Land Rover Defender – HMI Launch
Here are some early launch screenshots from the new Defender HMI. This was my first in-house automotive HMI project at Jaguar Land Rover.
From day one, standing beside the full-scale clay models and sitting in the interior buck, it was obvious the Defender was going to be a success. Bold, iconic, and instantly recognisable. Around the same time, I test-drove a Tesla Model X. It felt like the iPhone moment for the car industry. A computer first, with the car wrapped around it. Software-led.
On the Defender, I worked across the vehicle clusters and the new HMI system as part of a large team. JLR’s traditional OEM setup was a shift for me, but I pushed for a cleaner, more logical approach. I leaned on smart device and console UI principles, aiming for consistent layouts and interactions. Menus shouldn’t jump around between screens, and navigation should feel stable and predictable.
I never did manage to kill off those kettle power icons, though. They had a way of creeping in everywhere.
