Usability Evaluation for Lucid Air Sedan

Validating and operationalizing user experience design for Lucid’s first production vehicle

Lucid Air was launched in September 2020, with customer deliveries beginning in the United States in 2021, followed by Europe and the Middle East. As the first UX researcher at the Lucid Design Studio, I partnered closely with UX Design, Product, and Engineering to bring Lucid’s first in‑vehicle infotainment system from concept to production—establishing foundational research practices, evaluation frameworks, and global readiness standards that scaled beyond a single program.

Usability Testing

Evaluated the usability of the in‑vehicle infotainment system across laboratory, simulated drive, and real‑world driving environments, using a combination of early prototypes and production software. Studies focused on core tasks such as navigation, media, HVAC, and system settings, balancing learnability, efficiency, and driver distraction in safety‑critical contexts.

Benchmarking Studies

Developed and led a competitive benchmarking program with premium and EV competitors including Tesla, Mercedes‑Benz, and Porsche to assess feature parity, interaction patterns, and implementation maturity. Findings were synthesized into workshops with product and UX leadership to inform prioritization, roadmap alignment, and design direction.

UX Assessment Program

Created and managed a formal UX Assessment program grounded in Nielsen’s Heuristics and ISO 9241‑210 human‑centered design principles. This framework enabled consistent evaluation of Lucid Air and competitor systems, supporting decision‑making around usability gaps, experience quality, and systemic improvements.

Localization to Global Markets

Led and coordinated localization usability research for Middle Eastern markets, including KSA, and supported the development of a global design system accommodating right‑to‑left (RTL) user interfaces. This work ensured cultural appropriateness, readability, and usability of the infotainment experience prior to regional release, supporting Lucid’s global expansion goals.

Impact

  • Helped de‑risk the launch of Lucid’s first production infotainment system by establishing scalable evaluation and benchmarking practices

  • Enabled product and design leadership to make informed tradeoffs around usability, feature parity, and experience quality

  • Supported global market readiness and protected brand perception in early international launches

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Lucid Gravity Infotainment