Last week I put out a survey to validate the assumption that there is still a huge disconnect between smart devices and cars.
The survey looked like this:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1_WuCVO6CGAxdnOF4blMc2w5wq4MQXhEtDYhTQWeQSpI/viewform?c=0&w=1
and the responses looked like this:
Overwhelmingly Google maps/Waze and Sportify/Pandora/Podcasts are the most common apps being set up before the car experience. Something though that started to also repeat was the phone interface being the primary screen when driving. Most drivers are setting up their smart phones so they can see them (in a cupholder, in their lap, or in their one hand) and also are opt to use their phone interface vs the car interface. It should be said that these are dependent on cars ranging from new to older, and also shared vs owned. Most users with Bluetooth like the music experience although they are still relying on their phone interface for control, as well the steering wheel controls for simple actions like phone calls. Another common friction point is the lack of constraint the phone allows for, especially when a notification occurs and the human desire to respond takes over driving the car.
Overall it seems that car companies are far behind in terms of translation and have little or no impact with their interface in translating the phone. Which leads me to the two challenges I see facing this problem.
The technical integration, connecting the two systems (phone computer, car computer) to allow for a conversation between the driver/passengers, the car and the phone, as well the literal user experience of all this. so far Apple and Android have attempted this, but came up short by both not integrating to the car computer, and not having much impact in creating a better user experience.