Tesla’s completely reworked the notion of a car. From the way it runs, to the way you tell it to run. If electric cars were an idea of the future, what would you say to door handles that slide out to greet you, garage doors that open with the touch of a button, a dashboard that fills light inside the car, charge ports that hungrily open automagically . This is the kind of masterpiece that is born when you put UX at the core of engineering. You can’t help from noticing the intentional deviation from the traditional car. MotorTrend rightly named the ModelS 2013 Car of the Year.
“ …all judges were impressed with the Tesla’s unique user interface, courtesy of the giant touch screen in the center of the car that controls everything from the air-conditioning to the navy stem to the sound system to the car’s steering, suspension, and brake regeneration settings.”
It doesn’t come as a surprise that this futuristic car company has an in-house User Interface Manager. Meet Brennan Boblett who at an interview with UXMag reveals the philosophy behind Tesla’s design.
Defining the user experience of a car
UX is defined as the experience you get when using a product. Every masterpiece has brilliant UX – Apple devices, Bose sound systems, Trident hotels. And with Tesla, it applies to cars also. They define UX as “the car and the software working harmoniously together to create a unique experience that can be felt even before you sit down in the car”. Every little detail and nuance is important to them. Every simple, redundant action you do in a car has a little surprise to it.
Every millimeter of the Model S is designed to reduce drag – unto the door handles disappearing into the body of the car. When the driver approaches the car with the key, the handles slide out. With just a simple tap of the key, the car comes to life.
Parking you car at home shouldn’t be a hassle. Tesla has added a feature called HomeLink that does something that traditional garage doors don’t do – open. When you enter your home’s geofence, you are presented with a menu allowing you to open the garage door and park the car without raising as much as a finger.
Although these are just small details, little things like that become a pleasure to use over time. It’s all about understanding the context of each user scenario and presenting them the most useful options. It has to be prevalent, you won’t notice it’s presence, but you sure as hell will miss it when it’s not there.
“Dashboards of the past are littered with physical buttons that can never change, forever ingrained into them. The Model S, by contrast, has a fully upgradeable dash that’s software driven. We started with a blank slate—17” of glass, which is the centerpiece of the interior. That inspired an all-digital touchscreen automotive UI platform built from the ground up—one that could be updated over the air to provide new functionality as the years go on,”
Five adjectives that describe Tesla’s UX strategy
Tesla has literally take the entire auto industry for a drive. They’ve reworked everything from the engine to the interiors of a car. From the heart to the soul. Never has there been a complete OS in the car with fluid and responsive hardware until now, which is a monumental shift. Boblett gives us these 5 adjectives that perfectly explain Tesla’s design.
Innovative
Tesla has deliberately broken new ground with this design and we aspire to continually push the boundaries of in-car UI and UX.
Intelligent
This would be another adjective that’s important because it’s not enough to just do something new for the sake of being new: it needs to be well-conceived—born out of an idea that is user-centric from the beginning and one that adapts to the user’s tastes and behaviors over time. Tesla embodies that. Our firmware platform is just as impressive and technologically advanced as the car’s exterior design language.
Inspiring
Good design should evoke a positive emotion. When you open the sunroof in our car from the touchscreen, it’s hard not to smile and relish in its simplicity and intuitiveness as you swipe your finger across the glass to drag the sunroof to the desired location, with precision down to the exact percentage.
Sophisticated
This is a premium car and, therefore, it also should have a premium user experience. That starts, first and foremost, with the vehicle being smart on your behalf and offering solutions that are likely what you need at that given moment.
Empowering
Nothing is compromised in a Model S, not even the UI. The software adapts to each driver’s preferences and configuration. You get to choose what “apps” you want displayed on either screen that may be beneficial for your drive, while having common controls (like climate) quickly accessible at all times.
Defining the automative grade of Model S
The term “automative grade” means that something needs to work for eight years after you’ve bought the car. If you notice keenly, most of the time it is the UI of the car that needs a complete upgrade. Consumers are ready to even buy a new car so that the interiors are up to mark. The UI is the first aspect that greets you when you enter a car. And of course the first thing that becomes outdated in the car is the infotainment system.
“You also shouldn’t be using clunky hardware that feels old form the day you bought it. For example: If the color reproduction is poor or the resolution appears too low, maybe the touch response rate isn’t what you expect, or you have to punch the screen to register a button on the haptic touchscreen, then you know the project has already failed.”
Fitting in with the growth of the mobile industry
Boblett tells us that Tesla is very much driven by the mobile industry. Using software that easily fits in with the lifestyle you have now is important. But the automobile industry has an even harder task to over come – the lifespan of a car is much longer than that of a mobile device. Tesla overcomes this by providing over the air updates for their software.
The car comes with a dedicated data connection that you can even tether to you other devices. And of course, hook it up to your home/workplace WiFi connection. This way Tesla can roll out new features to it’s users, without them ever having to buy another car.
“This allows your excitement for the car to exceed long after the honeymoon, since the car is continually improving with time.”