2025–26
Hyndai
hyundaimotorgroup.com
Way is an automotive super app providing services across parking, EV charging, gas, car wash, repair and other mobility experiences. As part of Way's expansion into connected vehicles, I worked on adapting these experiences for Hyundai's next-generation Pleos infotainment ecosystem. The project involved rethinking existing mobile experiences for an in-vehicle environment where safety, glanceability, screen constraints and driving context fundamentally change how people interact with the product.
Lead Product Designer
Owned the UX and UI design for Way's Pleos integration, including information architecture, interaction design, automotive adaptation, visual design, component systems, prototyping and developer handoff.
2+ Months
Product + Engineering + Hyundai stakeholders + Design
Automotive Infotainment / AAOS
UX Strategy • Interaction Design • UI Design • Design System • Prototyping • Automotive UX • Developer Handoff
Background
From automotive super app to in-car experience
Way brings multiple mobility services into one ecosystem, helping drivers discover, access and manage services throughout their journey.
The Pleos integration created an opportunity to take that ecosystem beyond phones and browsers and bring it directly into the vehicle.
Rather than treating the car as another screen size, I approached the project as a new interaction environment — one where the interface needs to support the driver without competing with the road.
[ Core problem]
A car isn't a bigger phone.
Way's existing experiences were designed around conventional digital interaction.
Inside a vehicle, the rules change.
Users have less attention available, interactions need to be easier to perform at a glance, and unnecessary information can become a distraction. The challenge was to preserve the usefulness of Way's services while fundamentally simplifying how they are experienced inside the car.
From Mobile to Automotive
A different environment required a different design approach — built around glanceability, context, and driver attention.
1
Understand
Map the existing experience - We studied Way's existing mobile journeys to identify the essential tasks, information and interactions worth carrying into the vehicle.
2
Translate
Apply automotive constraints -cWe mapped these journeys against Pleos requirements, adapting them for glanceability, touch interaction, available screen space and different driving states.
3
Reprioritize
Design for the driver's moment - We reorganized the experience around what drivers need most in the moment — location, availability, distance and the next meaningful action.
4
Systemize
Build reusable patterns - We established shared components and interaction patterns across maps, cards, CTAs and navigation, allowing the experience to scale across five verticals.
5
Validate
Review against real conditions - We continuously reviewed the flows against Pleos guidelines, moving and parked states, split-screen layouts and implementation considerations.
Approach
Our Approach to Automotive UX
We approached the Pleos integration by first understanding how Way's existing mobile experiences needed to change inside a vehicle. Instead of simply adapting existing screens to a larger display, we restructured the experience around glanceability, driving context, touch interaction and limited attention.
Key Design Decisions
Prioritized Essential Information: We reduced information density and brought the most important content — location, availability, distance and primary actions — closer to the driver's immediate context.
Adapted Interaction for Driving: Interactions were simplified and touch targets were increased to make essential actions easier to understand and perform inside the vehicle.
Designed Around Vehicle States: The experience was considered differently for moving and parked/idle states, allowing the interface to become more focused while driving and more detailed when the vehicle was stationary.
Reworked Existing Way Experiences: Rather than directly porting mobile flows, we reorganized navigation, cards, maps and actions to fit the Pleos environment and its available screen space.
Key Outcomes
Glanceable information hierarchy for in-car use
Simplified interaction patterns for essential tasks
Moving and parked interaction considerations
Automotive-adapted Way components and layouts
Experience
Designing the EV Experience
EV became the first vertical through which we established the core interaction patterns for the Pleos integration. The challenge was to preserve the depth of Way's existing EV experience while making the journey from discovering a charger to navigating to it simple and immediate.
Key Actions Taken
Simplified Charger Discovery: Nearby and relevant charging stations were prioritized around the driver's location.
Reworked Station Cards: Distance, availability and key station information were surfaced more clearly.
Focused Primary Actions: Navigation and other essential actions were made immediately accessible.
Adapted the Map Experience: The map became a central surface for discovering and evaluating nearby charging stations.
Key Features Introduced
Nearby and popular charger discovery
Simplified station cards
Distance and availability information
Map-based discovery
Clear navigation actions
Design System
Building a Shared Automotive Design Language
With EV, Parking, Gas, Car Wash and Auto Repair entering the same infotainment environment, each vertical needed to feel distinct while still belonging to one Way experience. I established reusable patterns that could scale across the ecosystem.
Key Actions Taken
Created Reusable Components: Buttons, cards, tabs, filters and navigation patterns were adapted for automotive interaction.
Standardized Interaction Patterns: Similar tasks across different services followed consistent interaction models.
Defined Service Recognition: Distinct map pins and visual cues were created for each automotive vertical.
Designed for Different Contexts: Components were considered across full-screen, split-screen, moving and parked experiences.
Key Features Introduced
Shared automotive component system
Consistent patterns across five verticals
Service-specific map pins
Automotive-optimized cards and CTAs
Full-screen and split-screen patterns
Moving and parked interaction states
[Outcome]
The Pleos integration translated Way's multi-service ecosystem into a focused automotive experience, establishing a scalable foundation for EV, Parking, Gas, Car Wash and Auto Repair within the vehicle.
[Impact]
5 Verticals Created a unified experience across five automotive services.
Scalable System Established reusable patterns for consistent in-car interactions.
Automotive-Ready UX Adapted Way's mobile experiences for driving context, glanceability and split-screen use.
[Key Learnings]
Designing for Context
The environment is part of the product. Automotive UX requires designing around attention, movement and physical interaction.
Simplifying Without Losing Value
The best automotive experience isn't about showing less — it's about showing what matters at the right moment.
Systems Over Screens
A scalable component and interaction system made it possible to bring multiple Way services into one coherent experience.
From Evidence to a Decision