It all starts here.

The eggheads over at User Centric published an academic analysis of the UI of the instrument panel and center stack on the new Mini Clubman. Despite in all their scientific vigor and application of UI expertise, though, they didn’t get it quite right. It all starts off on the wrong foot with the title of the post, “What’s Driving the Mini Cooper? Not the User Experience.” Oh really?

I don’t think User Experience means what they think it means.

The User Experience of driving a Mini is far more than the act of changing the radio station or customizing the tach’s digital display. It starts with the emotional appeal of the body design, the look of the oversize wheels and tires, and the diminutive dimensions of the car. It builds with the sporting mechanicals – the taut suspension tied to the thick, communicative steering wheel, the whir and throttle response of the high-tech 4-cylinder motor, and the snickety shifter. It settles in with the nostalgic dash design, the bucket seats, and the fine craftsmanship of the interior materials.

Speedometer. And Radio.

Then, we get to the dials and buttons. Are they important? Of course. Does their functionality play a role in the user experience? Absolutely. Are they faulty? Yeah. But taken as a whole, the dashboard buttons and readouts are a small fraction of the experience.

What about User Centric’s critique of those controls? They got a lot of it right, primarily the analysis of the radio’s relative disembodiment from it’s buttons, and the volume dial’s distant location. The radio’s dials – not just the buttons – though, are tiny. Why no remarks about that? Also not mentioned: the secondary controls at the bottom of the center stack – which are indistinguishable by touch, even though they perform a variety of tasks.

Speedometer over there, to your right.

One key interface design decision that seems to be an obvious UI element worth examining, and yet  here merits neither comment nor  question, is the placement of the speedometer. Arguably the most important dial for the driver, the Mini’s speedo is mounted in the middle of the dashboard, rather than it’s conventional location behind the steering wheel, directly in front of the driver’s line of sight. This unconventional design choice is exactly the type of thing usability studies like this are meant to evaluate.

The old switcheroo.

This study was worth doing. But based on the published report, it seems that the researchers got caught up in the details or their reportage and lost perspective on the bigger picture. Some important things were overlooked, while the relative significance of the UI is over emphasized. I think that’s too bad. I’m sure the researchers are capable fellas. But this piece doesn’t really do the field of user experience justice.

Here we have a conceptual version of Ford’s second generation Sync system, to debut next week at the Detroit auto show.

Beyond the flawless voice recognition capaciy, there are two striking things about this video.

First, the natural language the model uses to control the SYNC system. The ability to use voice commands without necessarily utilizing specific code words is a vast leap forward that really can move this technology from the hyper-focused capacity it now occupies, to a vast frontier of mobile applications. Delivery drivers and iPhone tools are two that pop to mind.

Second, the example shown in this video exemplifies how new cars are transforming from transportation tools to a pseudo-office, with all the comforts, tools, and connectivity we once associated with a luxurious office space. It seems that in this new age driving is, uhh, taking a back seat.