DANIELA ZAVALA

®2025

DANIELA ZAVALA

®2025

DANIELA ZAVALA

®2025

A semi-autonomous car app for drivers in Latam

This project presents the transformation of any car into a smarter, safer, and semi-autonomous driving experience using the Apple CarPlay design system to solve the real challenges that many drivers face in the South American context.

Roles

Product Designer & User Researcher

INDUSTRY

Automotive

Year

2025

Duration

2 months

Overview

Today, self-driving technology remains locked inside premium vehicles, putting it out of reach for millions of everyday drivers. Yet globally, drivers spend hundreds of hours per year performing repetitive driving tasks, often without access to any autonomous features.

In Latin America alone, the autonomous vehicle (AV) market reached revenues of USD 2,196.7 million in 2023, representing approximately 4.1% of the global AV market.

However, most consumers interact with this technology only through increasingly connected smart consoles, not true autonomous functions.

Main goals

Apple Car app intends to make partial autonomy as accessible and familiar as using the iPhone operating system.

  • An accessible, user-friendly self-driving app system could radically improve daily driving experiences, particularly for commercial drivers, independent drivers, and underrepresented groups. Therefore, it could reduce road accidents caused by human error, which remains a leading cause of fatalities in many Latin American cities, according to studies.

  • A low-cost autonomy app could democratize advanced driving features for drivers priced out of luxury vehicles. 

  • By decreasing mental load and exposure to hazardous driving conditions, this system can also increase safety confidence among women drivers and other vulnerable road users.

Although autonomous vehicle technology demands sophisticated integration, the last decade has shown that drivers are increasingly willing to retrofit private vehicles with Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS), paving the way for the adoption of app-based solutions.

App Walkthrough

The following demo highlights the core features designed to solve common pain points faced by drivers, particularly in challenging traffic conditions.

Mobile + Car Device Integration (Wireless)

Drivers enter a destination in the Apple Car app and tap “Send to Car.” Directions are then seamlessly projected onto the vehicle’s center-stack display. Whenever the driver is ready, pressing the “Start Autopilot” button initiates autonomous driving functions.

Mobile + Car Device Integration (Wireless)

Drivers enter a destination in the Apple Car app and tap “Send to Car.” Directions are then seamlessly projected onto the vehicle’s center-stack display. Whenever the driver is ready, pressing the “Start Autopilot” button initiates autonomous driving functions.

Mobile + Car Device Integration (Wireless)

Drivers enter a destination in the Apple Car app and tap “Send to Car.” Directions are then seamlessly projected onto the vehicle’s center-stack display. Whenever the driver is ready, pressing the “Start Autopilot” button initiates autonomous driving functions.

Autopilot On

When Autopilot is active, the interface displays only essential driving information—including directions, time, speed, and vehicle status—to minimize distractions. The visual design follows the CarPlay design system to ensure legibility in varying lighting conditions.

Autopilot On

When Autopilot is active, the interface displays only essential driving information—including directions, time, speed, and vehicle status—to minimize distractions. The visual design follows the CarPlay design system to ensure legibility in varying lighting conditions.

Autopilot On

When Autopilot is active, the interface displays only essential driving information—including directions, time, speed, and vehicle status—to minimize distractions. The visual design follows the CarPlay design system to ensure legibility in varying lighting conditions.

Cruise Control

Driving in heavy urban traffic, as in cities like Lima, creates significant stress and health impacts for drivers. To mitigate this, the app enables drivers to set a preferred speed, adjustable via steering-wheel controls, while respecting local speed limits.

Cruise Control

Driving in heavy urban traffic, as in cities like Lima, creates significant stress and health impacts for drivers. To mitigate this, the app enables drivers to set a preferred speed, adjustable via steering-wheel controls, while respecting local speed limits.

Cruise Control

Driving in heavy urban traffic, as in cities like Lima, creates significant stress and health impacts for drivers. To mitigate this, the app enables drivers to set a preferred speed, adjustable via steering-wheel controls, while respecting local speed limits.

Traffic-Aware Cruise Control

Drivers can customize the distance maintained from the vehicle ahead to avoid rear-end collisions. This feature is activated via the indicator stalk, and the following distance is fine-tuned using steering-wheel controls.

Traffic-Aware Cruise Control

Drivers can customize the distance maintained from the vehicle ahead to avoid rear-end collisions. This feature is activated via the indicator stalk, and the following distance is fine-tuned using steering-wheel controls.

Traffic-Aware Cruise Control

Drivers can customize the distance maintained from the vehicle ahead to avoid rear-end collisions. This feature is activated via the indicator stalk, and the following distance is fine-tuned using steering-wheel controls.

Lane Change Assistance

The system notifies drivers of necessary lane changes while following navigation routes. This reduces anxiety and increases driver confidence, especially in complex road networks.

Lane Change Assistance

The system notifies drivers of necessary lane changes while following navigation routes. This reduces anxiety and increases driver confidence, especially in complex road networks.

Lane Change Assistance

The system notifies drivers of necessary lane changes while following navigation routes. This reduces anxiety and increases driver confidence, especially in complex road networks.

Voice Assistance (Siri) and Auto Parking

Drivers can use Siri voice commands to activate functions like AutoPark. Upon a voice request, an on-screen prompt confirms the action, after which the system searches for available parking spaces and completes the maneuver autonomously.

(Strategic note: You might mention the safety implications of voice-first interactions keeping hands on the wheel.)

References

This project was inspired by the following systems:

Next Project

Next Project