HMI Concepts Delivered Across Three Porsche Model Lines: 911, Panamera, and Cayenne
3 min read · 698 words
Led HMI concept development and specification for the instrument cluster and ADAS across the Porsche 911, Panamera, and Cayenne model lines.
The Challenge
Porsche was evolving the digital driver's workplace across three of its most distinct model lines — the 911, Panamera, and Cayenne. Each carries a different driver profile, different expectations, and a different relationship between driver and machine. Developing a coherent HMI approach for the instrument cluster and driver-assistance systems that respected those differences, while meeting Porsche's engineering and management standards, was the core challenge.
The work required more than design thinking. It demanded rigorous specification artefacts — wireframes, flowcharts, state diagrams — that could serve as a shared language between UX, engineering, and external suppliers. Without that, concepts remain abstract and validation stalls. The client needed someone who could hold both sides: the interaction vision and the technical precision to get it into production.
Stakeholder alignment added another layer of complexity. Concepts had to survive review by management and engineering departments with competing priorities, and specification artefacts had to be detailed enough to guide suppliers without ambiguity. The margin for vague thinking was essentially zero.
Key Decisions
- 01
Treating Specification as a Design Deliverable, Not an Afterthought
Specification documentation — wireframes, flowcharts, and state diagrams — was developed in parallel with concept work, not after it. This decision traded some early-stage creative speed for downstream clarity. The rationale: in automotive HMI, a concept that cannot be precisely specified cannot be built, and supplier handoff failures are expensive. By keeping specification and design tightly coupled, the work remained buildable at every stage.
- 02
Differentiating Concepts by Model Line Rather Than Unifying Them Prematurely
The 911, Panamera, and Cayenne were treated as distinct interaction contexts rather than variations of a single template. This meant more development effort upfront, but it avoided the risk of producing a lowest-common-denominator interface that would serve none of the three driver profiles well. Each model line's instrument cluster and ADAS interactions were scoped to reflect the expectations of the driver sitting in that seat.
- 03
Embedding Supplier Support Into the Concept Phase
Rather than completing concepts and then handing them to suppliers, supplier engagement was built into the process. This required accepting that some decisions would move more slowly, as external teams needed to be brought along. The trade-off was worthwhile: it reduced the likelihood of specification gaps being filled with supplier assumptions that diverge from design intent, and it kept the validated direction intact through to implementation.
- 04
Structuring Validation Around Management and Engineering Sign-Off
Concepts were validated with both management and engineering departments as a deliberate sequence, not as a single unified review. This recognised that each group evaluates against different criteria — one for strategic fit, the other for technical feasibility — and that conflating those reviews tends to produce feedback that is difficult to act on. Separating them created cleaner decision points and clearer revision cycles.
The Solution
The engagement delivered fully validated HMI concepts for the instrument cluster and ADAS interactions across the Porsche 911, Panamera, and Cayenne. The specification suite — comprising wireframes, flowcharts, and state diagrams — was developed to production-ready standards, providing engineering teams and suppliers with unambiguous documentation of interaction behaviour and system states.
Throughout the project, the work bridged UX concept development and technical stakeholder communication: translating design decisions into specification language that engineering could act on, and translating engineering constraints back into design decisions that preserved the intended driver experience.
"His conceptual work has advanced our project and helped shape the user interface. The results, flexibility and communication were to our complete satisfaction."
— Andreas Kurbos, CEO, Studiokurbos GmbH
The Results
Validated HMI concepts and complete specification artefacts were delivered for the digital driver's workplace across all three model lines. The concepts passed review with both management and engineering stakeholders — a meaningful bar in an environment where production decisions depend on cross-functional alignment.
Supplier teams received specification documentation detailed enough to guide development without interpretive gaps, reducing the risk of design intent being lost in handoff. The work covered three distinct model lines within a single engagement, each with its own interaction requirements, without compromising the specificity of any one of them.
"A great support in automotive research & interaction concepts."
— Andreas Kurbos, CEO, Studiokurbos GmbH