This thesis is conducted in collaboration with Changan Europe a Chinese Car company that has based their design centre in Turin, Italy. The core of this thesis is to create an interior design process for L4AD. The aim is to translate the research into a physical prototype to fit the automotive industry.

The leisure state that is provided by L4AD will challenge the current design process. The design will not only be focussed on the interior, but also take in account the implementation of the autonomous system.

The autonomous system will require more involvement from the UX department earlier on in the process to integrate the HMI system.

Autonomous driving technologies are developing at a high speed. Providing a possibility to improve road safety. “However, this transition also brings in new risks, such as mode confusion, overreliance, reduced situational awareness, and misuse” (Grondelle, 2021). This development in L4AD will change the relationship between the driver and the interior design. Whereas the driver’s role will change from being a driver to becoming a supervisor.

Developing a new design process
The backbone of this design process will be the basic design cycle. Which will be analysed and adjusted. This results in a design process that is less linear as well as optimising the integration of UX design into the interior design process. Whilst going through the basic design cycle certain adjustments and suggestions are concluded in this report.

The approach for this interior design process is more user-centred through the implementation of Vision in Product Design, Rich experiences and the Matrix 3 & Matrix 4 method. Combined with analysing the company's current design departments and user-tests to validate the use of these methods within the automotive industry.