2026
Fostering Social Connection in Autonomous Taxis
An asynchronous social-audio experience that connects driverless riders through daily questions and shared stories.
Role
UX Designer
Timeline
Apr 2026
Team
Srinivas Mareddi
Sujin Han
Tools
Figma
Claude Code
ChatGPT
Overview
I turned an independent concept into two presentations with Waymo.
Question-a-Day is a voice-first experience that invites autonomous taxi passengers to answer a daily prompt and discover stories shared by other riders across the city.
After completing the independent concept, I reached out to Waymo and presented the project to its Head of Insights. The conversation led to a second presentation with a Waymo design lead, and the concept received positive feedback from both.
* This was an independent project developed using Waymo as a hypothetical client. The project was not sponsored by or affiliated with Waymo.
Research
Understanding the autonomous taxi experience
We reviewed Waymo’s existing passenger experience through its website, Help Center, and detailed ride-review videos. We also examined other autonomous taxi services to understand how they approached the driverless environment.
Our research highlighted three key observations:
The experience was largely functional
Most in-car interactions focused on navigation, music, climate, and ride controls, leaving few ways for passengers to meaningfully engage during the journey.
A driverless ride created a unique sense of privacy
Without a driver present, passengers could speak, sing, or express themselves more freely than they might in a conventional taxi.
Engagement needed to remain optional and unobtrusive
First-time riders often appeared anxious or focused on the vehicle’s behavior. Any new experience would need to respect the passenger’s attention and sense of control.
Synthesizing the findings
We organized our observations through a Rose Thorn Bud exercise to identify what worked, what created friction, and where new possibilities existed.
The process revealed an opportunity beyond simply adding more entertainment: using the privacy of an autonomous ride to create a lightweight sense of connection.
Ideation
Exploring experiences beyond the screen
We explored how voice, sound, touch, and the physical environment could make autonomous rides more engaging. Our ideas ranged from personal entertainment to shared experiences designed for different passengers and ride scenarios.
A survey showed strong interest in two directions: Karaoke and Question-a-Day.
Among these concepts, I focused on Question-a-Day and explored how asynchronous voice interactions could connect riders without placing them in direct contact.
This led to a central design question:
How might we create a sense of connection among autonomous taxi passengers without compromising the privacy of their ride?
Mapping the Experience
We mapped our concepts onto the existing in-car journey to understand when and why passengers might use them. Rather than treating Question-a-Day as a standalone feature, I explored how it could appear naturally during the ride without interrupting essential trip information.
The experience could adapt to different moments, from offering a lightweight prompt during a short ride to inviting a personal story when passengers had more time and attention.
Concept Development
Designing for different levels of participation
I used storyboards to explore how Question-a-Day could fit into different ride scenarios, from discovering a prompt to recording a response and hearing from other passengers.
Through this process, I developed two participation models:
Poll
A lightweight experience where passengers answer a short prompt and discover the day’s most popular responses.
Story
A more reflective experience where passengers share a personal story and listen to a collective audio piece created from other riders’ contributions.
The two models allowed passengers to choose how deeply they wanted to participate based on their time, attention, and comfort.
Designs
Two ways to connect, at your own pace
Poll, A quick way to join the conversation
A daily question appears during the ride along with the number of passengers who have already participated. Riders can record a short response and then discover the most popular answers shared that day.
Showing existing participation makes the experience feel active and lowers the barrier to contributing.
Story, Turning individual voices into a collective narrative
Story invites passengers to respond to a more personal prompt. After sharing their own experience, riders can listen to an AI-compiled audio piece that weaves together stories contributed by other passengers throughout the day.
The result transforms separate, private moments into a shared portrait of the city without requiring riders to meet or interact in real time.
Beyond the ride
With permission from participating riders, selected stories could extend beyond the vehicle through public installations and brand campaigns.
By sharing authentic moments from people across the city, Question-a-Day could help an autonomous taxi service feel more human, local, and connected to the communities it serves.
Feedback & Reflection
From a public showcase to conversations with Waymo
Public Showcase
We presented the concept during our school’s Design Week. Participants were interested in the social potential of Question-a-Day, while also raising important concerns around privacy, safety, and inappropriate recordings.
They also suggested using city-specific prompts to help riders discover local perspectives and feel more connected to their community.
Conversations with Waymo
After the showcase, I reached out to Waymo's Head of Insights and presented the project directly. The conversation led to a second presentation with a Design Leader at Waymo the following day.
Both responded positively to the concept and its exploration of experiences unique to autonomous rides. While the project remained independent and unofficial, the conversations offered meaningful feedback from people working closely with the passenger experience.
Reflection & Next Steps
This project pushed me to think beyond the screen and consider how voice, privacy, and the physical environment shape an in-car experience.
I learned that creating social connection requires more than getting people to participate. People also need clear consent, thoughtful moderation, and control over how their stories are recorded and shared.
If I continued developing the project, I would test it inside a moving vehicle and build a working prototype connected to an AI API. I would use the prototype to explore the full experience, from capturing a voice story to processing it, generating a response, and deciding what gets shared with other passengers. I would also spend more time refining the privacy settings, deletion flow, and content-moderation controls so the system feels safe and understandable in real use.
