Automotive digital design, ironically, has a speed problem. The pace of the industry, electrification, software-defined vehicles, connected experiences and disruptive new entrants means the industry is moving faster than the traditional agency model can support. So we had to develop our process to crack it…
What we have built is a design pipeline that allows for human design thinking and human interface and experience design to be augmented by rapid prototyping, supercharged iteration cycles and development efficiencies. What does this mean? Tested products at a fraction of the old-world budgets and timelines.
I spend a significant amount of my time talking to automotive businesses about digital projects. The same trade-offs and inequities come up in almost every conversation. Brand, security, accessibility and governance coming up against budget, timelines, performance and quality. Something has to give. Too often it was the quality of the thinking behind the work. That trade-off is not necessary anymore.
Automotive digital design in a sector that won’t sit still
Vehicles are becoming software platforms. Software is on track to make up around 30% of total vehicle value by 2030, up from about 10% in 2010, around the time we first started working in the sector. Customer journeys now move constantly between website, showroom, app and infotainment. Internal tools need to keep pace with marketing, engineering and manufacturing teams who are themselves working faster than ever. None of that sits still long enough for a slow, sequential build process to keep up.
Large automotive organisations already know this. However, finding a digital partner who can match that pace without asking for a six-figure retainer to do it is difficult. That’s where our approach to automotive digital design comes in.
Where AI earns its place in automotive digital design
Failing fast only works if failing is cheap. In this respect, AI-powered prototyping has become a game changer. We can now take a concept from a rough idea to a working, testable prototype in hours rather than weeks. The mechanical work of building a first version no longer uses the whole budget. So we can afford to be wrong a few times before we’re right, which is how the best products get made.
AI can generate options and improvements fast. What it doesn’t have is taste, judgement or human experience. That still requires a specialist team of humans and is why our approach is unique. It’s made by people who’ve done this long enough to know the difference between a prototype that looks promising and a product that’s ready to launch. We’ve written more about how we hold that balance in AI and human creativity in digital product design here.
Automotive digital design in the real world
Automotive digital design covers more ground than most people expect from a studio our size. We work across:
- Customer and ownership apps, from R&D, through early concepts to live products in-field.
- Retail and digital showroom experiences that connect physical forecourts to online journeys.
- Driver and in-vehicle interfaces, where usability, safety and experience converge.
- Internal tools that help engineering, design and manufacturing teams connect and collaborate.
- Concept visualisation, turning early technical ideas into something stakeholders can see and react to.
Our Digital Director, Mat has written before about what we have learned through working in automotive – the industry doesn’t stand still and that’s what we love about it.
Ways of working
With so many project types and briefs from every department, our automotive digital design project delivery is flexible and we can work in a range of ways, including:
- Project work, for a well-scoped app, website platform or campaign requirement with a defined start and end.
- Retained support, for ongoing design and development capacity without the overhead of building an in-house team.
- Call-off contracts, for organisations that need guaranteed access to capacity but want to draw it down as work arises.
This allows us to tailor the engagement to your needs affordably and efficiently; you get a team of experts in the field that scales to the scope of your need. If you’ve got an idea, problem or brief and you’re unsure about the next steps, hit the button below and let’s arrange a chat – if you want a cheat sheet before we speak, our post on how to brief a digital product studio is a good place to start.
Frequently asked questions
It spans customer and ownership apps, digital showroom and retail experiences, driver and in-cabin interfaces, internal engineering tools and early concept visualisation, wherever a digital product touches an automotive business or its customers.
AI handles the mechanical work of building a first version of an idea, which used to eat most of a project's early budget and timeline. That means more can be tested and refined before committing to a final direction, without the cost of traditional iteration.
No. AI speeds up producing options, not deciding which one is right. Human judgement still governs brand, usability and safety decisions before anything ships.
Project work for a well-scoped brief, retained support for ongoing capacity and call-off contracts for guaranteed access to capacity drawn down as work arises. The right shape depends on the client's needs, not a fixed package.
Yes. Because AI-assisted prototyping and flexible engagement models keep costs proportionate, the studio can scale to the size of the problem, rather than requiring a large retainer sized for the biggest possible piece of work.
Yes. The same human-led, AI-augmented process that keeps costs down for smaller clients also lets larger organisations move faster than a traditional agency model, without lowering the bar on governance or quality.
