FCA Fiat Chrysler Automobiles on HMI with new ways of driving

Automotive IQ sat down with Ms. Zhang, Uconnect Human Interface Lead at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and discussed the the potential of automotive app, how car connectivity can happen on a global scale. Ms. Zhang also gave us a glimpse into the future: HMI in interconnected smart cities. 

Your career centres on User Experience (UX): “subtracting the complex, and adding the meaningful”. What is “the meaningful” UX in in-vehicle HMI?

The meaningful is extremely kind to users, that which elevates their sense of well-being, allow them to enjoy the journey – not only rise swiftly to their needs during, but also faithfully prepare and maintain for the needs before and after. The meaningful makes users feel that they are taken care of, and that they deserve the peace of mind and joy of life while owning a vehicle.

Automotive apps seem to become a new trend in the automotive industry. They open the door for stronger connectivity, for increased personalization within the car and for an easier information exchange between driver and vehicle. How do you see automotive apps develop in the market (e.g. consumers pace of adaption)?

There will always be a dichotomy between the Digital Natives and those who are just perching over and wondering what all those buttons are. That is why automotive apps have room to grow. They will grow from the generic to the tailored, the technology-centric to humanistic, and toward harmonizing with the changing landscape of consumer electronics – more diversity of interactions, more intelligent. What is hard to predict is how automotive apps will compete for human attention – on that I can only hope that more will grow to simple, to command no more attention than absolutely necessary, while addressing to users’ complex needs.

What is the main improvement that can be reached by introducing automotive apps? Which areas in automotive HMI will change the most with automotive apps?

When apps are introduced in any hardware platforms, the developer community is energized. Crafting and publishing a single app is a powerful model. In automotive, this allows individuality, perspectives from the larger community come thrashing toward the traditional software development process. The main improvement is creativity, and what results as benefits to customers.

The unusable area of HMI will disappear. An app which is not useful to users will be deleted by user, and so will apps with clunky user experiences. In an app platform, users will become the architect of their own app mix, pushing app makers and integrators to do their absolute best.