For awhile there – years – the recipe for a ‘good’ interior was adding screens to prove the car’s modernity: More screens, bigger screens, all the controls on the screens! Wheeee, look what we can do!
Then came the backlash: buyers expressed frustration and annoyance – and safety experts expressed alarm – at the loss of real controls. The all-screens honeymoon had to end, and a more nuanced, thoughtful concept of interior goodness had to come in. One wherein the user experience is not taken to be the result of one display, material, software layer, or any other one thing. A good interior isn’t just a single note, it’s a symphony coming from how seating, lighting, interfaces, electronics, CMF, and perceived quality all work together.
Our visit to Dow in Seneffe made the point very clearly: materials become technical interfaces, influencing touch, light, noise, aging, air quality and recyclability.
And that brings us to our upcoming DVN Interior workshop in Köln on 22 – 23 April. Today’s newsletter brings you the full docket and program of speakers. With 14-plus OEMs already confirmed, it is shaping up as a grand event in the tradition of DVN workshops, each better than the one before.
Come and join in to talk, listen, and learn with colleagues, experts, researchers, suppliers, and makers who know that interior quality is less about isolated features, and more about how the full system comes together cohesively.
Registration is still open until the remaining seats are claimed. And there are still a few expo spaces open, so companies looking to engage more visibly with the community should hurry and contact Emilie Bonnet or Laurent Sérézat.
Take care,
