In recent years, human-machine interfaces (HMI) have become an increasingly important component in vehicle design. From Honda to Tesla, automobile manufacturers are working with design firms to create the safest, most intuitive, and most beautiful HMI in their vehicles.
And consumers are beginning to take notice.
As HMI becomes standard in automobiles, consumers will begin to expect certain features in the cars that they rent and own. They want a safe driving experience and a personalized one—a vehicle that responds to their needs and preferences.
As a leading design partner for the industry, Milkinside partners with some of the biggest automobile manufacturers in the world, creating digital experiences that not only keep drivers safe but surprises and delights them as well. As their work reflects, the best HMI is the one that fosters a natural relationship between human and machine.
Safety as the Top Priority
The most important benefit of HMI is its ability to keep drivers safe on the road. That includes both reactive and proactive features that improve the driving experience. Sensors placed around and throughout the vehicle gather data that make it easier for the car to respond to your driving habits—which means the vehicle can respond to sudden changes in road or traffic conditions.
One area where this has a tremendous impact is when traveling through adverse weather conditions. The HMI can detect nearby traffic even when your own vision is obscured by rain or fog—and the vehicle’s automatic braking system will respond before it’s too late.
Milkinside has designed systems that prioritize the proper information in the right context, responding to unexpected dangers on the road while allowing the driver to remain in control. The best HMI should augment the driving experience, adding additional levels of safety to keep the driver and passengers secure throughout the drive without increasing distractions.
Simple Yet Elegant
At Milkinside, the team is dedicated to creating HMI that is elegant and simple, creating a pleasurable experience for every user. For example, a system that requires time spent scrolling or swiping through options while driving has failed the basic tests of simplicity and safety. Not only does this create a frustrating user experience, but it requires the driver to spend more time with her eyes on the controls versus the road ahead.
Digital experiences in vehicles must be intuitive and easily learned by the driver, as the average car owner doesn’t want to flip through the operating manual. The aspiration for every in-car design should be to create feelings of comfort, control and pleasure while still allowing for a personalized experience. An intelligent system that continually learns about the driver’s routes, preferences and needs by leveraging all available input information can achieve this objective.
Prioritizing voice as two-way communication is key in this aspect, and a point of focus for Milkinside Founder Gleb Kuznetzov. Through voice control, the interface can notify drivers of road conditions, provide real-time directions and updates, point out locations of interest along the route, and deliver vehicle performance metrics, all without taking the driver’s eyes off the road.
Elegant and simple, and intuitive yet personalized. This is the goal.
Evoking Emotion Through Design
Great technology should connect artistry with functionality, Gleb says. And for Milkinside, this concept means creating an interface with the user experience top of mind—delivering a system that not only works well but creates a memory.
Drivers remember great experiences. The top automotive brands in the world are experts at transforming car ownership into something more. Instead of vehicles serving merely as functional tools for transportation, they are sources of comfort, entertainment, and pleasure. The driver interaction models, visual and motion design choices all contribute to these emotions. They elevate driving from transportation and utility to something deeply personal, something soothing, something magical.
At Milkinside, this is the enduring goal. To mix art with functionality and beauty with utility, leveraging new technology to push an experience forward.
And in doing so, they continue to push the boundaries of how technology can transform user experience for the better.
To learn more about Milkinside’s automobile industry work and other case studies, visit www.milkinside.com.
