In-Car HMI UX Evaluation & Benchmarking: Volvo EX90
- SBD Automotive
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
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. Their success, however, relies 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 2025, our UX experts will review and benchmark the systems provided in nine recently released vehicles to understand who is leading the space, and who is falling behind.
In this Insight, we will be covering the first edition of the 2025 series, which analyzes the systems offered in the all-new Volvo EX90. While sharing the EV’s IVI and UX highlights, we will also outline the strengths and weaknesses posed by some of its most interesting technologies and more closely analyzing their implications on the end user experience.
A Closer Look at the Volvo EX90
The EX90’s core system is powered by a combination of the Xavier and Orin Nvidia Drive AI platforms, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Cockpit Platforms, and Volvo’s own in-house software. Together, these systems handle much of the EV’s interior functions, including safety, infotainment, and battery management. These functions likewise benefit from OTA updates that allow them to be improved and refined, while allowing for new features to be added over time.
Leading the EX90’s suite of infotainment features is a 14.5-inch center screen with Google Built-In, the tech giant’s automotive OS which offers native versions of its popular apps and services, including Google Assistant, Google Maps, and the Google Play Store. The display, itself, benefits from the pairing of Snapdragon’s Cockpit Platforms with the visualization capabilities of Unreal Engine, a 3D graphics tool developed by Epic Games. While providing the EX90 with enhanced computing power, this combination also powers high-quality graphics displayed across the in-car screens as well as the head-up display.
Key Takeaways
Throughout their time with the EX90, our UX team discovered a mix of strengths and weaknesses in the implementation of its various HMI systems. Stability emerged as one of the car’s key weaknesses, with 27 issues detected (four of which were critical) even after a major software update. Our experts felt that these issues were altogether detrimental to the core user experience, making it feel inconsistent, difficult, and frustrating.
The team felt similarly about the increased digitization of controls across the Volvo EX90’s infotainment system, particularly the HVAC which is now a fully digital system. Our experts highlighted that this digitization could add weight to the user’s cognitive load compared to physical controls. This was most notably observed in the distribution of the EX90’s controls, which are spread across eight separate panels (three of which encompassed core controls), with the HVAC’s max defrost setting only possible from zero level.
While noting these issues, however, our experts found strength in the EX90’s updated implementation of Google Built-In. They felt that this system, which Volvo is set to roll out across all of its model year 2022 vehicles, undoubtedly represents a significant improvement over its previous version. Its navigation system, powered by Google Maps, has been consolidated with the EX90’s home screen, allowing for the vehicle’s core functions to be accessed more easily from the home page. But, at the lower levels, our UX experts felt that a lack of permanent shortcuts on this screen could add an additional step to its user experience.
The team was also impressed with the implementation of the EX90’s suite of ADAS. While it is aligned with SAE’s Level 2 of autonomy (defined by the SAE as driver support features like lane centering and adaptive cruise control that require the driver to remain attentive while they are activated), Volvo is aiming to roll out Level 3 (semi-autonomous) driving functions later on in 2025. The team praised Volvo’s current L2 implementation as a strong improvement on the ADAS offered in previous systems. Here, they enjoyed the EX90’s confident lane following assist, its simplified and logical interface, and the complex ADAS display which all worked in an efficient manner, proving advantageous to the user experience overall.
Analysis
Despite the advancements presented by its ADAS, a deeper analysis of the EX90 revealed an absence of parking-related features. Representing a further weakness, the lack of a semi- or fully-automated parking assistant, our experts felt, held the system back from fulfilling its full potential – especially for a premium segment car. This analysis similarly found a weakness in the minimalist design of the EX90’s HUD, particularly the low level of information it provided as well as its flat two-dimensional graphics and lack of AR information. A more pressing weakness in this implementation was the icons denoting speed limits and traffic signs occasionally not being shown to the user.
This closer analysis similarly uncovered new strengths, many of which were found in the EV’s offering of delight features (defined by our UX experts as those which offer a ‘nice-to-have’ attribute that the user may discuss with friends or family). The car’s unique exterior lighting configuration, called Thor’s Hammer, was a particular standout for our experts, especially the ‘handle’ of the hammer which opens and closes, giving the appearance of blinking when flashing the headlights or unlocking the car at night. While playing with Volvo’s Swedish heritage, our experts highlighted that the feature could add fun to the user experience. The health and wellbeing features found in the HVAC were also praised, particularly the number of measurements on air quality from inside and outside the cabin, alongside the pollen count.
Next Steps
Our experts ultimately concluded their testing of the Volvo EX90 with mixed feelings. While on the one hand they felt that the upgraded Google Built-In infotainment system represented a significant step up, they found that the end user experience of this system suffered greatly from stability issues. These issues were experienced frequently and their impact on the user experience ranged from moderate to critical, with a full system reboot even required on one occasion.
As the team took a deeper dive into the EX90’s HMI implementations, their feelings remained largely the same. While broadly enjoying the variety and fun factor offered by the EV’s delight features, they felt that the lack of a semi- or fully-autonomous parking assistant caused its ADAS offering to fall short, especially when compared to the ADAS provided in similar vehicles.
While we have highlighted some of the strengths and weaknesses presented in the car’s overall user experience, the insights shared in this article represent only a portion of the knowledge shared in the full Volvo EX90 HMI UX Evaluation & Benchmarking report. Spanning more than 120 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 EV against the vehicles reviewed in our 2024 HMI UX series.
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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