The hottest summer on record in the UK. It feels like the östra team has been away for a while, but we haven’t been on holiday: we’ve had two rewarding new customer projects that have taken a lot of our focus.

For me the magic in HMI design is in understanding that the small choices we make, multiplied by their impact upon each other, affect the experience as a whole. This is what I love about HMI - as a designer one has to be able to think both strategically and in small detail at the same time.

We must follow through with our thinking across multiple parts in multiple media. Physical switches and onscreen UI must work in harmony with sound and light. The click of a rotary detent, the clunk of a toggle switch, the knurling on a gear shifter, the ombré of an instrument cluster background, the motion of a UI component, the sound of a button, the ambiance of a backlight all come together to build a narrative that tells the story behind a brand, allows a driver to effortlessly pilot a car or permits a passenger to relax and enjoy a journey.

Continuing to develop these differing skills is a really satisfying part of the process.

To be a designer you must be naturally curious, always learning about new ways of doing things… looking at new areas of the craft is bloody brilliant! I’ve always found it enriching to use different parts of the brain. One day planning the component rollout over multiple car lines or a strategic experience across multiple channels and the next day looking at removing 0.1mm from a radius on a knurling texture or assessing the easing on a piece of motion design. It’s this variety and the challenge that it brings that makes HMI design so rewarding.