My role
When I got hired by Code d'Azur around October 2019, I first helped them by taking part in the SWAT team. This small and agile team took upon itself various ad hoc projects that needed a UX vision. High pressure projects with short deadlines and multiples stakeholders resulted in the first iterations of the Test drive flow, the Media environment, Careers, About and Legal on the .com ecosystem.
From January 2020 and onwards I took up the role of UX lead, helping the multidisciplinary teams get the most out of their projects. The other part of the role was maturing the design system and setting up a template structure for the .com pages.
In my role I was part of setting the basis for Polestar.com and many iterations afterwards. I helped guide the campaign teams in making sure everything was kept simple and user-friendly. In close collaboration with the visual design lead we made sure all projects that we're ready to be shown to the client were all up to standards in terms of brand values, usability standards and art direction.
Polestar case video made by Code d'Azur.
Making aNew
Together with the Code d'Azur Austin team I helped them in making sure the multiple storylines were easy to navigate. By chapterizing the content and setting up the main page as an index to the chapters it's super easy to dive in and get started.
Once you're in a chapter we facilitate diving deeper into a subject by giving you extra information on the page. And by automatically progressing you to the next chapter at the bottom of the page, we make the whole experience as seamless as possible. Add to that the slick technical transitions, the AAA videos with a lead role from Oscar Isaac, it's no wonder it won 2 Webbies in 2022.
Making aNew campaign
9D Sound
Building on what we've learned from Making aNew, we wanted to further improve the user friendliness for the project 9D Sound. In this campaign the sounds of the Polestar 2 play the main part. Even though electric cars are virtually silent, Polestar still tried to make mundane sounds into really distinct experiences. The micro-site altered the chapterized content from the other campaign but here we put even more emphasis on the sound and minimize the interface when you're listening to the chapter.
9D Sound campaign sketch, notice the minimal interface. When listening to the chapter, all interface elements fade and only become visible when mouse movement is detected.
Polestar.com
As the UX lead for the project, my main focus was on the evolution of the Polestar.com ecosystem. Catering to a growing company, going from 2 cars with simple offerings to multiple cars for sale, concept cars, multiple markets around the world and ever-growing set components, pages and templates. Add to that, leasing options and sustainability playing an ever-growing role and how to facilitate that throughout the site. Applying a totally new, minimal art direction to the site and updating the design system accordingly. Building new product pages from scratch and updating the homepage to facilitate multiple market with different needs. And facilitating the arrival of the new big product launch for 2022, the Polestar 3.
The big game
Even dropping everything to facilitate a super secret Superbowl campaign and making sure people landing on the site recognise what they saw during the half-time show.
Needless to say, working for this client - together with everyone from Code d'Azur - was a privilege and an absolute blast to do for 2,5 years.
Polestar 3; the new standard
Since the beginning of 2022 the focus has been on finding a way to present the newest member in the lineup of Polestar's production cars; the Polestar 3. This sleek and sporty SUV needed a place where it could shine in all its glory, convince people by highlighting all of its features and plainly show the number for people who wanted to make a direct comparison. Our solution was to combine three different pages into one cohesive vehicle:
- The overview page: a free form spectacle using animations and 3d renderings to fully immerse the audience into the story and let people fall in love with the main highlights of the vehicle.
- The features page(s): a functional and aesthetical way to display the 60+ unique features of the car. A new design system specifically made for this page makes it easily scalable while it also provides Polestar with enough variation to make the page feel fresh and editorial.
- The final page within this unity is the specifications page: a textual summary of all the specs, dimensions and features to compare against available upgrades or against other competitors.
- The overview page: a free form spectacle using animations and 3d renderings to fully immerse the audience into the story and let people fall in love with the main highlights of the vehicle.
- The features page(s): a functional and aesthetical way to display the 60+ unique features of the car. A new design system specifically made for this page makes it easily scalable while it also provides Polestar with enough variation to make the page feel fresh and editorial.
- The final page within this unity is the specifications page: a textual summary of all the specs, dimensions and features to compare against available upgrades or against other competitors.
This setup has been rolled out with the launch of Polestar 3 and will be retro-actively fitted to the Polestar 2 pages.
Credits
The Polestar Making aNew campaign won two Webbies: Best Use of Video or Moving Image 2022 and Best Responsive/Adaptive Design for Mobile 2022 in the Websites and Mobile Sites category