ABOUT

These are some early launch screens from the new Defender HMI—my first in-house automotive HMI project at Jaguar Land Rover.

From day one, standing beside the full-scale clay models and sitting inside the interior buck, it was obvious the new Defender was going to be a success. It felt bold, iconic and instantly recognisable.

As part of the wider R&D within my role, I test-drove a Tesla Model X for the first time. To me, it felt like the iPhone moment for the automotive industry: a user-first product with the hardware and software designed as one cohesive experience. It exposed how far traditional manufacturers still had to go.

On Defender, I worked across the vehicle clusters and the new HMI system as part of a larger multidisciplinary team. JLR’s traditional OEM development structure was a shift for me, but I pushed for a cleaner, more logical approach, drawing on principles from smart devices and console interfaces.

Layouts and interactions should remain consistent. Menus shouldn’t jump around between screens, and navigation should always feel stable, intuitive and predictable.

I never did manage to kill off those kettle-style power icons, though. They had a habit of creeping in everywhere.