The Lytx Experience: A physical space tells a story of passion
The Lytx Experience was originally conceived when ID Studios helped design the company’s corporate headquarters several years ago. Founded in 1998, Lytx is the world’s leading provider of video telematics, analytics, safety and productivity solutions for commercial, public sector, and field services fleets. Dedicated to saving lives and reducing risk on the road, their vision is that no commercial driver will ever be the cause of a collision. Their clients represent the biggest brand names in for-hire and long-haul trucking, distribution, passenger transit, waste and recycling collection.
The Lytx San Diego campus is comprised of two buildings and is home to over 500 employees. Designed to foster Lytx’s team-oriented, casual, startup culture, the space is bright and welcoming, and includes a cafeteria and gym, collaboration spaces, focus rooms, and a game room. “During our original design and build-out for Lytx in 2015, the company’s focus was to create an environment to support their rapid growth and strong, positive employee culture. Appropriate at the time, their first Experience Center was an enclosed area with flatscreens and podiums displaying products. It was functional in terms of showing the evolution of the company’s product offerings, but it wasn’t an engaging and immersive brand experience,” says Kelsey Held, senior designer for ID Studios.
In 2019 Lytx reached out to ID Studios to transform the room into an interactive space to capture the spirit of the company’s culture of customer-centered innovation and employee engagement, and to convey the company’s industry leadership and brand positioning. The redesigned room would function as the foundation for any client or prospect visit to the Lytx campus. Lytx now hosts visitors in a tour through the Experience Center, showcasing the company’s mission, values, vision, technology, clients and employees. Spanning everything from a touchscreen that highlights the latest data on how many clients Lytx supports, to key areas of driving risk in the U.S., to videos about Lytx’s clients and their safety cultures, to overviews of Lytx employee volunteerism and community support, the space provides a panoramic view of the company.
ID Studios worked closely with the team at Lytx to design the flow of the room.
“We dedicated quite a bit of time to establishing the narrative they wanted to convey,”
says Jill Russell-Layman, associate principal at ID Studios. “Safety is at the heart
of everything they do. Their clients work with Lytx to help keep their drivers
and employees safe and their businesses operating more efficiently.”
“In the redesign, we removed an existing glass partition that enclosed the space and opened the area to the main path of travel. We added graphics on the front glass to draw attention to the company’s focus on “Video for Good,” says Held. “We were able to incorporate a lot of customer infographics and content from Lytx’s in-house marketing and communications team – taking materials they developed and working them into the overall theme of the space to tell their story in a cohesive and engaging way.”
The story unfolds
In the new space, the history of Lytx unfolds across interactive panels. It starts where Lytx began – with the story of a road-rage incident that ricocheted into the invention of a whole new product category for transportation safety: Video telematics. Stemming from the origin story is a timeline of their products from the very first physical prototype to their most current model.
“We were so excited to finally have a physical space that communicates the story of who we are as a company.”
Tonya Cross
Senior Vice President, Human Capital – Lytx
Opposite these panels, is an entire wall showcasing Lytx’s 140 patents. The next grouping of panels highlights the connection Lytx has with its clients. “Wrapping the outside of the room, there is a panel dedicated to their Driver of the Year and Coach of the Year award winners. We worked out a detail with the signage vendor so that the plaque with the winners’ photo could be swapped out each year without replacing the entire panel,” says Held. Flanking the other side of the space, visitors will find a large interactive touchscreen panel called the “Lytx Engine” and a “ticker” which virtually counts the number of miles of data collected per second by their software.
The heart of the company
Company culture is central to the employee experience at Lytx, so it’s only fitting that the three podiums at the center of the Lytx Experience are dedicated to the company culture. “Just as their culture is the heart of their company, these podiums showcasing their culture are the heart of the Lytx Experience. We showcase their mission as a company, their dedication to giving back, and photos of staff and company events to communicate that the employees are part of something bigger,” says Held. The podiums were designed and custom-built for the room with the intention of avoiding too much construction disturbance and cost. The podiums were able to house carefully concealed battery-powered LED lighting without needing to add costly power cores to the floor.
Shining the light
Lighting helps guide visitors through the room. “We brought in backlighting on the panels which accentuates the layering effect that they have jutting forward and back from the wall. The podiums have a ring of light around the top. The lights are wired with a motion sensor and are set to turn off after the area is inactive for a period of time,” says Kelsey.
Powering the next decade
“It’s very rewarding working with a company like Lytx. Their culture is incredibly important to them and they’re deeply committed to what they do and their broader role in making our communities and roadways safer. When we presented the initial design, the Lytx team literally jumped out of their chairs in excitement to see something that reflected who they were,” says Held.
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