BMW M8: Best-In-Class Infotainment System, Finds Strategy Analytics

Latest Iteration of BMW’s Infotainment System Continues Leadership in Provision of Compelling Infotainment Options

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new expert UX evaluation from the In-vehicle UX (IVX) group at Strategy Analytics has assessed the BMW M8 infotainment system. The updated home screen is a noticeable improvement; personalization adds a touch of user delight, and BMW’s digital assistant supports completion of complex tasks. Overall, the BMW M8 infotainment system scored very highly in Strategy Analytics’ (SA) proprietary infotainment benchmark algorithm, placing it near the top of all the vehicles rated by SA thus far.

Key report findings include:

• Changing the home screen to a widget format allows for quick glances at the status of the top three features as personalized by the user through a settings menu e.g. navigation, media, and communication, or other frequently used functions.
• BMW has improved the radio preset experience by making preset management more noticeable by increasing size and including text labels.
• Additional text labels have been provided in addition to icons for many sub-features which tend to be less intuitive.
• Gesture accuracy in BMW systems have noticeably improved though there are still too many errors for gestures to be a reliable HMI.

Chris Schreiner, Director, Syndicated Research UXIP and report author commented, “Overall, the home screen is a similar aesthetic to that we have seen in Apple CarPlay and other infotainment systems. The benefit of this approach is one touch access to the most important features from the homepage, plus quick glance information for the top three features. When implemented well, this is a best-in-class approach well suited for a landscape display.”

Added Kevin Nolan, VP UXIP, “The latest iteration of BMW’s infotainment system available in the M8 and the X-Series continues their leadership in providing compelling infotainment options. While in years past infotainment usability was hampered by the complexity of the iDrive, the available input options and the flattened menu structure have resulted in marked improvement in the overall experience.”

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About In-vehicle UX

Our In-vehicle User Experience (IVX) service investigates UX innovation opportunities in the connected vehicle. By understanding the emerging behaviors, needs, motivations, use cases, pain-points and “must-have” experiences of lead adopters and future target consumers, IVX delivers a roadmap to help you design the optimal experience. IVX forms part of the User Experience Innovation Practice (UXIP) at Strategy Analytics. Through both syndicated and proprietary user-centric research capabilities, UXIP delivers strategic insights and analysis on how to optimize the user experience of new and emerging technologies. Click here for more information.