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Why does Apple's new CarPlay (still) look so bad?

December 22, 2023 Drew Smith

Apple’s second generation CarPlay as shown in a Porsche instrument panel.

For those interested in automotive UX design, the arrival of Apple’s second generation CarPlay has been eagerly awaited. On the current evidence, we might have waited in vain.

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In Automotive, Design Tags Porsche, Aston Martin, Apple, CarPlay, UX, Design, Culture, Design Research, Interior Design
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On Porsche, CarPlay, and the luxury of consistency

August 7, 2023 Drew Smith

The facelifted Porsche Cayenne allows far greater control of the vehicle's hardware with Apple's CarPlay interface

As GM looks to evict Apple from its instrument panels, Porsche is doubling down. Why? I’d argue that it’s a move entirely consistent with Porsche’s brand values.

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In Automotive, Culture, Design Tags Porsche, CarPlay, Customer Experience, User Experience

Perceived quality and focussing on what matters

August 1, 2023 Drew Smith

Wouldn't it be nice to catch this sort of thing before it wrecks a reputation?

Perceived quality and customer acceptance of new ideas have often been judged on gut feet and qualitative research. Intended Future brings quantitative rigour to the space.

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In Automotive, Design Tags Perceived Quality, Design Quality, Product Strategy, Design Research, Data-informed Design

A social theory for why the Mercedes performance subscription will probably fail

December 7, 2022 Drew Smith

A Mercedes-Benz EQS. Image: Mercedes-Benz.

As car makers try to increase margin through subscription services, social networks offer some clues as to how they might succeed.

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In Automotive, Culture, Design
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Colours for the best of times, and the worst of times

December 7, 2022 Drew Smith

Why are people going crazy for flat-coloured cars? I’ve long had a theory that tries to explain this, one that hinges on our fears and our hopes.

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In Automotive, Culture, Design Tags Colour, Ford, Volkswagen, Volvo, Citroen, Jaguar, Porsche, Audi, Pastel, Putty, Grant McCracken, Thunderbird, New Beetle, XC40
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On "resilience"

November 25, 2022 Drew Smith

As we move from pandemic to financial downturn to extinction event, organisations will increasingly call on individuals to be more “resilient”. Beware.

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In Culture, Design Tags Resilience, Organisational Psychology

The Gothenburg aesthetic

October 6, 2022 Drew Smith

Vallgatan 12, a fashion and homewares emporium in Gothenburg, Sweden

As designers, we can’t help but be influenced by our surroundings. That’s why it’s so important to change them up every now and then.

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In Culture, Design Tags Gothenburg, Millennial, Interior Design
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Citröen's oli shouts Enough!

September 30, 2022 Drew Smith

In May, I sent out a prayer for an OEM to buck the bigger battery-is-better trend. Citroen’s answered my plea.

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In Automotive, Culture, Design Tags Citroen, Sustainability, EV
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Volvo's Driver Understanding System and the importance of language

September 23, 2022 Drew Smith

Volvo has carefully chosen the words to describe its new safety system. It's right to.

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In Automotive, Design Tags Volvo, ADAS
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Making sense of restomods

July 6, 2022 Drew Smith

In a world in which the character of cars is under threat, restomods offer brands the chance to keep their weird and wonderful histories front of mind.

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In Culture, Automotive, Design Tags Range Rover, Prodrive, Lancia, Porsche, Singer, Delta Integrale, 928, 911, Citroen, Grant McCracken, Imprezza, Subaru
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