertise in product prototyping and experience design made Intellias a perfect match for addressing our client’s challenges.

Solution delivered

At Intellias, we see the discovery phase as the bridge from an abstract idea to a real-life prototype — and ultimately to a successful product. Our journey with our client toward product design prototyping for an in-car gaming system started with a preparatory discovery phase. Before providing product prototyping services, the Intellias team conducted deep research into our client’s market and user personas. We prepared several initial product concepts with hypotheses about users’ needs and suggested features to address them based on our research results. We also defined what information we still needed to get from the client to be sure we were on the same page.

Discovery workshop

After the initial preparation was complete, our clients’ stakeholders and the Intellias team met for ideation and co-creation sessions to validate our assumptions and create product prototype development requirements. During moderated discussions, we validated the solution’s business value and defined its strategic business goals. Then we outlined solution challenges and prioritized them to define the most important product features and functions. Based on this information, we worked out a product strategy and roadmap.

Visual prototype

Having defined all requirements, we developed a visual prototype. We first developed a skeleton with essential user flows to show how users will interact with the system. Then we added all necessary features and made an interactive prototype to give our client the look and feel of the interactive gaming platform. We considered our client’s feedback at each stage of the product design prototyping process. With every iteration, we got closer to the infotainment system our client envisaged.

Technical prototype

Once we were confident the visual prototype reflected our client’s vision, we started developing the prototype. Our engineering team delivered a standalone interactive Android application based on the Kanzi HMI engine with mocked user data and the main user flows.

Business outcome

The sophistication of modern technologies, along with the substantial investments required to deliver a fully developed product, have made product design prototyping essential. Although it may seem time-consuming, prototyping is in fact a cost-effective way of presenting a solution to the market and to users.

At Intellias, the discovery phase is an iterative process in which we crystallize the product idea and look for the best way to validate and demonstrate it. As a result of the discovery phase for this project, our client’s R&D department received a prototype and a successful proof of concept for an interactive gaming platform. They can now use this prototype for promotional activities to enhance the brand’s innovative image. By conceptualizing the product’s capabilities, Intellias showed the feasibility of our client’s idea and made the project attractive for investors.

Also, the in-car gaming system we prototyped gives our client a distinct competitive edge. When cars reach level 4 automation, commuting and driving will no longer be a mundane routine but a time for leisure and a retreat from the world. Therefore, companies that offer innovative infotainment solutions first will be the automotive industry frontrunners.