Ford Motor Company
A blockchain based NFT auction platform, allowing users to bid on cars, and creating a digital transaction log.
Project Background
Ford Motor Company came to DMI with a vision and asked for a group to solution and architect a platform and network in which they'd be able to issue NFT's to buyers of the special edition Model GT. This would also create a "digital transaction log" that follows that vehicle.
I was brought into this project based on my personal experience in blockchain and crypto currency. My role within this project was as the sole designer, mobile application development manager, and representative from DMI in contact with Ford stakeholders.
ROLE ON TEAM
UX Architect, UI Designer, Development Lead, Solution Architect
TOOLS
Figma, Miro, Github, Ai, Xd, Xcode, Swift
DURATION
1 Year
How are we
building this
blockchain network
We’re using Solidity to create smart contracts - it's used in Ethereum VM's. We're using a private Ganache Ethereum blockchain to test our Solidity contracts.. With Truffle as the development environment, testing framework and asset pipeline.Along side this we’re using Node.js as our middleware to create rest API’s to communicate with our front-end UI. The middleware is also communicating with the back-end blockchain side using ABI’s (Contract Application Binary Interface). Essentially, we’re passing a “contract” of data between the W2 and W3 layer.
Visual Design
With Ford's brand identify firmly established, I wanted to utilize that but also add in a little blockchain twist and modified their logo for this app slightly.
NFT Mobile Auction Application
Color Palette
Reusable Components
Lo-fi to Hi-fi Prototype
This project had a quick turn around time. I started by creating user flows, and storyboarding their interaction with the app. Where I quickly turned those into wireframes and got them in front of Ford.
NFT Auction Mobile Application
Conclusion
Being apart of this small team working for Ford was eye opening, and it was really fun working on something I am passionate about. We were able to solution and conceptualize how blockchain could impact the automotive industry. Some of the potential impacts we solutioned for could include establishing vehicle provenance, creating digital collectibles or limited editions, enhancing supply chain and parts authentication, enabling secure car ownership and identity verification, developing decentralized automotive marketplaces, implementing smart contracts for vehicle services, and exploring environmental sustainability initiatives like carbon credit tracking. The adoption of NFTs and blockchain in the automotive industry will depend on regulatory considerations and how the technology is embraced and applied in the future.
As this was a "proof of concept" it's currently not in production and was only used for an automotive trade show, for their release of the Model GT. However, it was great experience into really pushing the boundaries of what modern tech stacks can do as far as disruption of an industry.