Concept Design Challenge 2014 Ford of Mexico For the third year in a row, Ford Motor Company is challenging Mexico’s design students to redesign the cars of the future and to reinvent the way users interact with their vehicle.

About the Contest The HMI Concept Design Challenge was established in 2012 by Ford of Mexico’s HumanMachine Interface (HMI) department with the purpose of promoting the talent of Design and Innovation undergraduates internationally. With this synergy, Ford seeks to demonstrate what Mexico’s young designers are capable of developing and accomplishing. Objective of the HMI Concept Design Challenge Ford’s HMI Concept Design Challenge is an initiative that seeks to encourage young designers’ creativity and to promote their work as an example of innovation.

What is HMI? Human-Machine Interface (HMI) is a shared boundary between the user and the vehicle that allows the user to interact with/provide an input to the vehicle, with a resulting feedback/output from the vehicle to the user (driver).

Theme 2014 Wearable Devices This term refers to those reduced-size computers/electronics that moved from the pants pocket to the human body, or are also worn as clothing and accessories. These devices have the capability to process and to manage information that is more intimate of the user’s daily activities, thus allowing to know more about the user and to adapt the environment to their necessities.

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The Challenge Design a brand-new Human Machine Interface (HMI) concept for a 2020 Ford vehicle which utilizes a wearable device as a main element to enhance driver experience. Key Points  How would this device(s) appear physically?  How would this device(s) enhance my driving and in-vehicle experience?  Precise and specific definition of the device(s), identifying: vehicle-user and userdevice(s) interaction.  What information does the device(s) collect during its usage and how would that information be used in the vehicle?  Security and confidentiality management of collected information.  Design must be based on the 4 Ford Pillars and Ford DNA

The Goal Redesign the driver experience by making it a more intimate and personal relationship. Give the user/driver a sense that the vehicle that he owns is as unique as the user.

Who can participate? 

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Teams of undergraduates enrolled in one of the following fields: - Design (Graphic, Industrial, Interaction, etc.) - Innovation and Design Engineering Students must have assistance from at least one professor from the university they represent. Maximum number of students per team is 5

Deliverables  

Research: Technology, atmosphere, user and trends investigation that will support all the future development of the project. Presentation and document. First Proposals (3 Hand Made Sketches): Based on their research, teams begin creating their first design approaches and start defining the usability of their product by doing their first drawings. Three 90x60 cm posters showing their designs and explaining their device’s usage.

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Mock-up and device(s) reference environment: Refines proposal´s mock-up that demonstrates the key features of their solution in a well-defined use case. Scale of the device(s) and environment should be 1:1. Final Model and refined reference environment: Finished model of their proposal with the correct aesthetics that can completely demonstrate the usage in normal conditions. Scale of the device(s) is 1:1 and environment 1:3. Finalists’ Presentation to Global HMI Director Parrish Hanna: Those who get chosen, will have to present their project to Ford’s HMI Global Director on a dedicated ceremony in January 2015.

**Important: All deliverables must be in English.

Evaluation criteria There will be 2 assessment phases. For the initial assessment phase, a Ford of Mexico jury will evaluate all the participants’ entry based on the following criteria:     

Usability: ease of use, intuitiveness. Must be unique and enhance the user experience. Innovation: Repeated solutions or applications among teams lose points in evaluation. Design: Product ergonomics and aesthetics. Technology: use of innovative technology. Ford Pillars: Solutions must comply with the 4 pillars: Safe, Smart, Quality and Green.

The Ford of Mexico jury will advise who will make it to the next assessment phase based on this first evaluation results. Those teams that make it to the next assessment phase, as finalists, will have the opportunity to present their project personally to Ford’s Global HMI Director Parrish Hannah. The Director will evaluate the team’s presentations and projects under the same criteria. Additional factors will also be taken into account for the evaluation, such as:    

Clarity of the content Quality of the presentation Analysis of the assumptions the concept is based upon Feasibility of the concept

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Entry Conditions a) For this 3rd edition, projects will be separated into two categories:  Partners: Students participating within one of the following universities noted: Universidad Iberoamericana, ITESM Campus Ciudad de México, ITESM Campus Estado de México, Universidad Panamericana Campus Mixcoac, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (CIDI).  Contributors: Students participating from universities outside Mexico City, i.e. ITESM Campus Puebla, ITESM Campus Toluca. b) The delivered concepts and projects must be products not yet in production. c) Participants must register by providing participants’ full names and a gmail account for the team under the following format:

[email protected] Examples: [email protected] [email protected]

Award Selection After completing the first assessment phase, Ford of Mexico’s jury will select the finalists that will get to the next phase from among Partners and Contributors, and that will all compete under the same category for the top 3 places. Also, Ford of Mexico’s jury will also select and recognize the best project from each university after the first assessment phase, and these teams will automatically pass to the second assessment phase. For the top 3 places, Global HMI Director, Parrish Hannah will choose the best projects, from among the finalists, after their presentation in January 2015.

Participation Guidelines Please follow the instructions for online registration and guidelines. If you have any question about the contest please send an e-mail to: [email protected]

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Contacts For more information please visit our blog: http://hmidesigncontest.blogspot.com/

Or contact us directly via e-mail:

Francisco Jaimes

[email protected]

Virgilio Torres

[email protected]

Haydee Martínez

[email protected]

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