Kia Is Sticking To History And Won’t Abandon Buttons In The Future

Despite the trend of complete digitalization, Kia plans to keep physical buttons in its future vehicles, confirmed Jochen Paesen, head of interior design at this company. While many Chinese manufacturers develop vehicles with almost no physical controls, the Korean manufacturer believes in a balanced approach.

“We have never completely abandoned physical keys,” emphasized Paesen. “There are features that you have to find right away, and you don’t want to risk mistakes, so we leave them physical. At the same time, we’re learning how to strengthen the digital and experiential component.”

Paesen points out that the focus is on creating real value, not just adding technology for technology’s sake. “It’s not just about adding more and more features and ‘bells and whistles.’ It’s about how you make the technology useful to your audience and how you get them to buy into your interpretation of that technology.”

Given its global presence, Kia bases its decisions on extensive market research. “We have studies that look at markets all over the place, and when you put it all together, it’s pretty simple: we’re all the same. People have very basic needs,” explains Paesen.

The problem of complicated menus is particularly highlighted: “If you have to go through three steps to access a function, that’s bad for all users. The question is how the car can evolve from a tool you have to learn to use to something that actually helps you and reduces the number of steps required.”

Paesen acknowledges the contribution of new competitors: “You have to give credit to the Chinese brands for pushing ideas where you think, ‘I didn’t know I needed that.’

“We’re at a point where novelty is great, but we’re entering the next phase where a lot of value can be found and added. That’s where you can develop your own approach and logic of interaction,” Paesen concluded, stressing that Kia is looking to continue its impressive progress of the past five years.

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