Physical switches create a contract between intention and consequence. When a driver interacts with a switch, something magical happens.

- Intention becomes motion
- Motion encounters resistance
- Resistance communicates state
- Perception closes the loop

A great piece of HMI is instinctual to use. With physical switches, meaning emerges through touch. This is how you use a control without looking at it. This key interface between human and machine had fallen out of fashion within the automotive industry. I’m proud to be pioneering its re-integration and to say that during my time working on car interiors I’ve had “career limiting” discussions in regard to physical switches.

As the great Dieter Rams laid out almost fifty years ago. Good design makes a product understandable, maybe we strayed a little too far from that principle.