Vehicle Record
I designed the initial MVP version of the vehicle record to centralize distributed vehicle data. As we scaled the experience, I handed off design execution and continued providing oversight. Served as the single source of truth for all vehicle data. Every user, from factory teams to dealers and customers, accessed role-based views into the same live record.
The old vehicle record existed in a legacy ‘green screen’ system across 30+ individual inquiry screens with severe limitations in usability, searchability, and scalability. Systems like this were commonplace, and resulted in it sometimes taking days to pull aggregate vehicle data.
To address these challenges, I lead extensive sorting and tree testing research across the organization to generate and evaluate a new record taxonomy.
The work is mysterious and important
This approach allowed us to design a more intuitive structure that made it easier for team members across different departments, each with varying priorities, to quickly find the data they needed. The sections of the vehicle record were stacked vertically, allowing for a more scalable and flexible information architecture.
This layout enabled Toyota to swap modules in and out based on user roles or permissions, ensuring that team members had access to the most relevant data.
One critical piece of the record to get right was the vehicle journey, as it was essential to various stakeholders. The original layout for the vehicle journey followed a horizontal "pizza tracker" format, which quickly revealed limitations. It struggled to scale effectively, making it difficult to add new events or additional data points without compromising usability.
Through iterative testing and direct engagement with Supply Management and Logistics users, we explored various ways to improve the organization of journey content. By optimizing around a split vertical timeline view, with timestamps on the left and event descriptions on the right, we found the right balance of scanability and information density.
The final journey design successfully communicated time, event details, and vehicle status in a way that was intuitive and adaptable. It could be positioned atop a map for geographic context or within a narrower panel view for a more compact display.
Additionally, the new vertical structure significantly improved usability on tablets and mobile devices, ensuring a seamless experience across different screen sizes.
The vehicle journey conveyed a lot of bit in a little bit of space.
Through iterative testing and design, we ensured that the new vehicle record structure streamlined workflows, improved searchability, and aligned with the operational priorities of Toyota’s supply chain teams.
The vehicle record visually reflected whatever current state the vehicle was in.