The Best Automotive UX at Paris Motor Show 2018
We were in Paris attending the Mondial Motor Show during a warm and sunny October day. All relevant car news, releases and premiers can easily be discovered on YouTube. We had a different approach.
At Goodpatch, we care about lovable products and user-centric design, which is also our focus when it comes to automotive projects. So, if you are interested in Automotive UX Design and were not able to visit the Paris Motor Show, this is your review.
New car sharing services
Let's start with this great topic. Paris will get a new all-electric sharing service. Autolib' is gone and no longer available in Paris. But Renault released a new service called moov'in.Paris. For now it is only available in very limited districts in Paris, but they will have a major rollout in five days we will definitely check the service and experience as soon as it’s launched and share our results with you. Keep an eye out for a future post.
A bit later we discovered the service Alto – a new ride-hailing startup operating in Dallas (United States). This service is described as: “With Alto, your vehicle is always safe, new, and clean. Your drivers are Alto employees, trained and vetted. Your experience is choreographed by you, from music selection to climate control. Your safety is our priority and your experience is our specialty.” Unfortunately we have to wait until the service comes to Europe; fingers crossed.
Car infotainment
This was definitely the main focus of our trip. We wanted to compare the infotainment systems one by one without being biased. In many of the cars we tested, we counted three screens. Tesla is playing its own game and could actually be right with that.
We were lucky with a very short waiting time to enter the Model 3. On some days, the line was as long as 3–4 hours. This was the second time that potential European customers could get a preview of this Tesla. We still have yet to test the centre screen while driving, but we hope to next year. Maybe.
Also already on the market is the MBUX by Mercedes. Now with the first fully electric EQC, Mercedes introduced new EQ related functions. “Hey Mercedes“ was working smoothly and we expect way more voice interactions in the near future.
Audi brought the new e-tron to Paris. This model comes with five screens. Each external mirror is replaced by a camera and screen in the car doors. It reduces the wind resistance and adds fancy tech. The MMI is not something new, but they have now updated it with a new structure and climate operation via screen at the bottom screen. Not a premiere, but still a new feature in many models.
Peugeot has a slightly different layout in the car. The steering wheel is smaller and the cluster is above. It is almost like a Head-Up-Display (HUD). The centre screen has physical shortcuts what we liked a lot.
Jaguar’s system is also not something new, but the micro-interactions like the animations and mix of screen and haptic knobs is a very good example for delightful experiences.
No car infotainment revolution — all evolution without common patterns
In general many operating systems and user-interface arrangements are still overwhelming and not intuitive. This is an own chapter and we do not want to start bashing here, but we’ would have wished to get closer to a real user-friendly and easy way of operating/orchestrating a car. Since in car voice integrations are improving, we think this could become more user-centric.
We will never see the same infotainment patterns or behaviors across manufacturers, but if all are going towards a humanly voice integration, this could lower the barriers.
Autonomous vehicles
At every motor show, we always see new Autonomous vehicle concepts (AVs) but Renault impressed us the most with their AV line up.
It was refreshing to walk by the different concepts of sharing (EZ-GO), carrying(EZ-PRO) and luxurious traveling (EZ-ULTIMO). It felt a little bit like a sci-fi movie scenario. Taking a closer look, some things were weird. Such as the seat positions in the EZ-GO and the EZ-ULTIMO. The EZ-GO is all about easy entrance (to enter the car, you literally walk into it through the front). But not for the latest EZ-ULTIMO concept, where you have to bend down and creep in.
We were lucky enough to try a “real” autonomous vehicle. It showed us that we still have a long way to go. Pedestrians ignored the AV or were shouting at it, but couldn't face a driver or make eye contact with a responsible person in the vehicle. That’s why Goodpatch is building Athena — a VR prototyping tool to build and test autonomous and connected cars. It’s fun to try and test these scenarios in Virtual Reality over and over.
Electric SUVs
Sport Utility Vehicles are a safe bet these days. But now the electrification is going on in this category of cars. Premium OEMs joined the serious move to electic vehicles (EVs). We all know that Tesla and the Model X were the first in this category, but at the Motor Show you could walk 20 meters from the Tesla booth and sit in the Jaguar iPace — a fully electric SUV.
And at a stone’s throw you find the new Mercedes Benz EQC. Plus, the latest SUV who joined the party belonging to Audi. The e-tron is finally here and shining in the usual Audi quality. Also worth noting is the impressive fast growing Chinese manufacturers like Byton, NIO, Lynk & Co or the more established GAC.
The defining tipping point for me was this- German OEMs have finally launched fully electric cars which are not feeling (or supposed to be) different. People are not afraid of or gossiping EVs anymore. “Normal” people actually consider to switching from combustion engines.
I felt sad however that the production model of BMW was missing. They were doing so good with the i3 back in the days and brought an iX3 concept without more details. I’m patiently waiting for that.
Another highlight for the Motor Show in Paris was the Renault K-ZE announced by Carlos Ghosn. The SUV segment has a new model at the other side of the spectrum.
This car will be launched in the Chinese market as an “affordable and reliable” electric vehicle. The different approach of giving access to EVs to the mass is something Renault is bold enough to try — or continue to do when you look at the market share they have with the Zoé and othe Z.E. Cars.
Not a SUV, but everyone's darling was definetly the Peugeot e-legend concept. Peugeot proves the power of design and heritage in one masterpiece.
At the end, it’s easy to fall in love with new models and sculptures on wheels. But to impress the “Generation Y”, cars need to do more. Cars are no “smartphone on wheels” yet and all of them should aim for more than that. The Paris Motor show was a nice way of catch up with the latest car generations and we want to see more development in the field of “new mobilty” and “user-centric” cars.
This post was published first at the Goodpatch blog. If you want to stay in touch for new posts — follow here or on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. ✌️
