Why BMW let human-centred technology design take the wheel

Ahead of Web Summit 2022, we spoke to BMW M CEO Franciscus van Meel about how embracing human-centred design principles can help make technology more meaningful for users.

BMW is one of the world’s most recognisable car manufacturers. Since its founding in 1916, the company has kept ahead of the curve when developing reliable and innovative vehicles.

But the best-known quality of a BMW car? According to the company, it’s the focus on human-centred design, making driving “feel simple and intuitive”. In a pre-Web Summit chat, BMW M CEO Franciscus van Meel explained how BMW has kept a human-centred design process at the core of everything the company does.

BMW M CEO Franciscus van Meel. Image: BMW Group

Hi, Franciscus! Can you first explain what human-centred technology design is?

Human-centred design is about foregrounding the needs and desires of end users.

How does that apply practically? When looking at designing a new feature for a BMW vehicle, that means setting aside concerns such as what we’ve done before, or what technologies we have at our disposal, and thinking, ‘What exact user problem are we trying to solve?’.

With this start point, we can develop technology solutions that make the driving experience easier and safer, and also maintain the human connection to driving. Well-designed technologies feel intuitive, while still addressing real challenges or meeting real desires.

Our shift towards this type of thinking began in 2016 with a focus on premium user experience and customer-centric IT delivery. Ever since then, we’ve held both the needs of users and attractive business opportunities as the main drivers in our product development process.

What pros does human-centred technology design offer companies?

Human-centred design for us means joy to the users and value to the business. We believe that an unconditional focus on the end user not only creates usable and desirable products, but is the key success factor in gaining business potential and success. It’s as easy as that.

How can car manufacturers develop more technologically advanced and safer cars without compromising the driving experience?

We should remember that technology is only the experience enabler, not the experience itself.

The focus on developing new technologies stems from an interest in the ‘new’, or a desire to innovate before others, without actually considering intended use or need. By moving the focus to the user — their desires, behaviours and feedback — we can build technology to make the magic happen in the background without them knowing how complex it is.

When we create prototypes of new technologies, we’ve evolved our testing to match this human-centred design process. Now we accommodate paper testing and we wireframe mock-ups, and only then move to a working technical prototype in a test car on a real street.

We’ve also found partnering with technology companies operating outside the narrow scope of your sector can change your design thinking and reframe your customers’ needs in a new light.

It should feel natural and meet user needs, giving the customer the chance to think about and choose what they want from their experience. After all, everyone is different.

You mentioned business partners. What qualities should you look for in a partner when developing new technologies?

We always start partnership conversations by asking what we expect from a great product. Our technologies should be attractive for users, cost-effective, and feasible. We want to partner with companies that share these motivators and offer a unique approach to combining all them. We highly appreciate collaborative work with our values at heart.

Lastly, we prize a hands-on approach – to prove by showing what you want to achieve. Technology solutions can seem intangible to people until they are seen in action. By ‘just doing’, users can experience a solution without endless rhetoric about a potential solution that may not even work for them.

Test car used for BMW’s mixed-reality driving experience. Image: BMW Group

BMW is offering a mixed-reality driving experience at Web Summit. Can you explain what that is?

The mixed-reality driving experience uses the latest VR technology to give users the full driving experience – including the effect of g-forces – in a safe environment, while experiencing a virtual world at the same time. Immersed in a vehicle driving seat and able to interact with virtual elements around them, the experience gives users control over their world.

How was the BMW mixed-reality driving experience developed, and what inspired it?

This was born out of valuable customer feedback. We recently ran a campaign called M Town, bringing customers into a narrative world through video and written storytelling focused on the best features of the M Series BMW car.

After our fans saw this campaign, they started writing to us with comments like, “I want to visit M Town”. So, we decided to take our fans there!

To achieve this, we had to overcome boundaries between real and virtual worlds, and create a new kind of mixed-reality experience. It required support from BMW stakeholders, partners agreeing on a shared vision for an immersive driving experience, and resilience to push past technological challenges.

This is the first mixed-reality driving experience that can be experienced without the driver suffering from motion sickness. This experience is the first iterative step towards seeing what a full metaverse with the BMW Group at its heart can feel like.

If you’re interested in learning about what BMW Group has in mind for the future, visit the company’s Next Gen hub for updates on the visionary BMW driving experience.

Main image showing the BMW mixed-reality driving experience in action: BMW Group