As vehicles continue to adopt more technologies, it is important the user feels they are interacting with a complete, well-designed system. The in-car experience is the new battleground for brand differentiation and will be the key to ensuring long-term consumer loyalty. In this report series, SBD Automotive’s CASE technology specialists undertake UX Evaluations of 8 vehicles.

In testing the S-Class, SBD Automotive’s UX Team has found MBUX cannot be considered a market leading system, but can be considered competitive. For example, the digital instrumental cluster adds an optional 3D display to enhance core vehicle functionality – such as adding depth to navigation. This augmented reality navigation is an impressive ‘wow feature’, but can have misleading results, which can be ambiguous and even incorrect.

SBD’s HMI UX Evaluation Report Series provides a comprehensive assessment of the latest systems released globally. Over the course of 2021, our team of HMI and UX experts benchmarked eight vehicles from Europe, the US, and Japan to understand who is leading in the space, and who is falling behind. Each report helps provide an indication of what the final customer experience of each vehicle should be. In doing so, the team thoroughly scores and analyses them across several HMI domains.