As OEMs continue to pursue the SDV, they are increasing both the number of technologies in the vehicle and their significance to the overall user experience. However, the success of these technologies will ultimately rely on their ability to ensure that this experience is delivered in a seamless and satisfactory manner. In doing so, OEMs, developers, and suppliers can ensure successful product launches, while securing long-term customer loyalty with the vehicle and its ecosystem of digital services.
Recognizing the ways in which HMI features can positively or negatively contribute to the in-vehicle user experience is our In-Car HMI UX Evaluation & Benchmarking report series. Representing one of our best-selling, longest running, reports, it provides a comprehensive, analytical assessment of the latest HMI systems launched globally. Across 2024, our UX experts will review and benchmark the systems provided in seven recently released vehicles to understand who is leading the space, and who is falling behind.
Following our article on the Acura ZDX HMI UX report, this Insight covers the latest edition of the series, which analyzes the systems offered in the all-new Avatr 12. It is the latest EV launched by Avatr Technologies, an automotive joint venture focused on pooling the strengths of its three founders: CATL, Changan Auto, and Huawei, into luxury EVs. While sharing its IVI and UX highlights, we will also be outlining the strengths and weaknesses posed by some of the car’s most interesting technologies and more closely analyzing their implications on the end user experience.
A Closer Look at the Avatr 12
The Avatr 12 offers a mixture of interesting and innovative technologies that together aim to make the user experience safer and more seamless. At the height of this offering is the EV’s 15.6-inch central touchscreen, which is paired with a 35.4-inch 4K panoramic display and equipped with HarmonyOS 4.0 - a native automotive version of Huawei’s multi-platform operating system.
HarmonyOS 4.0’s deep integration with Huawei’s technology ecosystem brings not only a variety of rich entertainment features to the Avatr 12, but also a high level of IoT functions. This pre-packaged offering can be expanded through the Huawei App store, which offers apps across several categories that can be hosted on the Super Home Screen. HarmonyOS also facilitates further entertainment options that can be enabled by linking the EV to a compatible, Huawei-brand, smartphone. Through it, information such as a route made within the phone’s navigation app, or a song from the Huawei Music app, can be transferred wirelessly to the vehicle using NFC. Home appliances can similarly be controlled through this integration, with users able to access controls for their air con, curtains, and security cameras from within the vehicle.
Key Takeaways
For our UX team, one of the biggest takeaways from the Avatr 12 was the deep ties its infotainment system had with Huawei’s technology ecosystem, offering a mix of strengths and drawbacks. While they found that the EV’s system shared similarities with other IVI systems provided by Huawei, its specific implementation in the Avatr 12 provides some unique features, including dedicated controls for the camera monitoring system, an exterior halo screen, the pillar-to-pillar display, and an Avatr-branded radio system.
While our experts enjoyed the rich variety of features motivated by the EV’s implementation of HarmonyOS, they felt that its full potential could only be experienced by customers invested in Huawei’s technology ecosystem. Our team found that the user experience diminished when using third-party solutions and services, noticing latency when using voice commands to control a third-party music app and the exclusivity of on-screen lyrics to Huawei Music. Furthermore, the exclusivity of the Avatr 12’s smartphone integration capabilities to select Huawei and Honor smartphones, our experts noted, could similarly lead to some users being left out from key elements of the user experience based on the brand of smartphone they own.
Despite the advances, depth, and variety provided across its infotainment system, the Avatr 12’s minimalist cabin design presented a key weakness in its overall usability. Here, our experts highlighted the poor implementation of the EV’s steering wheel, which has just two buttons that can be adjusted up and down, and from left to right. While the function tethered to left-side button has been pre-set by Avatr, the user can tether a function of their choice to the button on the right. This customizability, however, is limited, with only seven options to choose from, and could lead to some difficulty as users struggle to remember which button corresponds to which function.
When paired with the absence of icons and text on the steering wheel, the limited functionality of these buttons could potentially cause distracted driving throughout daily use. That absence could further lead the user to forget which buttons control core EV functions, making it more challenging to use the steering wheel as a means to control the car. These issues can together present major inconveniences that our experts felt would negatively impact the overall user experience, with the driver potentially avoiding the steering wheel controls altogether. While those controls intend to make the user experience safer and more seamless, our experts felt the poor implementation of them in the Avatr 12 rendered it unable to meet these objectives.
Analysis
A broader analysis of the technologies presented further along the EV’s cabin unearthed a similar set of strengths and weaknesses. Our experts, for example, praised the new camera monitoring system, which replaces the traditional mirror-based rear view with a camera and screen located under the a-pillar. When faced with extreme weather conditions like heavy rain, the system operated consistently, even exceeding its traditional counterpart, while providing a clear view of rear traffic throughout the testing period. The team similarly appreciated the integration of the Avatr 12’s blind spot monitoring system into the display screen that helps strengthen the usability of the camera by displaying incoming vehicles.
One of the biggest drawbacks of the Avatr 12 our experts discovered was the infotainment system’s potential to cause major driver distraction by allowing videos to be played whilst driving. When selecting a video, the only warning before it plays is an on-screen prompt to confirm that the passenger is the one controlling this functionality. However, the driver themselves can respond ‘yes’ to this prompt and continue driving while the video plays. Our experts found that this issue was not limited to one type of video either, with both embedded and native video apps able to play content while the vehicle is in motion. Concern from our experts grew as they found that, when using split screen, around two-thirds of space of the Super Home Screen was taken up by a video app with the second app (in this case, navigation) occupying the remaining third, leading to the extremely heightened risk of a potential traffic accident.
Next Steps
Overall, our experts felt that the Avatr 12 offered an innovative suite of features and technologies facilitated by Huawei’s role in Avatr Technologies. While enjoying the rich ecosystem provided by the tech giant’s auto-focused HarmonyOS 4.0, they felt that the exclusivity of its most impressive infotainment features to select Huawei and Honor smartphones limited its overall usability for owners of third-party smartphones.
Beyond the IVI, the UX team felt that the robustness and consistency of the EV’s camera monitoring system not only boosted user safety but strengthened the overall user experience of this system. Although, at the same time, driver distraction was noted as a risk both within, and outside of, the infotainment domain. While this was most prominently noticeable in the ability for several forms of video content to be played while driving, our experts also experienced this in the steering wheel controls – the poor implementation of which could lead drivers to become distracted, confused, and frustrated, and potentially forgo using these controls altogether.
While we have highlighted some of the strengths and weaknesses presented in its overall user experience, the insights shared in this article represent only a portion of the knowledge shared in the full Avatr 12 HMI UX Evaluation & Benchmarking report. Spanning more than 150 pages, it provides even deeper insights into the user experience of the EV’s features across several key domains, including ADAS, infotainment, navigation, and voice recognition. While scoring these features and functions against our proven evaluation methodologies, the report also benchmarks the new vehicle against the vehicles reviewed in our 2023 HMI UX reports, and those reviewed in our 2024 HMI UX reports to date.
Want to learn more about the latest in-vehicle HMI solutions, their impacts on the end user experience, and which vehicle offers the best user experience? Then be sure to secure your copy of our In-Car HMI UX Evaluation & Benchmarking series!
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