D-Ford
Designing life-saving technology for every Australian family
We partnered with D-Ford, the innovation arm of Ford Motor Company, to reimagine how life-saving radar technology could protect vulnerable passengers from hot car injuries. Through co-creation with carers and experts, we designed ATMOS — a product-service ecosystem that makes safety accessible to every Australian family, regardless of their vehicle's age.
Outcomes
- Designed ATMOS, a product-service ecosystem of portable smart clips that democratises Ford's radar technology for any vehicle
- Delivered 20 co-created concepts through 5 rounds of research with carers and subject matter experts
- Created a clickable prototype for showcasing and further testing with stakeholders
- Built a comprehensive business model including market analysis, revenue model, and go-to-market strategy
- Shifted the product framing from crisis response to everyday passenger care
Services
- Product Design
- Customer research
- Co-design
- Service prototyping
Turning a crisis response into everyday care
Every year, more than 7,250 Australian passengers become trapped in hot cars. The consequences range from medical emergencies to fatalities, and they disproportionately affect our most vulnerable — young children, the elderly, pets, and people with disabilities. Ford had committed to embedding radar safety technology in new vehicles, but this left 75% of Australian families driving older cars without protection. D-Ford came to us with a challenge: make this technology accessible to everyone, as an aftermarket accessory that works with any vehicle.
Reframing safety as an act of care
Our early engagements with subject matter experts revealed a critical barrier. Existing solutions focused on the crisis moment — alarms and emergency responses that drew attention to caregiver failure. Research showed that hot car incidents stem from ordinary lapses in memory or judgement, affecting carers from all walks of life. But the dominant narrative equated these accidents with neglect, creating emotional disengagement. We needed to shift the conversation entirely: from an admission of failure to a demonstration of care.
The ATMOS ecosystem — a suite of portable smart clips designed to fit seamlessly into family life
Co-creating with the people who matter most
We ran five rounds of research across ten weeks, engaging both experts and carers of young children, elderly family members, and pets. Early sessions explored carers' relationships with family, risk, and mobility. Later sessions brought participants into the making process, using collage-based activities where they assembled product experiences from prepared components. Each round built on the last — and sometimes carers directed where we went next. Twenty concepts emerged from these collaborative sessions, each grounded in real needs and tested with the people who would use them.
The ATMOS app helps carers set personalised comfort thresholds and monitor cabin conditions in real time
The ATMOS app helps carers set personalised comfort thresholds and monitor cabin conditions in real time
Designing a product-service ecosystem
Together with carers, we developed ATMOS — a suite of portable smart clips that extend across a family's entire mobility journey. The ecosystem empowers carers to stay connected to their passengers' comfort, monitor the in-car environment, and distribute the duty of care across their extended network, including emergency services. We made the vision tangible through clickable prototypes and detailed service blueprints. We also built the business case — market sizing, revenue modelling, go-to-market strategy, and partnership opportunities — giving D-Ford everything needed to move from concept to reality.
It's been a pleasure working with the Paper Giant team! We're looking forward to sharing the hard work with the Design Forum and wider stakeholders. Everyone did such an amazing job on this project.
— D-Ford Project Lead
