Designing Cupra’s in-car experience

The goal was to explore new ways for drivers and passengers to interact with the vehicle’s digital systems, not only from a functional perspective but also incorporating emotion and a strong brand identity.

I worked closely with product, engineering, and motion design teams to investigate everything from screen architecture and adaptable interfaces to new interaction patterns and context-responsive visual modes.

I contributed to the project through a range of activities, including:

• Benchmarking digital in-car experiences from leading automotive brands across the American, European, and Chinese markets to identify best practices and opportunities for differentiation.

• Supporting the definition of the UI style, producing early visual explorations to guide the overall design direction.

• Helping to structure the system’s information architecture, prioritising content across different levels and defining key elements for the home screen.

• Contributing to the analysis of interaction patterns and core functionalities, focusing on how to effectively represent them within the interface.

• Assisting in the preparation and analysis of a usability test to gather insights and inform design decisions.

In parallel, I contributed to the optimization of screen experiences in CUPRA’s existing models, focusing on:

• Identifying usability issues through heuristic evaluations and internal testing.

• Refining navigation flows and improving the hierarchy of touch targets for more intuitive interaction.

• Adapting UI components to meet accessibility standards, including color contrast, readability, and touch area sizing.

• Collaborating with developers to ensure a high-fidelity and high-quality implementation of design solutions.

This project allowed me to collaborate in a multidisciplinary environment alongside product, engineering, and motion design teams, and to understand how to balance innovation and feasibility when designing for complex systems such as automotive infotainment, where technical constraints, safety, and brand expression must coexist.

I developed the ability to adapt UX thinking to real-world contexts, taking into account factors like driving conditions, screen glare, and user attention levels.

Additionally, the project strengthened my strategic design mindset, helping me bridge the gap between conceptual exploration and a coherent, realistic implementation.