Claus, what does the term design strategy actually mean?
Design strategy is a very complex topic. You start by thinking about how design will develop in the future. What design will look like, considering future social changes; I’m talking about the importance of design in a broader sense. But design strategy is also about how we design our products, about planning ahead and forecasting how vehicle concepts and design language will change. It is all based on our design philosophy: What is our general orientation?
A couple of years ago, we defined our maxim: We design experiences, and not just products. The product as such is only part of the design experience. New technologies, communication and digitisation are increasingly determining the design and, above all, the use of vehicles. So, it’s no longer enough to design the shape, but you also have to design the setting, i.e., the experiences that come with the vehicle.
I like to compare it with my smartphone. It has a classic, beautiful product design. But the focus lies on its functionalities, the experiences it enables, how it changes your life. In the same sense, experiences will also have a much greater impact on the vehicle in the future. So, it’s important to plan ahead, to determine our path and how we want to develop our strategy. The Audi activesphere concept, for instance, is a great example for this kind of experience.
But an experience is rather abstract, it’s not a visible or tangible design element.
In classic design, too, there is of course the concept of experience. The aesthetic experience of seeing a beautiful car, its proportions, its dynamics. And in the interior, you experience its quality, touching the surfaces and feeling the value. This will also offer our customers a certain kind of experience, appealing to their emotions. But these experiences will be enhanced by digital means, and those are indeed not tangible. Displays and connectivity inside the vehicle are placing entirely new demands on the user interface and the user experience. On the one hand, screens and projection surfaces are taking up more and more space inside the vehicle. But digitisation is naturally changing the way a vehicle is operated, the way information is handled inside a vehicle. That’s why we call it Experience Design. We feel it’s very important that you can still feel the premium standard that is typical for Audi.