Designing for Accessibility
Designing for Accessibility
"Designing for Accessibility" was an exploratory project aimed at enhancing the understanding of accessibility in design within the organization. The project focused on the Features team, intending to bring theoretical insights into actionable outcomes.
Outcomes
• A comprehensive set of research findings and ideation outputs.
• Guidelines for creating accessible features.
• Three tested concepts designed with input from users with cognitive or physical disabilities. My role in the project was as a Product Designer. Toward the end, I also stepped in as the acting Design Lead for two weeks while our lead was on vacation.
Client
Ford Motor Company
Year
2023
Category
Product Design
Non-disclosure Agreement
Working for Ford in the automotive industry meant being bound by NDAs. The following references are non-revealing, consented, public information or pertain to completed and discontinued projects. However, I can share insights into my personal experiences, the methodologies employed, and the skills I developed while working on various initiatives. These examples highlight my contributions and professional growth without disclosing any proprietary or confidential information, ensuring full compliance with legal and ethical obligations.
Non-disclosure Agreement
Working for Ford in the automotive industry meant being bound by NDAs. The following references are non-revealing, consented, public information or pertain to completed and discontinued projects. However, I can share insights into my personal experiences, the methodologies employed, and the skills I developed while working on various initiatives. These examples highlight my contributions and professional growth without disclosing any proprietary or confidential information, ensuring full compliance with legal and ethical obligations.
Non-disclosure Agreement
Working for Ford in the automotive industry meant being bound by NDAs. The following references are non-revealing, consented, public information or pertain to completed and discontinued projects. However, I can share insights into my personal experiences, the methodologies employed, and the skills I developed while working on various initiatives. These examples highlight my contributions and professional growth without disclosing any proprietary or confidential information, ensuring full compliance with legal and ethical obligations.
Non-disclosure Agreement
Working for Ford in the automotive industry meant being bound by NDAs. The following references are non-revealing, consented, public information or pertain to completed and discontinued projects. However, I can share insights into my personal experiences, the methodologies employed, and the skills I developed while working on various initiatives. These examples highlight my contributions and professional growth without disclosing any proprietary or confidential information, ensuring full compliance with legal and ethical obligations.
Chapter 1 – How We Got Started
The process
We followed the Design Thinking methodology, adhering to the planned schedule throughout the project. While we conducted secondary research continuously, the user interviews proved to be the most insightful aspect, yielding actionable findings.
Secondary research
We really wanted to do most of the secondary research accordingly with the timing, but the topic is to dense, thus it demanded much more time than expected. Our team also had to research about the Ford Features Team and their work to relate our f indings and future concepts to their needings and capabilities.
The Interviews: Getting closer of the routine of a PwD
Our team interviewed people with cognitive and physical disabilities remotely. Users told us many unexpected personal stories and experiences that we compiled in empathy maps to guide our ideation phase
Quotes from Interview
Autonomy is important
"It bother me because I feel very dependent on people to do things and I don't like it, because they would be things I could solve easily. So, all the time he's asking to take me there, to do something that bothers me"
User 1, 25 years old, total amputation of the right leg
Issues that affects the senses
"Light bothers me, however, at certain times the sound is much worse. For example very low sounds."
User 2, 32 years old, autism
The process
We followed the Design Thinking methodology, adhering to the planned schedule throughout the project. While we conducted secondary research continuously, the user interviews proved to be the most insightful aspect, yielding actionable findings.
Secondary research
We really wanted to do most of the secondary research accordingly with the timing, but the topic is to dense, thus it demanded much more time than expected. Our team also had to research about the Ford Features Team and their work to relate our f indings and future concepts to their needings and capabilities.
The Interviews: Getting closer of the routine of a PwD
Our team interviewed people with cognitive and physical disabilities remotely. Users told us many unexpected personal stories and experiences that we compiled in empathy maps to guide our ideation phase
Quotes from Interview
Autonomy is important
"It bother me because I feel very dependent on people to do things and I don't like it, because they would be things I could solve easily. So, all the time he's asking to take me there, to do something that bothers me"
User 1, 25 years old, total amputation of the right leg
Issues that affects the senses
"Light bothers me, however, at certain times the sound is much worse. For example very low sounds."
User 2, 32 years old, autism
The process
We followed the Design Thinking methodology, adhering to the planned schedule throughout the project. While we conducted secondary research continuously, the user interviews proved to be the most insightful aspect, yielding actionable findings.
Secondary research
We really wanted to do most of the secondary research accordingly with the timing, but the topic is to dense, thus it demanded much more time than expected. Our team also had to research about the Ford Features Team and their work to relate our f indings and future concepts to their needings and capabilities.
The Interviews: Getting closer of the routine of a PwD
Our team interviewed people with cognitive and physical disabilities remotely. Users told us many unexpected personal stories and experiences that we compiled in empathy maps to guide our ideation phase
Quotes from Interview
Autonomy is important
"It bother me because I feel very dependent on people to do things and I don't like it, because they would be things I could solve easily. So, all the time he's asking to take me there, to do something that bothers me"
User 1, 25 years old, total amputation of the right leg
Issues that affects the senses
"Light bothers me, however, at certain times the sound is much worse. For example very low sounds."
User 2, 32 years old, autism
Chapter 2 – Leading Ideation & Prototyping
A Sprint approach to a tight schedule
To optimize our tight schedule, I organized a collaborative workshop where the team brainstormed ideas using Post-its. While they returned to their tasks, I worked with the studio designer and a UX intern to refine the concepts. This ensured everyone contributed efficiently without disrupting their workload.
Concept cards and stakeholder selection
We mapped ideas into a value-versus-effort matrix, aligning them with existing features. After an internal review, I invited the Design Lead to provided input and define the next steps. We presented 11 concept cards—each with an illustration, description, user pain points, and existing features as a foundation—to leadership. These efficiently conveyed potential experiences. Stakeholders prioritized three concepts for testing with users with disabilities, choosing enhancements to existing features for faster, feasible implementation.
Prototyping: collaboration and delegation
As a product designer leading this phase, it was an exercise in letting go of my instinct to be involved in every detail and instead adopting a high-level perspective. Collaboration and delegation became critical as we worked on designing screens on figma, prototyping interactions on protopie, and building a physical car "buck" for testing.
The real scale car prototype
The buck—a model representing a car interior—required significant adaptation to ensure it was suitable for user testing. We collaborated with a specialized modeling team to make it accessible, safe, and compliant with confidentiality requirements.
Saving time with modified templates
Assuming that we were not developing an interface, but testing concepts, we saved a lot of time by modifying central stack screen templates and their interactions according to our needs.
A Sprint approach to a tight schedule
To optimize our tight schedule, I organized a collaborative workshop where the team brainstormed ideas using Post-its. While they returned to their tasks, I worked with the studio designer and a UX intern to refine the concepts. This ensured everyone contributed efficiently without disrupting their workload.
Concept cards and stakeholder selection
We mapped ideas into a value-versus-effort matrix, aligning them with existing features. After an internal review, I invited the Design Lead to provided input and define the next steps. We presented 11 concept cards—each with an illustration, description, user pain points, and existing features as a foundation—to leadership. These efficiently conveyed potential experiences. Stakeholders prioritized three concepts for testing with users with disabilities, choosing enhancements to existing features for faster, feasible implementation.
Prototyping: collaboration and delegation
As a product designer leading this phase, it was an exercise in letting go of my instinct to be involved in every detail and instead adopting a high-level perspective. Collaboration and delegation became critical as we worked on designing screens on figma, prototyping interactions on protopie, and building a physical car "buck" for testing.
The real scale car prototype
The buck—a model representing a car interior—required significant adaptation to ensure it was suitable for user testing. We collaborated with a specialized modeling team to make it accessible, safe, and compliant with confidentiality requirements.
Saving time with modified templates
Assuming that we were not developing an interface, but testing concepts, we saved a lot of time by modifying central stack screen templates and their interactions according to our needs.
A Sprint approach to a tight schedule
To optimize our tight schedule, I organized a collaborative workshop where the team brainstormed ideas using Post-its. While they returned to their tasks, I worked with the studio designer and a UX intern to refine the concepts. This ensured everyone contributed efficiently without disrupting their workload.
Concept cards and stakeholder selection
We mapped ideas into a value-versus-effort matrix, aligning them with existing features. After an internal review, I invited the Design Lead to provided input and define the next steps. We presented 11 concept cards—each with an illustration, description, user pain points, and existing features as a foundation—to leadership. These efficiently conveyed potential experiences. Stakeholders prioritized three concepts for testing with users with disabilities, choosing enhancements to existing features for faster, feasible implementation.
Prototyping: collaboration and delegation
As a product designer leading this phase, it was an exercise in letting go of my instinct to be involved in every detail and instead adopting a high-level perspective. Collaboration and delegation became critical as we worked on designing screens on figma, prototyping interactions on protopie, and building a physical car "buck" for testing.
The real scale car prototype
The buck—a model representing a car interior—required significant adaptation to ensure it was suitable for user testing. We collaborated with a specialized modeling team to make it accessible, safe, and compliant with confidentiality requirements.
Saving time with modified templates
Assuming that we were not developing an interface, but testing concepts, we saved a lot of time by modifying central stack screen templates and their interactions according to our needs.
A Sprint approach to a tight schedule
To optimize our tight schedule, I organized a collaborative workshop where the team brainstormed ideas using Post-its. While they returned to their tasks, I worked with the studio designer and a UX intern to refine the concepts. This ensured everyone contributed efficiently without disrupting their workload.
Concept cards and stakeholder selection
We mapped ideas into a value-versus-effort matrix, aligning them with existing features. After an internal review, I invited the Design Lead to provided input and define the next steps. We presented 11 concept cards—each with an illustration, description, user pain points, and existing features as a foundation—to leadership. These efficiently conveyed potential experiences. Stakeholders prioritized three concepts for testing with users with disabilities, choosing enhancements to existing features for faster, feasible implementation.
Prototyping: collaboration and delegation
As a product designer leading this phase, it was an exercise in letting go of my instinct to be involved in every detail and instead adopting a high-level perspective. Collaboration and delegation became critical as we worked on designing screens on figma, prototyping interactions on protopie, and building a physical car "buck" for testing.
The real scale car prototype
The buck—a model representing a car interior—required significant adaptation to ensure it was suitable for user testing. We collaborated with a specialized modeling team to make it accessible, safe, and compliant with confidentiality requirements.
Saving time with modified templates
Assuming that we were not developing an interface, but testing concepts, we saved a lot of time by modifying central stack screen templates and their interactions according to our needs.
Chapter 3 – My "Cherry on Top": Immersive Testing Environment
To align with the high presentation standards of the international D-Ford team, I introduced an audiovisual approach to capture usability testing. We created an immersive environment to simulate a realistic driving scenario for the test participants.
The setup
• A darkened room with a Nanlite light simulating streetlamp illumination.
• A looping video of a rainy road on a TV screen placed in front of the buck.
• Ambient sound effects of rain and car noises. Two cameras captured user interactions: one focused on the central stack (tablet interface) and the other on the participant’s facial expressions. Lapel microphones ensured clear audio capture.
Setup benefits
• Users were more immersed in the test scenario.
• The darkened environment masked imperfections in the prototype. • Recorded user reactions provided compelling evidence of the concepts' value for stakeholders.
To align with the high presentation standards of the international D-Ford team, I introduced an audiovisual approach to capture usability testing. We created an immersive environment to simulate a realistic driving scenario for the test participants.
The setup
• A darkened room with a Nanlite light simulating streetlamp illumination.
• A looping video of a rainy road on a TV screen placed in front of the buck.
• Ambient sound effects of rain and car noises. Two cameras captured user interactions: one focused on the central stack (tablet interface) and the other on the participant’s facial expressions. Lapel microphones ensured clear audio capture.
Setup benefits
• Users were more immersed in the test scenario.
• The darkened environment masked imperfections in the prototype. • Recorded user reactions provided compelling evidence of the concepts' value for stakeholders.
To align with the high presentation standards of the international D-Ford team, I introduced an audiovisual approach to capture usability testing. We created an immersive environment to simulate a realistic driving scenario for the test participants.
The setup
• A darkened room with a Nanlite light simulating streetlamp illumination.
• A looping video of a rainy road on a TV screen placed in front of the buck.
• Ambient sound effects of rain and car noises. Two cameras captured user interactions: one focused on the central stack (tablet interface) and the other on the participant’s facial expressions. Lapel microphones ensured clear audio capture.
Setup benefits
• Users were more immersed in the test scenario.
• The darkened environment masked imperfections in the prototype. • Recorded user reactions provided compelling evidence of the concepts' value for stakeholders.
To align with the high presentation standards of the international D-Ford team, I introduced an audiovisual approach to capture usability testing. We created an immersive environment to simulate a realistic driving scenario for the test participants.
The setup
• A darkened room with a Nanlite light simulating streetlamp illumination.
• A looping video of a rainy road on a TV screen placed in front of the buck.
• Ambient sound effects of rain and car noises. Two cameras captured user interactions: one focused on the central stack (tablet interface) and the other on the participant’s facial expressions. Lapel microphones ensured clear audio capture.
Setup benefits
• Users were more immersed in the test scenario.
• The darkened environment masked imperfections in the prototype. • Recorded user reactions provided compelling evidence of the concepts' value for stakeholders.
Chapter 4 – Taking the Lead
During the Design Lead’s vacation, I led the team, ensuring tasks were on track and preparing for upcoming presentations. As the focus of the project was on finishing our presentation deck, I decided to reduce the amount of meetings to give more quality time to the team to each one produce their part of the presentation. We started to use more asynchronous communication through team chat to deal with issues and, when needed, I scheduled meetings to solve specific major problems.
While I managed well, feedback from a colleague highlighted the importance of showcasing team members' contributions with enthusiasm—something that I applied to my consecutive projects as a Design Lead.
During the Design Lead’s vacation, I led the team, ensuring tasks were on track and preparing for upcoming presentations. As the focus of the project was on finishing our presentation deck, I decided to reduce the amount of meetings to give more quality time to the team to each one produce their part of the presentation. We started to use more asynchronous communication through team chat to deal with issues and, when needed, I scheduled meetings to solve specific major problems.
While I managed well, feedback from a colleague highlighted the importance of showcasing team members' contributions with enthusiasm—something that I applied to my consecutive projects as a Design Lead.
During the Design Lead’s vacation, I led the team, ensuring tasks were on track and preparing for upcoming presentations. As the focus of the project was on finishing our presentation deck, I decided to reduce the amount of meetings to give more quality time to the team to each one produce their part of the presentation. We started to use more asynchronous communication through team chat to deal with issues and, when needed, I scheduled meetings to solve specific major problems.
While I managed well, feedback from a colleague highlighted the importance of showcasing team members' contributions with enthusiasm—something that I applied to my consecutive projects as a Design Lead.
During the Design Lead’s vacation, I led the team, ensuring tasks were on track and preparing for upcoming presentations. As the focus of the project was on finishing our presentation deck, I decided to reduce the amount of meetings to give more quality time to the team to each one produce their part of the presentation. We started to use more asynchronous communication through team chat to deal with issues and, when needed, I scheduled meetings to solve specific major problems.
While I managed well, feedback from a colleague highlighted the importance of showcasing team members' contributions with enthusiasm—something that I applied to my consecutive projects as a Design Lead.
Chapter 5 – Outcomes
The project culminated in presentations to the London team, the Features team, and two organizational forums:
• A Brazilian general knowledge meeting (400–500 attendees).
• A South American forum on physical and mental disabilities. The project was handed over to the Features team, where it continues to evolve.
We delivered research findings, a principles manual for accessible design, tested concepts, and additional materials to support ongoing development.
The project culminated in presentations to the London team, the Features team, and two organizational forums:
• A Brazilian general knowledge meeting (400–500 attendees).
• A South American forum on physical and mental disabilities. The project was handed over to the Features team, where it continues to evolve.
We delivered research findings, a principles manual for accessible design, tested concepts, and additional materials to support ongoing development.
The project culminated in presentations to the London team, the Features team, and two organizational forums:
• A Brazilian general knowledge meeting (400–500 attendees).
• A South American forum on physical and mental disabilities. The project was handed over to the Features team, where it continues to evolve.
We delivered research findings, a principles manual for accessible design, tested concepts, and additional materials to support ongoing development.
The project culminated in presentations to the London team, the Features team, and two organizational forums:
• A Brazilian general knowledge meeting (400–500 attendees).
• A South American forum on physical and mental disabilities. The project was handed over to the Features team, where it continues to evolve.
We delivered research findings, a principles manual for accessible design, tested concepts, and additional materials to support ongoing development.
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