Virgin Hyperloop One: The UX Process for AI Software Design.

Virgin Hyperloop One came to Particle in the summer of 2018 with the goal of helping their Machine Intelligence team design the software that is their hyperloop “brain”. The design had to accomplish two goals: 1. support the business, civil and SW teams to build data centered simulations for project feasibility, and 2. help the Machine Intelligence team further refine their algorithms that would lead to the deep AI required to run a system as complex and high speed as a hyperloop.

Our role

  • UX Strategy
  • Design Workshops
  • UX Design
  • User Interviews
  • User Journey Mapping
  • Roles & Task Flows
  • Visual Design

Building the tools that create revolutionary transportation.

Not surprisingly, building a system “brain” is a highly technical endeavor. In this case, it was also for a piece of software that would run a system that had never before been designed. When Particle got involved, the tool had existed as a set of algorithms, scripts, and processes living almost exclusively in the Machine Intelligence team’s computers and minds. With these unique challenges, and with the Virgin Hyperloop One team as the end user, deep collaboration was critical to a successful design.

From deep discovery, clear user needs emerge.

Like other highly technical projects, Particle knew that the goal for Discovery was not for us to become experts in the relationship between the physical system and the algorithms that made up the brain. Rather, as a UX firm, we needed to work closely with the Machine Intelligence team and ask the right questions to identify required tasks, interactions and outputs of the system for teams across the organization. We interviewed dozens of VHO team members, held early phase workshops to establish needs and potential features, and brought design inspirations to help ground stakeholder discussions in both their current workflows, and their expectations of the system in the future. Particle and the VHO Machine Intelligence team spent over a month in this Discovery phase. Together, we built a highly effective and high trust partnership that allowed for an efficient design phase of the project.

It makes you realise this technology is going to happen in your lifetime. You will be able to ride on a Hyperloop and your time will be given back to you.

Colin Rhys
Creative Director, Hyperloop One

Collaboration between UX and Engineers leads to efficient design processes.

When you have a well established collaboration process and a clear understanding of the user requirements of a product, designs can flow pretty quickly. This project was no exception. Particle’s UX team went to work creating system maps, task flows, and early design sketches of UIs for key experiences. These helped foster more detailed discussions of system behavior and requirements with the Machine Intelligence team, so that they could confidently make key decisions about MVP features and core functionality. Twice weekly collaboration meetings meant each iteration of design was seen immediately by the VHO team, and pivots and shifts were made early, minimizing churn and maximizing efficiency. Within 8 weeks, the “brain” became a product.

Machine learning algorithms informed by Design? Yes.

The work that the VHO Machine Intelligence team does every day is critical to the success of VHO as an organization. Taking their attention away from the work they are doing to design a product (even a product that would make their job more effective and efficient), could have compromised the larger company roadmap. Particle led the design and collaborative process for the brain, making sure the MI team was part of every design decision and key discussion. Knowing they would be brought in at critical moments, the MI team was free to focus on the important work that continued to come across their desk each day.

With the partnership between Particle Design and Virgin Hyperloop One, at the end of 3 months VHO had designs in-hand for the foundational piece of software that they will use to simulate and eventually run the hyperloop.

Our challenge was unique: how do we design for engineers who are inventing a method of transportation that does not yet exist?

Matt Adamo
Director of UX, Particle Design

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