Volkswagen reveals the secret ingredient behind UX design in the new ID. Polo
Volkswagen just pulled back the curtain on something few automakers have the guts to reveal: the formula behind UX design decisions in their new vehicles. Leading the conversation was Mathias Kuhn, the brand’s head of UX/UI design, who laid out the three core values that underpin the entire company approach when it comes to user experience.
The stage for this reveal is the launch of a completely new generation of cockpit, debuting in the ID. Polo and already turning heads for blending modern software with elements that call back to the brand’s classic design heritage. 🚗
At the heart of this story is Kuhn, who explained in detail how the company thinks about, develops, and refines the user experience across its electric models. According to him, everything starts with people, not technology. That stance might sound obvious at first glance, but in practice, changing the starting point of the creative process changes everything — from interface choices to the way the driver interacts with the car on a daily basis.
The news comes right after the launch of the Pure Positive design language, which Volkswagen adopted as its new visual identity, reinforcing that the brand is in a moment of deep transformation in how it relates to the people who use its cars. ⚡
The three core values of Volkswagen UX design
Mathias Kuhn made a point of emphasizing that UX/UI work at Volkswagen is anchored in three values that serve as a compass for every decision the team makes. These values define what gets added, what gets removed, and what stays in each version of the vehicle interface. The idea is that these principles are not just nice-sounding slogans in a corporate presentation, but real criteria that impact every pixel displayed on the car dashboard and every button placed within the driver’s reach.
The first of those values is putting the user at the center of the entire process. Kuhn was straightforward in stating that UX design always starts with people. The team listens closely to user feedback throughout the entire development cycle, from early prototypes to the versions that reach the public. That means no interface decision is made simply because it looks cool or because it happens to be trendy. Every choice needs to be backed by real usage data and concrete observations of how people interact with the vehicle.
This commitment to user-centricity extends into the other two pillars supporting the team’s philosophy: the pursuit of functional simplicity and the balance between innovation and familiarity. Together, these three values form what Kuhn called Volkswagen’s secret ingredient in the UX design space — an approach that doesn’t try to impress through excess, but wins people over through consistency and attention to detail. 🎯
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People first, technology second
The philosophy guiding Volkswagen’s UX design in the ID. Polo is easy to state but hard to execute: deeply understand driver behavior before making any decisions about the interface. Mathias Kuhn made it clear that the process starts with field research, real-world usage observation, and active listening to customers — something that goes far beyond a simple focus group or a satisfaction survey sent out by email. The design team goes through intense prototyping cycles, where every screen element, every physical button, and every menu transition is evaluated from the perspective of the person who will use it, not the person who will build it.
This kind of human-centered approach has a direct impact on the choices the brand makes throughout development. In the case of the new ID. Polo cockpit, that meant stepping away from certain market trends that prioritize impressive visuals at the expense of real usability. While other brands bet on massive screens as a selling point, Volkswagen went in the direction of an interface the driver can operate intuitively, even without staring directly at the dashboard for extended periods. Information clarity and visual hierarchy were designed to reduce cognitive load while driving, which in practice means less distraction and more safety on the road.
This commitment to real user experience also shows up in how the brand handles post-launch feedback. The modern software powering the ID. Polo was developed with a modular architecture, allowing over-the-air updates to fix usability issues and introduce improvements without the owner needing to take the car to a dealership. This creates a continuous improvement loop that was unthinkable in the automotive industry less than a decade ago, and it places Volkswagen in territory much closer to tech companies than to traditional automakers. 💡
Inside the new ID. Polo cockpit
The cockpit debuting in the ID. Polo represents a major turning point in how Volkswagen thinks about the cabin of its electric vehicles. The previous generation had already taken meaningful steps toward digitization, but the new setup goes further by layering modern software over a visual presentation that nods to the brand’s historical DNA — balancing innovation and familiarity in a way that makes sense both for existing customers and for newcomers.
The dashboard features a redesigned instrument display, a more responsive infotainment center, and a menu logic that was completely restructured based on usage data collected over the preceding years. This new cockpit generation was introduced earlier this year and represents the first concrete product of the brand’s new UX phase.
One of the most notable aspects of the new cockpit is the decision to keep physical buttons for functions that are frequently used while driving, such as volume control, temperature settings, and driving modes. This choice goes against a trend that led several brands to migrate everything to touchscreens — a move that triggered a flood of complaints from users who felt forced to take their eyes off the road just to find basic functions buried inside digital menus. Volkswagen used UX design data to back this decision, demonstrating that physical ergonomics still play a fundamental role in user experience inside the car, especially during intense urban driving.
On top of that, the operating system running the new cockpit was developed with a focus on performance and stability — two aspects that have historically been weak points for automotive systems attempting the transition to more complex software without the right infrastructure. Volkswagen invested in a proprietary platform that delivers consistent response times, fluid screen transitions, and fast loading of native apps, all without draining the vehicle battery or creating instabilities that could hurt the long-term user experience. The result is a digital environment that can finally compete, in terms of fluidity and reliability, with what users are already accustomed to on their smartphones. 📱
The balance between modern and classic
One of the most interesting features of the new cockpit is the way it blends references to Volkswagen’s past with cutting-edge technology. Mathias Kuhn mentioned that the team worked with an intentional mix of modern software and retro references, which might sound contradictory but actually works as a bridge between different generations of consumers.
For anyone who has owned a Polo or any other classic Volkswagen model, familiar elements in the layout and control placement create a sense of continuity and belonging. For someone buying their first electric car, the layer of advanced technology conveys confidence that Volkswagen is ready for the future. This duality was carefully orchestrated by the UX/UI team and is one of the practical pillars of the three values Kuhn presented.
In practice, this shows up in details like the typography chosen for the instrument panel, which evokes the simplicity of old analog gauges without sacrificing high-resolution legibility. It also appears in the way the navigation icons were drawn, with clean lines and geometry that recall graphic elements the brand used in earlier decades, but rendered with the precision that only today’s software allows. It is the kind of care that the user might not consciously notice, but that contributes to an overall feeling of coherence and quality that makes a real difference in the experience as a whole. ✨
What the Pure Positive design language changes in practice
The Pure Positive design language is not just an aesthetic choice. It represents a strategic decision by Volkswagen to unify the way all customer touchpoints communicate the brand’s values — and that very much includes the digital interface of its vehicles. In the ID. Polo, this language translates into cleaner typography choices, a reduced color palette, and intentional use of white space within the screens, creating a sense of lightness and modernity that contrasts with the visual density that used to characterize the dashboards of electric cars from other brands. The idea is that the design should not shout, but communicate with clarity.
For the UX design team, working within the boundaries of Pure Positive was both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge was making sure the pursuit of visual elegance did not sacrifice functionality, since a beautiful interface that confuses the user is worse than a simple interface that just works. The opportunity was using those principles as a filter for making more objective decisions during the creative process — eliminating elements that served no clear purpose and prioritizing what truly serves the person behind the wheel.
Kuhn pointed out that this visual discipline helped the team arrive at solutions that were both more elegant and more efficient at the same time, which rarely happens when there is no clear identity guideline in place.
The impact of Pure Positive also extends beyond the central screen and the instrument panel. It guides everything from the way notifications appear during driving to how the system presents information about range and charging — two topics that are central to the user experience of any electric vehicle. By treating this data with visual clarity and well-defined hierarchy, Volkswagen reduces the anxiety that many drivers still feel about electric range, turning information that could generate stress into something that simply becomes part of a calm and confident driving experience. This is the kind of detail that separates a good product from a product people genuinely love using. 🔋
What this means for the future of automotive UX
Volkswagen’s move with the ID. Polo and the three values presented by Mathias Kuhn signal something bigger than a simple cockpit refresh. We are watching a mindset shift inside one of the world’s largest automakers, where user experience has moved from being a complement to industrial design to a strategic pillar with the same weight as mechanical engineering or exterior design.
This shift has implications for the entire industry. When a brand the size of Volkswagen publicly defines its UX values and shows how they are applied in a real product, it raises the bar for every competitor. Manufacturers that still treat the digital interface as a secondary feature will feel the pressure from consumers who now have a clear reference point for what is possible in terms of usability, design, and software performance inside an electric vehicle.
For anyone who follows the world of human-computer interaction and interaction engineering, the Volkswagen case is a rich example of how classic user-centered design principles can be applied at industrial scale without losing their essence. It is not about inventing new concepts, but about executing the fundamentals with discipline, consistency, and — most importantly — openness to listening to the people who truly matter: the ones who will use the product every single day.
Volkswagen is showing, with the ID. Polo, that UX design in the automotive sector is no longer a differentiator — it is a requirement. And whoever sets the standard now will influence the entire industry for years to come.
