Roadmap for Interior Components
Definition of a roadmap that reflects the changing role of steering wheels in increasingly automated vehicles and gives clients the assurance that their development resources are being used to maximum effect.
Client:
First-tier supplier for steering wheels from Germany
Initial situation
Vehicles of the future will be increasingly automated. The relationship between driver and rolling robot is currently being redefined. The steering wheel as the central HMI component will have to defend and adapt to its new role. The client was unsure of the innovation potential of his products and how they could tackle the challenges posed by automated driving. There were fears that developments in the vehicle industry would cause them to lose market share and ultimately become irrelevant.
Goal
The goal was to define new use cases of steering wheels in automated vehicles. Based on this, new concepts, functions, forms, interactions, and designs should be developed. A product roadmap and a change in thinking should be developed to make the product and thus the supplier future-proof.
Actions
After an analysis of the existing product portfolio, current and future use cases for steering wheels were developed based on social, technological, and automotive mega trends. The relationship between human and automated vehicle was redefined and the critical points were identified. A design office was integrated into the project to visualize new steering wheel concepts and designs.
Delivery
Various reports with analyses of human behavior in automated vehicles, verbal and visual descriptions of innovative products, workshops to communicate the ideas and build a future-proof mindset. Numerous sketches with steering wheel models were made.
Result
The client has a clear vision of where it can steer the further development of his product, how the needs of drivers of automated vehicles can be reflected in steering wheel concepts, and which functions make the product future-proof. Based on the analyses and reports, a significant number of highly innovative steering wheel concepts were developed and successfully presented both to clients and at trade fairs.