AM+A

Services

UI Strategy, Human Factors Research

Project Duration

Oct 01 – Jan 02

Media

Study about in-vehicle UI design

Project Description

AM+A advised BMW on driver-centered design and how it affects next-generation vehicle user interfaces.

Vehicle UI design occurs in a rapid, demanding, competitive context worldwide. In order to plan the successor to the pioneering but controversial 7-Series i-Drive, BMW asked AM+A to develop a comprehensive study of vehicle user-interface principles and tradeoffs, including human-factors data and automotive safety guidelines. This study provided compelling driver-centered design perspectives for BMW’s marketing, strategy, engineering, and design groups.

Today’s car manufacturers, including BMW, are quickly introducing computerized options that can radically alter the vehicle experience for riders as well as drivers. These options include navigation, communication, advanced comfort, and driving assistance features. These options initially appear attractive, but they can place new demands on drivers’ attention and ability to respond, potentially compromising safety and marketability.

AM+A’s challenge was to discover and define how new options can best enhance the driving experience while remaining safe and enjoyable to use.

BMW needed answers to such challenges as:

• How to provide advanced features without compromising safety?
• How to create innovative designs that are easy to learn and use?
• How to prioritize or enable/disable options in order to support safe driving?
• When to use visual, auditory, and tactile sense channels, and how to coordinate multi-modal information?
• How to determine which functions are appropriate for a graphical user-interface and Which are best supported by physical controls?
• How to determine the number of options to present to a driver on a single screen?

AM+A’s report to BMW emphasized the importance of designing from a driver-centered perspective in order to create a truly successful vehicle experience.