Chrysler 2024
Concept Car UX
TIME & DURATION
2023 — 6 Months
TOOL
Cinema 4D, Octane Render, After Effects, Unity
RESPONSIBILITY
UX Concept
Art Direction
Motion Design
UI Design
Project Overview
Halcyon is Chrysler's 2024 concept vehicle, unveiled to reposition the brand from its "family van" identity toward a high-tech, AI-forward experience targeting a younger audience in their 20s and 30s.
As the UX concept & UI lead on this project, I was responsible for the initial concept development, UI design, directing an external prototyping agency (Vectorform), and collaborating with a VFX agency (Mandrake.tv) on the teaser video — culminating in two key deliverables: an interactive Unity-based UI prototype and a public-facing teaser video.
Business Goal
Research
Research
The design direction was grounded in three layers of research — driver experience insights, competitive AI analysis, and relationship-building studies — which together pointed toward a single guiding concept: AI as a friend. Rather than a servant that simply responds on command, the vision was a proactive companion that knows you, shaped by the understanding that naming, personality, and shared experiences are what make relationships feel real.
Interactive Prototype — UI Design
Research
I designed the full interaction arc — from an onboarding experience where users name their vehicle and define its personality, to mid-driving interactions crafted to surface moments of delight. The visual language was developed to support this, moving away from the dark, Tron-like conventions of the space toward something brighter and more spacious.
Interactive Prototype — Unity Model
Working alongside & directing engineers and designers from Vectorform, the external prototyping agency, I developed a Unity-based prototype that was installed directly into the interior of the final concept vehicle.
Beyond the UI design itself, what I found most engaging was the process of defining interaction trigger zones, navigating edge cases, finding visual workarounds within the technical constraints, and exploring possibilities collaboratively with the engineering team.
Public Teaser Video — Storyboard
Research
As the project scaled and more teams joined — exterior, interior, engineering, brand — conversations started pulling in different directions. To keep the narrative cohesive, I created a storyboard that tied all the moving pieces into a single, human story. This ensured that the teaser video wouldn't read as a feature list, gave the collaborating teams a shared reference point to build toward, and gave the VFX agency (Mandrake.tv) a clear creative foundation when they came on board later in the timeline.
Public Teaser Video — Final Animation
Research
Working with Mandrake.tv, I provided screen assets and motion graphics to be used throughout the teaser, while also directing how specific AI features were visualized by supplying references and creative guidance. The goal was to ensure the final video felt like a cohesive story rather than a product showcase — bringing the "AI as a friend" concept to life in a way that was emotional and cinematic.
@2026 - danny cho
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