It seems that wherever you look on the Internet today, someone mourns the loss of physical controls and buttons in his new vehicles. In the end, most are replaced by digital controls. But there is a button that doesn’t go anywhere: the physical volume dial. In conversations with Stephan Durach, Senior Vice President UI/UX Development at BMW, we learn exactly why the volume number is still here. And why we may have to worry when it suddenly disappears.
BMW does not completely remove physical controls
As you may already know, BMW collects terabytes of data from its vehicles. In this data, BMW sees how, when and where people interact the most with their cars. “We have 10 million cars out there,” says Durach, “and can see what our customers do.” BMW then analyzes the data in order to achieve logical conclusions about how the cabin, the iDrive system and the car can be changed so that they better reflect how people use them the most.
According to Durach, some of the most frequently used functions have landed on the steering wheel and will stay there for the foreseeable future. One of the longest holdouts will be the volume dial, of which Durach says that it receives a large amount of use. This is twice surprising when you consider that volume controls are also available on the steering wheel. Maybe three times as surprising when you realize that many current models have a roller switch and a roll choice, in contrast to a traditional “button”.
Regardless of this, Durach clarifies. “Our statistics clearly show that people use this volume button quite often, even if only to mute – then it is only a pressure. Maybe a mute button would be enough, but we said:” No, people also want to change the volume control. “Ultimately, BMW is ready to build up the redundancies of the physical button. But only if the data supports it.
The volume panel is a line in the sand
Durach contains window and mirror controls in the same bracket as volume boards. He says that not everything can be brought to the steering wheel. It is not an efficient use of the room and gives drivers the experience that BMW is. Things that adapt people to drive – such as mirror position, volume and windows – must be accessible. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to remove every button,” he says. “We didn’t do that, you know.” When asked whether other functions that remove from keys or only nostalgia, it is a functional disadvantage, it is somewhat split. “I think it’s a mix of both,” he says.
The presence of the volume knob in a BMW cabinet cabin acts as a proverbial line in the sand. A cynical writer can also call it a canaries in a coal semine, but I have shown. There is no mission to get rid of buttons. It is all apparently data -controlled decisions. As long as the drivers continue to use the volume button – and other happy holdouts such as the mirror controls – the cockpit of your BMW will have. If you are really important for you physical controls – use them!
