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River Automotive HMI
Solving the ...fully integrated digital
driver experience
River Automotive HMI
Solving the ...fully integrated digital
driver experience
Details
[PT01]
Client
River
Year
2025
Contribution
UI
UX
IxD
Motion
Description
River was created to help European automotive brands move faster in digital innovation and close the gap between modern software expectations and traditional car interfaces.
We designed both the exterior vision and the complete in car HMI, building a product that connects today’s manufacturing.
Overview
[PT02]
Automotive HMIs are an afterthought. Car interfaces keep gaining features, but experience gets lost in complexity. We wanted the HMI to belong to the car, not sit on top.
River was created to help European automotive brands move faster in digital innovation and close the gap between modern software expectations and traditional car interfaces. We designed both the exterior vision and the complete in car HMI, building a product that connects today’s manufacturing reality with tomorrow’s expectations for clarity, motion and interaction.
Vehicle HMI
Inspired by the barebones construction of street trackers and scramblers, the Vōlt Tracer features a sleek minimal split-monocoque body.
Vehicle Concept
Inspired by the barebones construction of street trackers and scramblers, the Vōlt Tracer features a sleek minimal split-monocoque body.
Mobile APP
Inspired by the barebones construction of street trackers and scramblers, the Vōlt Tracer features a sleek minimal split-monocoque body.
Solution
[PT03]
Meet River, the ..... With River, we stripped that back: only surface what the driver needs, when they need it. One ecosystem where every screen earns its place.
Every screen and transition was shaped around real automotive constraints, making the experience feel intentional rather than speculative. River shows how physical design and a future ready digital layer can work as one coherent system.
Guidelines
[PT04]
01 • One Ecosystem, One Shared Language
Ensure a cohesive experience cross-device with repeatable patterns and visual familiarity
02 • Simplicity is key
Avoid feature overload. Enough negative space to keep information digestible & huge touch targets to facilitate interactions.
03 • Lighting as communication
Using ambient lighting in the cockpit to emphasize critical ADAS features
04 • Contextual Redundancy
Scattering information across several touch points to reinforce user feedback
05 • Haptic First, Digital Second
Main actions can be operated physically for swift ease-of-use, with touch screens as secondary inputs
Core HMIs
[PT05]
CLuster • Sport Mode
Speed is the central focus of the cluster, with secondary information supported by peripheral gauges. In Sport mode, the gauges expand for more granular readout and an immersive feel.
CLuster • Eco Mode
In Eco mode, the background gradient shifts to a calmer look, and the gauges retract for a less cluttered and minimalist display.
CLuster • Auto Mode
Auto mode takes over driving and, by extension, the cluster display. Information is intentionally reduced and focus is placed on the trip progress.
CLuster • Blind Spot Warning
In the case of a collision warning or a blind spot alert, red sweeping gradients slide into view to show the orientation of the incoming danger.
Central Display • NaVigation
Navigation features a live 3D visualization of surrounding traffic, lane guidance, turn by turn indications and the usual top-down map view.
Central Display • Vehicle Controls
When idle, the dashboard allows the driver to operate the vehicle’s charging ports, doors or trunks in one centralized area.
Mobile App • Charging
Mobile shouldn’t mean inferior experience. Here River’s dot matrix follows you in your pocket.
Mobile App • Remote
The app works like a key: gives you access and gets out of the way.
Mobile App • Temperature control
Just the right function at the right moment. All synced in real-time.
Process
[PT06]
Researching existing solutions
Laying down UX foundation
Scenario generation
Eraly wireframing
Bring RIVER to life
Motion, Interactions, 3D
Functional prototype, made in Rive
Takeaways
[PT07]
Description
River was created to help European automotive brands move faster in digital innovation and close the gap between modern software expectations and traditional car interfaces.
We designed both the exterior vision and the complete in car HMI, building a product that connects today’s manufacturing.
Description
River was created to help European automotive brands move faster in digital innovation and close the gap between modern software expectations and traditional car interfaces.
We designed both the exterior vision and the complete in car HMI, building a product that connects today’s manufacturing.
River Automotive HMI
Solving the ...fully integrated digital
driver experience
Details
[PT01]
Client
River
Year
2025
Contribution
UI
UX
IxD
Motion
Description
River was created to help European automotive brands move faster in digital innovation and close the gap between modern software expectations and traditional car interfaces.
We designed both the exterior vision and the complete in car HMI, building a product that connects today’s manufacturing.
Overview
[PT02]
Automotive HMIs are an afterthought. Car interfaces keep gaining features, but experience gets lost in complexity. We wanted the HMI to belong to the car, not sit on top.
River was created to help European automotive brands move faster in digital innovation and close the gap between modern software expectations and traditional car interfaces. We designed both the exterior vision and the complete in car HMI, building a product that connects today’s manufacturing reality with tomorrow’s expectations for clarity, motion and interaction.
Vehicle HMI
Inspired by the barebones construction of street trackers and scramblers, the Vōlt Tracer features a sleek minimal split-monocoque body.
Vehicle Concept
Inspired by the barebones construction of street trackers and scramblers, the Vōlt Tracer features a sleek minimal split-monocoque body.
Mobile APP
Inspired by the barebones construction of street trackers and scramblers, the Vōlt Tracer features a sleek minimal split-monocoque body.
Solution
[PT03]
Meet River, the ..... With River, we stripped that back: only surface what the driver needs, when they need it. One ecosystem where every screen earns its place.
Every screen and transition was shaped around real automotive constraints, making the experience feel intentional rather than speculative. River shows how physical design and a future ready digital layer can work as one coherent system.
Guidelines
[PT04]
01 • One Ecosystem, One Shared Language
Ensure a cohesive experience cross-device with repeatable patterns and visual familiarity
02 • Simplicity is key
Avoid feature overload. Enough negative space to keep information digestible & huge touch targets to facilitate interactions.
03 • Lighting as communication
Using ambient lighting in the cockpit to emphasize critical ADAS features
04 • Contextual Redundancy
Scattering information across several touch points to reinforce user feedback
05 • Haptic First, Digital Second
Main actions can be operated physically for swift ease-of-use, with touch screens as secondary inputs
Core HMIs
[PT05]
CLuster • Sport Mode
Speed is the central focus of the cluster, with secondary information supported by peripheral gauges. In Sport mode, the gauges expand for more granular readout and an immersive feel.
CLuster • Eco Mode
In Eco mode, the background gradient shifts to a calmer look, and the gauges retract for a less cluttered and minimalist display.
CLuster • Auto Mode
Auto mode takes over driving and, by extension, the cluster display. Information is intentionally reduced and focus is placed on the trip progress.
CLuster • Blind Spot Warning
In the case of a collision warning or a blind spot alert, red sweeping gradients slide into view to show the orientation of the incoming danger.
Central Display • NaVigation
Navigation features a live 3D visualization of surrounding traffic, lane guidance, turn by turn indications and the usual top-down map view.
Central Display • Vehicle Controls
When idle, the dashboard allows the driver to operate the vehicle’s charging ports, doors or trunks in one centralized area.
Mobile App • Charging
Mobile shouldn’t mean inferior experience. Here River’s dot matrix follows you in your pocket.
Mobile App • Remote
The app works like a key: gives you access and gets out of the way.
Mobile App • Temperature control
Just the right function at the right moment. All synced in real-time.
Process
[PT06]
Researching existing solutions
Laying down UX foundation
Scenario generation
Eraly wireframing
Bring RIVER to life
Motion, Interactions, 3D
Functional prototype, made in Rive
Takeaways
[PT07]
Description
River was created to help European automotive brands move faster in digital innovation and close the gap between modern software expectations and traditional car interfaces.
We designed both the exterior vision and the complete in car HMI, building a product that connects today’s manufacturing.
Description
River was created to help European automotive brands move faster in digital innovation and close the gap between modern software expectations and traditional car interfaces.
We designed both the exterior vision and the complete in car HMI, building a product that connects today’s manufacturing.
River Automotive HMI
Solving the ...fully integrated digital
driver experience
Details
[PT01]
Client
River
Year
2025
Contribution
UI
UX
IxD
Motion
Description
River was created to help European automotive brands move faster in digital innovation and close the gap between modern software expectations and traditional car interfaces.
We designed both the exterior vision and the complete in car HMI, building a product that connects today’s manufacturing.
Overview
[PT02]
Automotive HMIs are an afterthought. Car interfaces keep gaining features, but experience gets lost in complexity. We wanted the HMI to belong to the car, not sit on top.
River was created to help European automotive brands move faster in digital innovation and close the gap between modern software expectations and traditional car interfaces. We designed both the exterior vision and the complete in car HMI, building a product that connects today’s manufacturing reality with tomorrow’s expectations for clarity, motion and interaction.
Vehicle HMI
Inspired by the barebones construction of street trackers and scramblers, the Vōlt Tracer features a sleek minimal split-monocoque body.
Vehicle Concept
Inspired by the barebones construction of street trackers and scramblers, the Vōlt Tracer features a sleek minimal split-monocoque body.
Mobile APP
Inspired by the barebones construction of street trackers and scramblers, the Vōlt Tracer features a sleek minimal split-monocoque body.
Solution
[PT03]
Meet River, the ..... With River, we stripped that back: only surface what the driver needs, when they need it. One ecosystem where every screen earns its place.
Every screen and transition was shaped around real automotive constraints, making the experience feel intentional rather than speculative. River shows how physical design and a future ready digital layer can work as one coherent system.
Guidelines
[PT04]
01 • One Ecosystem, One Shared Language
Ensure a cohesive experience cross-device with repeatable patterns and visual familiarity
02 • Simplicity is key
Avoid feature overload. Enough negative space to keep information digestible & huge touch targets to facilitate interactions.
03 • Lighting as communication
Using ambient lighting in the cockpit to emphasize critical ADAS features
04 • Contextual Redundancy
Scattering information across several touch points to reinforce user feedback
05 • Haptic First, Digital Second
Main actions can be operated physically for swift ease-of-use, with touch screens as secondary inputs
Core HMIs
[PT05]
CLuster • Sport Mode
Speed is the central focus of the cluster, with secondary information supported by peripheral gauges. In Sport mode, the gauges expand for more granular readout and an immersive feel.
CLuster • Eco Mode
In Eco mode, the background gradient shifts to a calmer look, and the gauges retract for a less cluttered and minimalist display.
CLuster • Auto Mode
Auto mode takes over driving and, by extension, the cluster display. Information is intentionally reduced and focus is placed on the trip progress.
CLuster • Blind Spot Warning
In the case of a collision warning or a blind spot alert, red sweeping gradients slide into view to show the orientation of the incoming danger.
Central Display • NaVigation
Navigation features a live 3D visualization of surrounding traffic, lane guidance, turn by turn indications and the usual top-down map view.
Central Display • Vehicle Controls
When idle, the dashboard allows the driver to operate the vehicle’s charging ports, doors or trunks in one centralized area.
Mobile App • Charging
Mobile shouldn’t mean inferior experience. Here River’s dot matrix follows you in your pocket.
Mobile App • Remote
The app works like a key: gives you access and gets out of the way.
Mobile App • Temperature control
Just the right function at the right moment. All synced in real-time.
Process
[PT06]
Researching existing solutions
Laying down UX foundation
Scenario generation
Eraly wireframing
Bring RIVER to life
Motion, Interactions, 3D
Functional prototype, made in Rive
Takeaways
[PT07]
Description
River was created to help European automotive brands move faster in digital innovation and close the gap between modern software expectations and traditional car interfaces.
We designed both the exterior vision and the complete in car HMI, building a product that connects today’s manufacturing.
Description
River was created to help European automotive brands move faster in digital innovation and close the gap between modern software expectations and traditional car interfaces.
We designed both the exterior vision and the complete in car HMI, building a product that connects today’s manufacturing.