Would you trust a dentist, that has an education in automotive mechanics?

This article is an extract from the introduction of my upcoming book "100 Rules to Design the Perfect Human Machine Interface in Vehicles". It will be available late November. I will keep you posted!

Until 25 years ago the dashboard architecture of our cars was straight forward with many “one-button-one-function” devices. Until the mid-90s complex interactions and menu structures where unknown in vehicles. That changed with the first navigation systems introduced in the late 90s. Latest cockpits have large screen areas with touch functionality and complex interactions. While finalizing this book a German sportscar maker presents its first electric car with a massive screen and interaction area. An American pioneer of electric vehicles uses one large 17-inch screen for controlling most functions. In almost every rental car, as small and piddling as it may be, I find a touchscreen and an HMI with menu structures, even if it is only for radio and media.

In many discussions with my professional peers we found out, that simple, straight forward advice on all the different HMI guidelines is missing. A book simple enough to guide beginners, detailed enough to add value for long term professionals, and focused on the relevant guidelines, regulations, and standards. The dream of a cookbook, a simple recipe on how to design a user friendly, safe, easy solution for the interaction between human and technology, between car and driver still exists.

Human machine interfaces should be designed by professionals, psychologists, designers, engineers with a strong educational and professional background, with a deep understanding on the capabilities, limits, strengths and weaknesses of the human brain. As Alan Cooper stated in his usability book “The Inmates are Running the Asylum” (Cooper, 2004), everyone should do what she/he is best in, so usability and user experience should be in the hands of professionals, just like chip development, hardware layouts, or software stacks. Would you trust a dentist, that has an education in automotive mechanics?

In real life, at our tech companies, our automakers and suppliers, software developers, product owners, top managers all deal with HMIs. It’s a natural thing, the surface of a technology, the screens, buttons, knobs, designs are visible, touchable, and we all have our experiences with them. Product designers, architects, and cooks fiddle pretty much with the same issue: everyone has an opinion, everyone believes, she/he is an expert. And everyone is right for her-/himself. Professionals have knowhow, tools and processes to develop a solution fitting most of the potential users, bringing technology to a new level, and surprising the users with solutions unimaginable before.

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On the author:

Dr. Peter R?ssger. Keynote Speaker. Consultant. Coach. HMI Guru. HMI Expert. HMI Punk. Usability. User experience. Human-technology interaction. We need to know everything about humans in order to shape technology. And not vice versa.

I adapt technology to the skills, needs and desires of people. And not the other way around. With my keynote speeches, reports, consultations and coachings, I take my clients from the automotive and high tech industries to a new level of knowledge, action and decision making. Make technology sexy!

Find me here on LinkedIn, on www.beyond-hmi.de, mail me under [email protected] or call me under 0049 172 384 24 75.