According to experts at Strategy Analytics, this year’s virtual CES 2021 saw two trends combine to form one megatrend that dominated automotive exhibits they call immersive Infotainment. Many automotive stakeholders are realizing that the infotainment-related user experience (UX) is an increasingly important part of the car-buying decision. The realization has been hastened, in no small part, by the exploding popularity of the screen-based cockpit, as Tesla and “smartphone projection” systems dominate the design discussion.

Strategy Analytics’ In-Vehicle UX (IVX) service has summarized its findings from CES 2021 in a new report, “Automotive UX at 2021 CES: Suppliers Revisit Immersive Infotainment,” that is only available to its clients.

In midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, consumers see owned vehicles as “safe spaces” for not just travel, but for a variety of delightful group activities such as drive-in movies and drive-through meal pick-up. Immersive screen-based experiences (albeit in stationary vehicles for now) were prolific throughout automakers’ and suppliers’ virtual exhibits.

“Though richly immersive experiences are the obvious next step in the evolution of the screen-centric car interior, it still ignores what a large majority of car owners want for the next few model turns,” commented Derek Viita, report author and Senior Analyst for IVX. “Stationary car UX is certainly an important consideration for some narrower market segments, such as car owners in China and early-adopting EV owners, but for most car owners, especially key car-buying segments in the West, these immersive experiences still do not resonate.”

“The low-hanging fruit of immediate importance for the next five to seven years will include connected and contextual satnav, clever integration of connected media, and advanced safety features,” added Chris Schreiner, Director, IVX. “Highly immersive in-vehicle experiences will bring value-adds in the future, but the more pressing priorities for the majority should not be overlooked in the shorter term.”

 

Going a little deeper

Not giving away too much of what’s in the report, Viita added a few points.

In automotive infotainment, “we saw a ton of ideas centered around the use of the car as a ‘living room,’” he wrote. “Lots of companies were eager to leverage various sizes and shapes of in-car screens, intelligent voice assistants, and intelligent audio systems for in-car gaming, in-car concert experiences, in-car movie experiences, and so forth. Essentially, suppliers and automakers went all-in for ‘stationary experiences’ in the time of COVID. Marketing departments played on this idea that more people are using the car as a safe and clean getaway.”

In automotive safety, “it was an interesting year for AV concepts,” Viita added. “Obviously tough to get the full experience virtually, but many companies tried.

“We saw a dichotomy, a lot of folks saying that Level 5 robotaxis are difficult and won’t be here for a decade and more, so instead we need to focus on improving existing safety features, like automated driving assistants,” Viita continued. “But we also saw quite a few folks still ignoring the usefulness, usability, and policy issues in AVs, and clinging to their robotaxi dreams, showing vision videos leveraging shared automated electric transport for everyday activities.

 

Deeper still

Closer to current realities, the IVX group provided a deeper dive into the type of analysis they provide in their client reports. The group’s experts assessed the European-market-leading 2020 Volkswagen Golf VIII’s infotainment system and relevant HMI.

They found the car’s minimalist console design, which eliminates almost all hard key controls, is undoubtedly visually appealing. The inclusion of an advanced-for-its-class voice assistant allows flexible input for a range of important infotainment-related tasks. However, they found that both design features have implications for the UX of key functions in the car, and several design flaws were identified within the touchscreen interface.

Overall, the Golf’s infotainment system was ranked solidly in the middle tier of all vehicles evaluated thus far in Strategy Analytics’ proprietary infotainment benchmark algorithm—a ranking system derived by how well a car’s available features correspond to its existing data on consumer interest in advanced infotainment features.

“The elimination of hard-key controls in favor of entirely touchscreen-based UX certainly has cost-related benefits, especially for high-volume automakers such as Volkswagen,” commented Viita, the report’s author. “If a touchscreen can be paired with a powerful voice assistant then it could be argued that the driver would have all the HMI tools they need to safely access the desired entertainment, communication, comfort, and navigation functions.”

However, for this to work, “the HMI feature set must be sufficient for key in-car use cases and not overwhelming, the voice assistant must be as flexible as possible, and the touchscreen must be well designed,” continued Viita. “While the 2020 Golf VIII somewhat delivers on the first two points, its touchscreen design is lacking. The splitting of radio and media sources between two separate menus is extraordinarily confusing, the swipe gesture is over-used to hide redundant menu designs, and climate controls are hidden in non-persistent menus.”

VW’s take on screen-based infotainment for the Golf “goes ‘all in,’” added Schreiner. “But hiding essential features like climate controls and windscreen defoggers in non-persistent menus, or placing them at a nontraditional location in the cockpit, is a questionable design choice. At worst it compromises safety while driving. Given that a German court recently ruled that touchscreen-based wiper controls are a ‘distracting electronic device,’ Western automakers should reconsider designs that involve touchscreen controls for driving-critical functions. Form should not be valued over function.”