Volkswagen reveals the secret sauce behind its user experience design
Volkswagen has always been known for balancing tradition and innovation, but now the German automaker is taking that balance to a whole new level. With the arrival of a next-generation cockpit debuting in the ID. Polo, the company has revealed what it calls its secret sauce — the formula behind every design decision aimed at the person behind the wheel.
And the one presenting this vision is Mathias Kuhn, head of UX/UI design at Volkswagen, who made it clear in an interview with Car Design News that the total focus is on user experience as the brand’s main competitive differentiator.
This isn’t just about bigger screens or prettier buttons. What Volkswagen is proposing is a deeper approach where every detail — whether visual, auditory, or even the way light behaves inside the car — was designed to create something cohesive, intuitive, and above all, human. 🚗
The three core values guiding Volkswagen’s design
Mathias Kuhn revealed that the entire UX design philosophy at Volkswagen for this new generation of vehicles rests on three well-defined core values: stable, pleasant, and exciting. These are the exact words he uses to describe what the team internally calls the secret sauce.
It sounds simple in theory, but the practical application of these three concepts is what separates a merely functional interface from an experience people actually enjoy using.
In Kuhn’s words: UX design always starts with people. We put the user at the center and listen closely to their feedback throughout the entire process.
These three values shape absolutely everything inside the cockpit, from the look and feel of the interfaces to the sound design and use of lighting. Kuhn’s team works hand in hand with the exterior design, interior design, and CMF (colors, materials, and finishes) teams to ensure every detail fits into a coherent and unified brand experience.
Stable: the foundation of everything
The first value, stability, is perhaps the most critical within the context of a moving vehicle. When you’re driving at 60 mph on a highway, the last place you should be spending mental energy is trying to figure out a confusing menu or hunting for a feature buried deep in endless submenus.
Volkswagen understood this and worked to make sure every interface element shows up at the right moment, with the right level of information, without visual clutter and without demanding unnecessary attention from the user. This is UX applied with real responsibility, because in this case, a bad interface isn’t just frustrating — it can be dangerous.
Stability also shows up in the consistency across different models in the lineup. Volkswagen worked to ensure that a user who already knows the interface of one model can quickly adapt to any other vehicle from the brand. This kind of systemic coherence is rare in the automotive market and shows a maturity in design thinking that goes well beyond aesthetics.
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Pleasant: familiarity that builds trust
The second value, being pleasant, works as a strategic complement to stability. The idea is that the user, when sitting for the first time in an ID. Polo or any other new-generation Volkswagen vehicle, feels like they already know that environment. Not because they’ve seen it before, but because the interaction logic follows patterns the human brain naturally recognizes.
Menus that behave like menus, buttons that look like buttons, visual and audio feedback that confirms actions without unnecessary surprises. This principle is directly tied to the concept of affordance in interface design, where elements communicate on their own how they should be used.
That familiarity also shows up in the mix of modern software with retro visual references that the new generation of cockpit brings. It’s a strategy that’s trending in the market, and Volkswagen built it with direct help from actual customer feedback. The brand says these insights were fundamental to the Polo cockpit design and will define the cockpit of upcoming models in the ID. lineup.
Exciting: the detail that delights
The third value, being exciting, is precisely where the brand goes above and beyond. These are small moments of delight carefully planned throughout the user’s journey inside the vehicle. It could be a subtle animation when you start the car, a sound response that feels natural and pleasant when confirming a command, or even the way the ambient lighting adapts to the context of the trip.
These details aren’t fluff. They build an emotional connection between the driver and the vehicle, something that goes far beyond pure functionality. And it’s exactly this emotional component that turns a satisfying user experience into something truly memorable. ✨
Avoiding technology overload
One of the biggest challenges the automotive industry faces today is integrating so many technologies simultaneously without turning the cockpit into a spaceship control panel. We’re talking about artificial intelligence, augmented reality, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), voice assistants, giant screens, and smart surfaces. Putting all of that together in a way that makes sense for the average user is no easy task.
But Kuhn doesn’t shy away from technology. Quite the opposite — he sees AI as the piece that ties everything else together.
AI acts as the conductor, ensuring that different systems interact smoothly and create a clear multimodal experience, he explains. Our job as designers is to make sure that despite all the complexity behind the scenes, everything feels simple and intuitive for the user. We do this with clean, minimalist interfaces, natural dialogues, and context-sensitive options that only appear when needed. The goal is maximum clarity, zero overload.
This point is especially relevant when you think about how many automakers have gotten this badly wrong. Anyone who’s tried to adjust the air conditioning through five screen taps while driving knows exactly what we’re talking about. Volkswagen is betting on interfaces that show only what’s needed at the right time, hiding the complexity without eliminating the functionality.
Where the physical and digital worlds meet
One of the most interesting points Mathias Kuhn highlighted is that Volkswagen’s design experience doesn’t stop at what’s on the screen. He describes the vehicle’s interior as a mobile living space where the physical and digital worlds collide. In this environment, materials, textures, and colors are just as important in creating atmosphere as the digital screens.
Kuhn emphasizes the importance of high-quality CMF work. Simple, straight lines, soft and smooth surfaces — these fundamentals can make all the difference in ensuring the user experience is truly satisfying.
One of the team’s biggest challenges is creating a connection between these two worlds, making the tactile impression of a material flow seamlessly into the design of digital elements. Kuhn points to the ID.Cross Concept, shown at IAA Mobility 2025 in Munich, as an example of this integration.
In this concept, the physical CMF choices and the digital UX design were developed side by side to form a harmonious whole, he highlights. Both create a look and feel that define the overall experience, and they must connect seamlessly in every vehicle.
This integrated approach is something major tech companies like Apple and Google took years to master within their own ecosystems. Seeing an automaker apply this logic so intentionally is a clear sign that the automotive industry is maturing rapidly in the field of experience design.
ID. Light: lighting as a communication language
When it comes to brand differentiation through UX, Kuhn points to lighting as one of the most promising frontiers. And Volkswagen already has a concrete example in production: the ID. Light.
It’s a thin LED strip that runs across the entire cockpit and communicates with the driver through simple, intuitive light signals. It pulses to indicate navigation, blinks for alerts, and glows softly to support the assistance systems. It’s easy to understand, never distracting, and makes driving feel more human.
Volkswagen was the first automaker to bring this kind of feature to mass production, and it’s now available across the entire ID. family.
With the new generation of cockpit, the ID. Light received a significant upgrade. In the new Polo, the strip extends across the full width of the instrument panel, starting from the base of the windshield and reaching into the front doors for the first time. The goal is to make the user experience even more engaging and immersive. 💡
The growing role of artificial intelligence
Kuhn also envisions a future where artificial intelligence will play an even more central role in automotive UX design and vehicle design as a whole. He believes designers have only scratched the surface of what’s possible with AI.
In the future, intelligent agents will hold natural conversations with drivers, offer personalized recommendations, and handle routines automatically, Kuhn predicts. They’ll also create the right ambiance for every situation, whether calming, energizing, or inspiring.
For him, this reflects Volkswagen’s longstanding values of being reliable, caring, and inspiring. Bringing more AI into future projects isn’t just a trend — it’s the logical next step toward making mobility a truly immersive experience.
The technology behind this level of detail is quite sophisticated. Volkswagen has invested in systems capable of reading the trip context in real time and adjusting interface elements according to what makes the most sense at that specific moment. If you’re in navigation mode on an unfamiliar road, the interface prioritizes the map and minimizes distractions. If you’re stuck in traffic, it can naturally offer more entertainment options. This contextual adaptability represents a significant leap from what the brand offered before.
What this means for the future of mobility
Volkswagen’s approach with the new ID. Polo cockpit is a clear signal of where the automotive industry is heading. The car is no longer just a means of transportation — it has become a full digital environment where the quality of the user experience is just as important as engine performance or battery efficiency.
Automakers that don’t understand this shift will fall behind, especially in a market where electric vehicles are increasingly leveling the playing field on mechanical capabilities and shifting the competitive battle to technology and design.
Mathias Kuhn and his team show that Volkswagen isn’t just reacting to this trend. The brand is trying to lead it with a well-defined philosophy and values that go beyond aesthetics. Stability, pleasantness, and the excitement factor represent a commitment to user well-being and safety on every mile driven.
When a global-scale brand starts thinking this way in a structured manner, the impact goes far beyond its own vehicles. It influences industry standards, inspires competitors, and more importantly, raises the bar for the people who use these products every day.
Volkswagen’s new design language, called Pure Positive, complements this strategy by defining the visual identity that connects the exterior and interior of its vehicles. The combination of this language with the three UX values creates a coherent brand ecosystem that few competitors can replicate with the same depth.
The connected vehicle market is growing at a rapid pace, and the battle for attention inside the car cabin is only going to intensify in the coming years. In this scenario, having a well-grounded secret sauce could be the difference between creating products people simply use and products people genuinely love. And at the end of the day, it’s that kind of emotional connection that builds long-term loyalty — something no recommendation algorithm can manufacture on its own. 🎯
