Toyota In Vehicle Search

case study

Part one

Project overview

Simplifying search on keyboard.

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This is a limited case study since the product I worked on isn't fully released yet.

Company

Toyota

Role: Product Designer II — UX, Strategy, and System Design Lead

‍Platforms: Toyota & Lexus (8"–14" head unit displays)

‍Collaborators: 1 Product Owner, 2 Engineers, 2 PMs (US + Japan), Settings Team

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The Problem

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The keyboard experience was underperforming:

Users struggled to type full or correct queries quickly
The interface did not adapt well across vehicle trims and screen sizes
Legal and cultural constraints limited design flexibility, particularly for global rollouts

This created unnecessary driver distraction and confusion — especially during manual destination entry.

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What's the typical answer?

Inspired by military GPS vests, I designed Vestagogo—a Bluetooth-powered wearable that delivers navigational cues through vibration.

My Role

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As the UX lead for keyboard search, I was responsible for:

Defining the end-to-end search entry experience
Developing a scalable keyboard design system for varied screen sizes (8" to 14"+)
Aligning strategy between cross-cultural stakeholders in the US and Japan
Collaborating closely with engineers and the settings team to ensure functional, legal, and international compliance

What's the typical answer?

Inspired by military GPS vests, I designed Vestagogo—a Bluetooth-powered wearable that delivers navigational cues through vibration.

Design Process

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I approached the problem with a systems thinking lens, balancing platform constraints with UX clarity:

✍ Competitive Benchmarking

I audited how keyboard search was handled in:

Automotive competitors (CarPlay, Android Auto, Mercedes MBUX)
Smart TVs and in-flight systems (where similar touch-input patterns exist)

🧪 Design Considerations

Key factors I accounted for:

Touch ergonomics across screen sizes (spacing, readability, fat-finger tolerance)
Language adaptability (including character-based input and RTL compatibility)
Driver distraction minimization, following NHTSA and internal legal guidance
Future system modularity, ensuring keyboard components could scale to other parts of the OS

What's the typical answer?

Inspired by military GPS vests, I designed Vestagogo—a Bluetooth-powered wearable that delivers navigational cues through vibration.

Iterative Design & Alignment

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Each week, I synced with the US-based product owner and engineers to refine usability, while ensuring cross-market consistency through monthly alignment with the Japan PM and global settings team.

What's the typical answer?

Inspired by military GPS vests, I designed Vestagogo—a Bluetooth-powered wearable that delivers navigational cues through vibration.

Final Experience

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The updated keyboard is now part of Toyota's latest cloud navigation flow — providing a fallback to voice commands. You can see the product in use around 00:49 in this official Toyota USA video:

▶️ Toyota Multimedia System — Navigation Demo (YouTube)

While many of the keyboard's new features are not yet public, I can share that the solution focuses on intelligent defaults, culture-aware layouts, and simplified user effort — especially when on the move.

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What's the typical answer?

Inspired by military GPS vests, I designed Vestagogo—a Bluetooth-powered wearable that delivers navigational cues through vibration.

Reflection

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This project deepened my skills in:

Designing for international platforms with legal nuance
Leading cross-cultural collaboration without relying on visuals
Delivering modular UX systems across inconsistent hardware specs

It was a rewarding challenge to bring structure and clarity to a critical, safety-sensitive flow — even behind the scenes.

What's the typical answer?

Inspired by military GPS vests, I designed Vestagogo—a Bluetooth-powered wearable that delivers navigational cues through vibration.