Product Design: Passenger Cabin for a Car That Never Needs a Driver

Imagine a car that can drive itself everywhere, in any conditions, so that nobody on board ever has to steer, brake or take over. How would you design its interior? ```hint Start from the reclaimed ride time Without a driver's seat to build around, the cabin can do new jobs. Settle on who rides in this car and what they want to do during the trip before you choose seats, screens or storage. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Is this a car that people buy and own, or a vehicle in a shared ride-hailing fleet where strangers ride one after another? - Which trips matter most: short city rides, daily commutes, or long highway journeys where people might sleep? - Can I assume a new body built around the cabin, and do today's crash-safety rules still apply to how seats are arranged? - Should riders still be able to influence the trip, for example by asking the car to pull over or stop in an emergency? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A chosen ownership model and rider segment, with the reasoning behind the choice - Pain points of riding in a car nobody on board controls, and the jobs riders want to get done during the trip - Interior concepts that follow from removing the driver, prioritized into what ships first - Trust, safety and help for riders who cannot take over, including crash protection for any new seating layout - Success metrics and risks such as motion sickness, cleanliness and misuse ### Follow-up Questions - How would the cabin change if it had to serve strangers riding back to back all day? - Face-to-face seating is common in concept designs but harder to protect in a crash. How would you decide whether to ship it? - How would you test the interior with riders before the vehicle exists, and what would you measure?