UX used to be just about the human-machine interface inside vehicles. Today, new mobility strategies, 5G, wearables and the Internet of Things all are expanding UX design to every aspect of people’s lives.

This day-long conference will feature keynote presentations from top thinkers inside and outside the auto industry. Attendees will participate in their choice of multiple breakout sessions on topics ranging from connectivity to autonomous driving to security.

Suppliers of information technology – hardware, software, safety, testing and other components – will display their solutions at the venue, interacting with OEM attendees throughout the day during multiple networking breaks. Plus, meeting rooms, meals, parking and other features will be sponsored by major players in UX to put them top of mind with automaker decision makers.

Get in on the ground floor of WardsAuto UX. Contact us today to sponsor or exhibit at the must-attend automotive user experience event for 2019!

VIEW THE PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE 2018 EVENT

John McElroy is the host of “Autoline Daily” the first industry webcast of industry news and analysis. He is also the host of the television program “Autoline This Week,” an Emmy Award-winning, weekly half-hour discussion program featuring top automotive executives and journalists. McElroy also hosts “Autoline After Hours,” the first regularly scheduled live webcast about the industry.

Arianne Walker is the Chief Evangelist for Alexa Auto at Amazon, where she helps educate automakers and device makers about voice. Prior to that, she was head of automotive industry strategy at Oracle Data Cloud where she helped automotive marketers discover and implement the best possible audience strategies for their marketing efforts. Her automotive background began at JD Power, where she spent a dozen years providing direction on automotive marketing industry trends. Before getting into the automotive space, she did research for colleges and universities to help support administrative planning and decision-making. Arianne has a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and an MA and PhD in Higher Education and Organizational Change from UCLA.

Hear from leading OEM designers and technology innovators in the field of UX

Attend informative session discussions featuring hot topics

Sit back as leaders in the industry take a deep-dive into a specific topic

OEM designers take the stage to accept their award

Jump in the 10 Best to get the full user experience for yourself

Stop by exhibits from top suppliers to see their latest innovations

Network with colleagues and make new connections

Cast your vote for your favorite 2019 Wards 10 Best UX winner!

THE LATEST UX TECHNOLOGIES FOR UPCOMING PLATFORMS
Lots of attention now is rightly focused on autonomous vehicle technology, but there is lots of stunning new technology that promises to have a major impact on mainstream vehicles in the next several years. This session will focus on some of the most important examples.

USING EXPERIENCE OUTSIDE THE VEHICLE TO INSPIRE LOYALTY
It’s not enough to create great cars. Connectivity and mobility as a service are pushing the industry to compete with great end-to-end experiences. To build persistent, enduring relationships with customers, all the touchpoints need to be woven into one seamless experience. Presenters will talk specifically about how a rewarding journey can be designed that might include walking, shared mobility and public transportation, and more generally about how the auto industry is moving from competing on product quality to competing on quality of experience.

HOW 5G WILL TRANSFORM UX AND SAFETY
5G connectivity promises to have a profound impact on automotive and automotive-related user experiences. It will create ultra-reliable, ultra-fast connections that will enable the exchange of high volumes of data. That will improve vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-everything situational awareness, improving safety and accelerating the path to autonomy.
But it also promises to allow vehicles to communicate with virtually everything around us, creating whole new realms of experiences inside and outside our cars and trucks. This session will look at all the opportunities and potential pitfalls that may be coming for UX designers and engineers – as well as consumers.

THE GROWING ROLE OF OCCUPANT AND INTERIOR SENSING
Facial recognition, eye tracking, gesture controls and other types of occupant sensing are in their infancy. More advanced sensing and increasing on-board computing power promise to greatly enhance safety and UX in future vehicles.

BUILDING A BETTER UX
This session will look at new tools and strategies to help designers create better products faster.

DEEP DIVES ON NOTABLE HMIs
This session will include deep dives on two of the most notable 2019 Wards 10 Best UX Winners by OEM UX designers.

NEW WAYS TO CREATE GREAT EXPERIENCES
Smartphone connectivity is supposed to be a vehicle selling point, but too often new owners go to the phone store for help instead of the dealership and end up unhappy. Consumers don’t necessarily want a product, they want the outcome the product brings. This trend is leading to servitization models – a hot new buzzword – that transform products into services. Cybersecurity is a top priority, but how do automakers warn drivers their vehicle has just blocked a cyber-attack and make them feel grateful instead of terrified? Presenters will explain how to turn all these opportunities into great new user experiences.

HMI AND COCKPIT DESIGN: WHERE IS IT HEADED?
Will big touch screens go out of style? Will voice rule the cockpit of the future? Will buttons and knobs stay or go? Speakers will discuss the latest trends and technologies.

Modeled after the popular Wards 10 Best Engines & Propulsion Systems and Wards 10 Best Interiors programs, the UX awards spotlight new model vehicles that go above and beyond in creating a perfect user experience for drivers and passengers.

The awards ceremony, held at lunch during the conference, will draw UX design teams and executives from all the winning OEMs.  We will call design team leaders to the stage to accept their honors and celebrate their accomplishments.  All 10 winning vehicles are expected to be in the ballroom for conference attendees to get inside and see why WardsAuto judges deemed them to be the best User Experiences for the new model year.

Attendees will be able to cast a live vote for their favorite winning vehicle on display throughout the duration of the conference. During the cocktail reception at the end of the conference, the fan favorite will be honored with the all new “Best in Show” trophy.