The Human-Technology Podcast

I keep asking my listeners which topics are on their minds, what questions they have, and where I can help. In today's episode, I talk about three different topics. 1. HMIs in cars should be different than those on smartphones, even though it's so tempting to just copy the apps. 2. Technology brings both losses and gains in skills. 3. There are good reasons for icons and for fonts in HMIs.

There are various processes, ways, and procedures to make technology sexy in order to achieve a positive user experience. In this podcast episode, I'm talking about user-centricity, context dependency, what role usability plays in the context of user experience, the agility and linearity of processes, and about product testing.

After the short summer break of the human-technology podcast, there is a slightly shorter special edition today, with which I am returning from vacation. It's about my plans for the rest of the year, a book that surprised me, and I'm nagging about Android Auto again.

It's always how we deal with it, how we handle the technology, what we do with it when, and where what makes it good or bad. Our actions, our decisions, and our thinking define the value of technology. That's the good and bad news simultaneously: it's in our hands, we can make the change, and drive thought and action forward. We can surrender, abandon the catches of Big Tech, of product manufactur...

Everyone has an opinion about HMI, everyone has emotions when he or she interacts with technology. That's a good thing, but it doesn't lead to solutions that satisfy larger user groups. I discuss six parameters that you can use to analyze and develop HMIs.

New players in the vehicle industry have chased the established players in front of them, especially in the HMI (Human Machine Interface). They are catching up now, giant screens, buttonless dashboards, and feature updates via the air interface are standard in many new vehicles. It's time to look at some of the technologies and analyze their advantages and disadvantages from a user's perspective.

Basically, a car is a technology designed to move humans and goods from A to B. It fulfills this core task in most cases. However, and this is what makes the automobile as an artifact so exciting, it plays many other roles in the lives of the users. I've looked at three of those roles beyond mobility and discuss them in this episode of the Human-Technology Podcast.

The CarHMI in Berlin is one of the major conferences on HMI in vehicles. The term HMI is used very broadly here, covering a wide range from HMI technologies to topics such as artificial intelligence in vehicles and automated driving to development processes. I picked out five speaker statements, analyzed them, and commented on them.

Part 2: Not everyone thinks like you. In all honesty, if you're a homo technicus, very few others think like you. Alan Cooper Developers tend to expand their world, their thinking, and their way of making decisions for all users. You can't blame them for that. Successful products are easy to use, users are unknown beings. Usability studies are mandatory as part of product development. In this and...

Not everyone thinks like you. In all honesty, if you're a homo technicus, very few others think like you. Alan Cooper Developers tend to expand their world, their thinking, their way of making decisions for all users. You can't blame them for that. Successful products are easy to use, users are unknown beings. Usability studies are mandatory as part of product development. In this and the next epi...

Our brain as we know it - and most of the time we use it - emerged in its basic character during the cognitive revolution 70,000 years ago. With this artifact adapted to the conditions of the Stone Age, we are constantly changing our environment and have to deal with the consequences. In this episode, I look at the strengths and weaknesses of the brain and analyze whether it is a computer in our h...

Usability, user experience, and, relatively new, user delight define the quality of human-machine interaction. Usability is the usability, the rather hard part. User Experience deals with the emotion of the user and the emotions that technology triggers. User Delight borders on user experience, but focuses on the development, development, and communication of personality, the communication of self...

Smart surfaces, i.e. "intelligent surfaces", are one of the trends in vehicle interiors. Or is it more of a buzzword? They offer a few advantages, but also have serious disadvantages. In this podcast episode, I discuss my view of the technologies and the use cases.

In the last episode of the human-technology podcast, I looked at the trends that deal directly with the artifact, with the car. In this episode, I look at what's happening in business in relationships between the automotive industry and other industries. Specifically, it is about new platforms for electric vehicles, about over-the-air updates, i.e. loading software into the vehicle via the radio i...

Every now and then I like to record an episode with the current and future trends in the automotive industry. Basically, there is little movement in a very mature and traditional industry, so the small changes are the exciting ones. Today's episode is about the C.A.S.E. mantra and the shifts that are happening there. It's about the vehicle. The next episode will discuss topics related to cooperati...

Technology has value only if it meets the dreams, needs, desires of the users. When it makes people's lives better, easier, more focused, faster, safer, or just plain funnier. Technology without value might pass for art, but in the end, it's just junk. Understanding users is central to the success of a product, service, or technology. In this episode of the human-technology podcast, I present thre...

Besides all the visions, the trends, the thinking about the future, in addition to all the generic, strategic topics, we need a solid basis for the development of HMI solutions in cars. In this podcast episode, I analyze the interaction principles of ISO 9241 and a set of rules I developed for my projects. I clarify what are the parameters that make an HMI solution perfect.

The first business trip of every year takes me to the CES at Las Vegas, NV. The show was canceled in 2021 due to the Pandemic, 2022 tried a revival. My impressions on a totally different show, new experiences, and the missing HMI innovations in this podcast episode.

Artificial intelligence is on the rise. In many areas of daily life, it is reality and we hardly notice it anymore, in others it is on the rise. In this episode of the Mensch-Technik podcast, I analyze the role of AI in and around the car, look for use cases and problems with the application. And I'll tell you why we should introduce the term “intelligence substitute”!

Apala Chavan is one of the top user experience and usability professionals. She is co-founder of the HFI, a member of the ACM Publications Board, and chair of the design and innovation committee of the IAMAI, and finally an expert member of the Academic Council at Vidyashilp University. I met her during an HCII (online) session on Intercultural HMI design last summer. She sees culture as not only...

Design thinking often comes across as a buzzword, like a hype, like old and established methods in a new appearance. This is not entirely unfounded, the method is partly based on what has been tried and tested for a long time. But there are also innovative and exciting approaches, especially in the philosophy, in the approach, and in the processes. I discuss my point of view on design thinking and...

In this episode of The Human-Technology Podcast, I had the chance to interview Stephane Feron. Stephane is an HMI expert at Stellantis, the resulting company of the merger between PSA and Fiat Chrysler. He is a long-term friend of mine, we met more or less 10 years ago at an Automotive HMI conference. Stephane talks about what brought him to the point where he is, what drives him in his profession...

Talking about culture is always a bit daring. You quickly get lost in stereotypes, "the Germans", "the Asians", "the Americans", and everyone knows that this is often oversimplified. On the other hand, there are differences between people from different cultures. That's why I'm doing the episode and talking about culture and the differences in HMI design that are based on culture.

Android Auto is a technology that aims to bridge the gap between vehicle and smartphone. The use of apps is possible in the vehicle on the screen of the infotainment system. In this podcast, I talk about my very mixed two weeks of experience with Android Auto during my summer vacation.

User experience is central to the development of technology, of HMIs, in the relationship between humans and technology. It is defined in ISO 9241, but this does not mean that the term is used and understood consistently. In this podcast episode, I analyze what specific experiences drivers and passengers want to have in cars. There have been ten of them, which I take a closer look at.