Polestar HK Audio System UX/UI Task

Problem

Polestar interface does not follow the design patterns and logic of Harman Kardon audio system.

‍

Research

Polestar

Polestar uses a vertical screen. This avoids the need for scrolling. It is similar to the Ram HK system. The downside is that the driver has to look down and away from the road.

The Polestar design language uses orange for active elements and gray for inactive ones.

The Polestar surround setting has a large visualization that is primarily decorative. Premium sound systems emphasize the sophistication of their surround sound algorithm. It is assumed that this is the reason for the visualization.

Polestar Notable Issues

• Surround
  The surround visualization image does not reflect the on/off status of the setting. The image remains orange even when the surround is turned off. This needs to be corrected.
• Equalizer
  The Advanced Equalizer (graphic equalizer) does not reflect changes in the Bass & Treble settings. Changes in those settings modify the effective settings of the Advanced Equalizer. This has to be represented visually to match Harman/Kardon’s convention (cf. BMW X3).
  No strength numbers are shown, so no way to remember or share settings (common on polestar and BMW forums).
  No standard presets, no custom presets.
  Research on Polestar forums reveals that some users have difficulty selecting equalizer settings.

• Sound Configuration (Balance & Fader)
  Only discrete settings are possible (Driver, Rear, All). There is no ability to blend between front and back. No ability to set intermediate balance settings (e.g. due to asymmetric hearing loss).

Subaru

Equalizer and Balance/Fade on the same screen. Surround represented with a simple on/off switch.

This interface is no-nonsense, typical of a family car.

BMW

Horizontal screen, high up. The horizontal screen requires scrolling. This was beautifully done on the BMW X3. The scroll wheel allows the driver to jump between settings without entering/exiting sub menus. Several settings are visible at once.

Several ways to change settings

• Touchscreen
• Control wheel
• Gesture control (on BMW 7 series)

Note on screen accept ratio:

Horizontal screens high up on the dashboard are used on modern cars (e.g. BMW, KIA Niro) . This was likely necessitated for safety reasons to keep the road in the peripheral vision of the driver. The design language had to be adapted (2023 models handle this better than earlier models).

‍

RAM

Shows a simple equalizer similar to Dodge.

Uses vertical screen (tall truck with upright seating position).

Dodge

The equalizer is simple but functional and informative - shows bass, mid and treble. This is an intuitive interface. Each frequency band has both increment bars to count as well as strength (db) numbers.

Mercedes

The design language is quite different (e.g. rotary equalizer). Research showed that this is likely Mercedes’ own design. Mercedes has two different companies use the exact same visuals and interface

(Both Harman Kardon and Burmester burmester.de).

Surround animation. The surround visual and animation is not exclusive to the Polestar. Harman Kardon used something similar in the Mercedes CLA from 2018. The Cadillac with their Harman AKG sub brand uses even more elaborate visuals for various levels of surround.

On the Mercedes animation note that the headrests on the seats also become orange.

Source: Mercedes CLA 2018.

Volvo

One screen combines all: equalizer, surround, balance/fader. It is very compact. Easy to see everything you need at glance.

Reset setting in a separate sub-menu. Important to avoid accidental loss of settings (same on BMW).

Analysis

Common Design Patterns in HK Audio System Interface

Fader/Balance is finely tunable in most HK systems

Simple equalizer for base models. Tri-band equalizer with linear sliders, sometimes with a reset button.

Advanced equalizer for premium models such as BMW and Mercedes. Combines bass and treble slider controls with multi-band graphic equalizer. The bass and treble set the general shape of the frequency response. The multi-band graphic equalizer then fine tunes that general frequency response shape. The HK BMW interface visualizes that combination of settings by repeating the bass & treble sliders on the sides of the multi-band equalizer.

Surround settings. Surround setting are often displayed as a simple switch. In premium models there is animation and adjustment of surround level. HK uses prominent branding of its Logic7 surround algorithm (as differentiator).

Solution

Solution 1

All Sound Settings On One Screen

If Polestar were not a premium vehicle the solution would be to include most settings on one screen.

Solution 2

Separate Screens

Balance/Fader

Since Polestar brads itself as a premium vehicle the solution should use more elaborate menus. There would be separate screens for balance/fader and advanced equalizer.

If Polestar were a luxury vehicle, a separate menu with the surround visualization would be added.

Advanced Equalizer

The Bass slider shapes the general shape of the left-side bands. This is the same Bass setting as above. The light gray cone shape shows the possible limits of combined adjustment. Individual band limits are denoted by gray lines.

Reset button helps the user go back to the original settings

Other Considerations

It is advisable to add several example presets such as rock, pop, hip pop, classical as well as one or two custom presets. It also advisable to add reset all audio settings option. If custom presets are offered, they could be tied to the driver ID as confirmed by the driver-facing camera.