1. Automotive Infotainment Usability
New Research Practice by iSuppli
Applied Market Intelligence
June 8-9th, 2010
Phil Magney
VP, Automotive Division
Mark Boyadjis
Analyst, NA & Usability Practice
Formerly TRG

2. OEMs Control the Space – Make the Best of It!
 Your domain – What you control?
 Human Machine Interface
 Infotainment platform
 Premium audio and video
 ADAS and Safety
 Other domains -- What you cannot control
 What consumers want to do in the car
 What consumers are willing to spend money on
But you can
 The pipe and the connectivity control how user
 The cloud, and the companies in it.. Google, Apple, interact with
Pandora… these elements!
 The next hot smartphone app
 The applications eco-system
 Regulation and mandates
iSuppli Corporation – 2 Copyright  2000-2009 iSuppli Corporation. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. Confidential – Patents Pending

3. Usability: What to Examine?
 HMI
 Voice Input and Output
 Menu logic (flat vs. hierarchical)
 Controller(s) and other physical input
 Displays
 Device/Source Unit Compatibility
 Device Pairing & Device function
 Media compatibility (physical and file formats)
 Infotainment Function
 Digital Entertainment (audio and video, operation & control)
 Navigation and Routing (navi, routing,
 Telematics and LBS
iSuppli Corporation – 3 Copyright  2000-2009 iSuppli Corporation. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. Confidential – Patents Pending

4. Usability: Methodology
 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI
 2009 Infiniti EX35 with Navi  2009 BMW 7 Series 750 Li
 2009 Hyundai Sonata Limited  2010 Lexus RX350
 2009 Lincoln MKS  2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid
 2009 Acura TL Tech  2010 Toyota Camry Hybrid
 2009 Acura TSX Technology  2010 Audi A6 3G MMI


2009
2009
Mercedes-Benz C-Class C63 AMG
Mazda Mazda6 GT
Choose Vehicle 

2010
2010
Ford Taurus w/ Sync TDI
Mercedes-Benz E-Class with mbrace
 2009 Hyundai Genesis V8  2010 Nissan Sentra SL
 2009 BMW 3 Series 335i  2010 Kia Forte Koup
 2009 Mitsubishi Outlander with Navi  2010 Buick LaCrosse
 2010 Lexus HS 250h with Enform
Database Pillars
Outputs
iSuppli Corporation – 4 Copyright  2000-2009 iSuppli Corporation. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. Confidential – Patents Pending

5. Usability Movie: 2011 Audi A8 - MMI Touch
 Pros
 Attractive feature for target
market
 Familiar form-factor, like
laptop computing
 Audible confirmation of
character selection
 Multi-lingual capabilities
 Cons
 Misread characters
 Troublesome for lefties, or those with long-fingernails
 Latency for character recognition
 Gloves will be intermittent at best
 Trouble with Chinese Character set
iSuppli Corporation – 5 Copyright  2000-2009 iSuppli Corporation. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. Confidential – Patents Pending

6. Usability Movie: 2010 BMW 7-Series - Travel Guide Language Error
 Pros
 Travel Guide LBS is appealing
for BMW ConnectedDrive
users (value-add)
 Easy to search and find
feature within iDrive GUI
 TTS (Text-to-Speech) feature
adds a layer of usability
 Broad set of POI with reviews
and information
 Cons
 When in English language setting, TTS will attempt to pronounce
German text, as if it were in English
 Compatible while driving? – If so, this is a potential driver distraction
iSuppli Corporation – 6 Copyright  2000-2009 iSuppli Corporation. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. Confidential – Patents Pending

7. Usability Movie: 2010 Mercedes mbrace - Mobile App Door Unlock
 Pros
 First to market with this app
 Simple and clear menu on app
 Secure login and password
 10-minute time frame to get to
car and being unlock process
 Visual and audible “click”
confirmation of completed
unlock procedure
 Cons
 50-second unlock process is a bit of a nuisance, but is worth it for
those who are locked out
 Limited smartphone compatibility at this point
iSuppli Corporation – 7 Copyright  2000-2009 iSuppli Corporation. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. Confidential – Patents Pending

8. Usability Movie: 2011 SAIC Roewe 350 - Android 3G Car
 Pros
 First Android-based
Infotainment System - lots of
potential apps
 Focused on newer
infotainment and social
networking trends, and less on
traditional telematics
 Customized apps linked to
driver’s SIM Card enable
ultimate personalization
 Cons
 No Safety & Security features yet
 Nearly limitless capabilities could yield VERY distracting solution
while driving
 Connection to telematics server seemed to be slow or not working
iSuppli Corporation – 8 Copyright  2000-2009 iSuppli Corporation. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. Confidential – Patents Pending

9. Usability Key Take Away
 There is a upheaval in infotainment architectures to accommodate
the changing requirements the car
 Layered software architectures (necessary to support new apps)
will save you money in the long run.
 You are not de-contenting the vehicle, to the contrary your adding
content it is just stored somewhere else
 HMI and usability is heightened to a new level
 Controlling potential distractions really become a problem
 The infotainment platform will help you sell cars – its already
proven!
iSuppli Corporation – 9 Copyright  2000-2009 iSuppli Corporation. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. Confidential – Patents Pending