Part 2: Not everyone thinks like you. In all honesty, if you're a homo technicus, very few others think like you. Alan Cooper

Developers tend to expand their world, their thinking, and their way of making decisions for all users. You can't blame them for that. Successful products are easy to use, users are unknown beings. Usability studies are mandatory as part of product development. In this and the next episode of the human-technology podcast, I explain how studies are planned, conducted, and evaluated.

Not everyone thinks like you. In all honesty, if you're a homo technicus, very few others think like you. Alan Cooper

Developers tend to expand their world, their thinking, their way of making decisions for all users. You can't blame them for that. Successful products are easy to use, users are unknown beings. Usability studies are mandatory as part of product development. In this and the next episode of the human-technology podcast, I explain how studies are planned, conducted, and evaluated.

Our brain as we know it - and most of the time we use it - emerged in its basic character during the cognitive revolution 70,000 years ago. With this artifact adapted to the conditions of the Stone Age, we are constantly changing our environment and have to deal with the consequences. In this episode, I look at the strengths and weaknesses of the brain and analyze whether it is a computer in our head.

Usability, user experience, and, relatively new, user delight define the quality of human-machine interaction. Usability is the usability, the rather hard part. User Experience deals with the emotion of the user and the emotions that technology triggers. User Delight borders on user experience, but focuses on the development, development, and communication of personality, the communication of self-image.

Smart surfaces, i.e. "intelligent surfaces", are one of the trends in vehicle interiors. Or is it more of a buzzword? They offer a few advantages, but also have serious disadvantages. In this podcast episode, I discuss my view of the technologies and the use cases.

In the last episode of the human-technology podcast, I looked at the trends that deal directly with the artifact, with the car. In this episode, I look at what's happening in business in relationships between the automotive industry and other industries. Specifically, it is about new platforms for electric vehicles, about over-the-air updates, i.e. loading software into the vehicle via the radio interface, and about the relationship between the vehicle industry and big tech, companies like Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Tencent, or Alibaba.

Every now and then I like to record an episode with the current and future trends in the automotive industry. Basically, there is little movement in a very mature and traditional industry, so the small changes are the exciting ones. Today's episode is about the C.A.S.E. mantra and the shifts that are happening there. It's about the vehicle. The next episode will discuss topics related to cooperation, business models, and the automotive industry.

Technology has value only if it meets the dreams, needs, desires of the users. When it makes people's lives better, easier, more focused, faster, safer, or just plain funnier. Technology without value might pass for art, but in the end, it's just junk. Understanding users is central to the success of a product, service, or technology. In this episode of the human-technology podcast, I present three methods that set the right course at the beginning of a project.

Besides all the visions, the trends, the thinking about the future, in addition to all the generic, strategic topics, we need a solid basis for the development of HMI solutions in cars. In this podcast episode, I analyze the interaction principles of ISO 9241 and a set of rules I developed for my projects. I clarify what are the parameters that make an HMI solution perfect.

The first business trip of every year takes me to the CES at Las Vegas, NV. The show was canceled in 2021 due to the Pandemic, 2022 tried a revival. My impressions on a totally different show, new experiences, and the missing HMI innovations in this podcast episode.