Aston Martin’s new centre console design benefits from what it calls the ‘off factor’. Rather than just packing all s into a touchscreen to save weight, it’s more considerate. It has designed its interface to avoid annoying drivers, and its testing program looks like one that other automakers deserve to adopt.
According to a new interview with Aston Martin design director Miles Numburger, the “nuisance factor” started with a small organization. This organization went out and drove several cars and noticed their delight in engaging with the interface. They developed a list of key features and how they felt when those features weren’t immediately available.
This philosophy is obviously visual in the design of the Vantage stack. It has more than 20 physical seconds, adding those of volume, fan speed, and more. This gives the driver the opportunity to make a quick replacement while enjoying the car and that’s the key. Aston Martin doesn’t need this driving experience to be interrupted by having to search for a setting on a touchscreen, while getting even angrier in the process.
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“That’s the challenge of the nuisance factor. When you need it, you need it instantly,” Nurnburger told CarExpert. “If you need to turn the volume up or down, probably the temperature, the moment you have to go to a screen and we pressed the temperature and we lost the customer. We lost the experience,” he continued.
It also highlights a vital point related to switching from buttons to touchscreens, and now vice versa. “What’s happened in the last five years is that we have to design the experience for the user, for the customer. In the past, this wasn’t the case, we would put buttons on a car because it needed them.
Obviously, Aston Martin’s cockpit team has grown from five to around 20 since Lawrence Stroll took over. It turns out that the team there is making the right possible choices when it comes to this aspect. How many of us have had to struggle frustratingly through a series of touchscreen menus to locate an undeniable control?This is a challenge that a number of automakers can solve with the same mindset as Aston.