Team
3 UX Designers, 2 UI Designers, Stakeholders, 2 Product Managers, several Development Teams.
Critical Techworks | A BMW GROUP COMPANY
Orchestrating entertainment across a multi-display in-car ecosystem
Turning context-aware in-car media experiences into safer and more engaging journeys with mobility limitations in mind.
Responsibilities
IDX UX Media & Entertainment domain across all in-car front and rear-seat displays.
Context
With the introduction of BMW Operating System X (Neue Klasse), BMW's next-generation digital vehicle platform, the car evolved from a traditional infotainment system into a distributed ecosystem of connected displays and interactions.
From the BMW Panoramic Vision and central infotainment display to steering wheel controls, voice interfaces, the optional front passenger display, rear-seat entertainment, and integrated touch door controls, the in-car experience became increasingly interconnected.
As vehicle configurations became more personalized, the challenge shifted from designing individual screens to orchestrating a seamless experience across multiple touchpoints, user needs, and moments throughout the journey, while maintaining safety, clarity, and BMW's premium brand experience.
Product Goals
As vehicles evolve into connected digital environments, media experiences must adapt to changing user needs, journey contexts, and safety requirements. This project explored how context-aware entertainment could deliver more relevant and engaging experiences throughout the journey while complying with BMW guidelines, automotive regulations, and legal constraints.
Design Challenges & Areas of Focus
- Regulatory and OEM constraints restricted and limited UI and interaction design.
- Content relevance varied significantly across different journey driving types, context, and user seating needs.
- Personalization opportunities were underutilized during the journey lifecycle.
- Navigating complex internal processes, multiple stakeholder groups, product dependencies and regulatory requirements constrained product innovation and decision-making.
- Cross-domain dependencies and fragmented ownership challenged the delivery of a consistent, cohesive, and holistic end-to-end experience.
Outcome and Impact
Beyond the day-to-day feature development cycle, I helped drive a more holistic and user-centered approach to Media across BMW's in-car ecosystem.
I facilitated innovation and ideation workshops where the team identified new product opportunities, challenged assumptions, and aligned stakeholders around a shared vision.
By revisiting and redefining our understanding of users through personas developed from qualitative user insights gathered over time, I helped establish knowledge that was shared across multiple in-car domains and the wider automotive UX community, increasing domain expertise and cross-functional alignment through regular knowledge-sharing sessions.
I also contributed to a more user-centered product development process by advocating for stronger integration of quantitative data into our design practice, enabling the team to make more informed product decisions.
To address cross-domain dependencies and fragmented ownership, I created the Media Service Blueprint, providing a holistic view of user moments, needs, system interactions across multiple displays, and domain touchpoints throughout the in-car Media and Entertainment ecosystem.
All images and videos shown in this case study are sourced from the official BMW website and blog.