The Mark Levinson Experience

Creative Brief

Working as a visual designer for this effort, the goal was to design an elegant tablet based application for Lexus. Designed for use by sales associates on a showroom floor to highlight the Mark Levinson audio experience to new customers, the application needed to visually compliment the premium audio aesthetic. Before the design process began, I felt the need to immerse myself in the mind of the user by conducting research.

Competitive Analysis

Before I could even think of how to organize the space, I had to define what a premium experience feels like. Considering the brand, their website provided a starting point for me to determine the look and feel of the interface. Since this project features a media player, I elected to analyze interfaces from existing experiences on the market. Amazon Music, Spotify, and Netflix provided me with the inspiration I needed to get started.

Android Tablet Wireframes

When the first project kicked off, I inherited some wireframes from another designer who felt they needed to be reworked. The following screens represent the first iteration of the design process. It needs to be noted that the entire application was designed strictly for landscape orientation.

Assumptions Gone Wrong

After the initial meeting with the client, I proposed enabling the scroll into the tablet experience because it would replicate the aesthetic of the retail website. At first, the client agreed that enabling the scroll was something to consider. However. as the project progressed, a shift in direction would take place which would remove the scrolling functionality from the final concept. The product owner had to remind me that my focus was only on the visual aspect of the project and I could not redefine the architecture.

High Fidelity Solution

With such a very tight deadline to work with, there was enough time to complete three design sprints. Considering my compositional and branding constraints, I elected to work with a very neutral color palette. Previously, I attempted to use the same color values taken directly from the current Lexus site and was specifically told to avoid doing so. Since the menu was capable of expanding, I needed to design two landing pages in both states. In the final draft, the media player was also presented in a collapsed and expanded state.