Designing the Digital Driver Workplace for MAN's New Truck Generation
3 min read · 684 words
Led UX concept design for the full digital driver workplace across MAN Truck & Bus SE's new truck generation, covering instrument cluster, ADAS, automated driving, and driver app.
Every figure and quote in this case study was supplied by its author. None were generated.
The Challenge
MAN Truck & Bus SE faced a generational design challenge: creating the digital driver workplace for an entirely new truck platform from the ground up. The scope covered the full instrument cluster, driver assistance systems (ADAS), highly automated driving features, and the driver app — all of which needed to work together as a coherent system rather than a collection of separate screens.
The complexity was not just technical. Commercial vehicle cabins are working environments where drivers spend hours at a time, and where information clarity directly affects safety. Designing for a professional driver audience meant balancing information density with cognitive load, and accommodating a wide range of use cases from city logistics to long-haul motorway driving.
Equally challenging was the organisational structure around the project. Development was distributed across software teams, function development, sales, and external suppliers — each with their own requirements, timelines, and constraints. Coordinating all of those perspectives into a single, consistent UX vision required as much organisational skill as design craft.
Key Decisions
- 01
Establishing a Cross-Series UX Lead Role
Rather than treating each display domain — instrument cluster, ADAS, automated driving, error messages — as a separate workstream, the project established a unified cross-series UX lead position to maintain consistency across all touchpoints. This meant one conceptual perspective held the line on interaction patterns, visual language, and information hierarchy across systems that would otherwise have developed independently. The trade-off was slower sign-off on any single domain, but the result was a cohesive experience rather than a patchwork of siloed solutions.
- 02
Prioritising Concept Clarity Before Implementation
Concept development was kept upstream and thoroughly documented before moving into software implementation. This created a clear reference for supplier coordination and reduced the risk of design intent being lost in translation during development. It required discipline to resist pressure to move faster into build, but it protected the quality of decisions made early in the process and gave the software team and external suppliers an unambiguous brief to work from.
- 03
Designing Error Communication as a System, Not an Afterthought
Vehicle-related error messages were treated as a first-class design concern rather than a late-stage addition. For professional drivers, an unclear or poorly prioritised error state is not just a usability problem — it can affect vehicle operation and safety. Defining a coherent framework for error messaging early meant it could be integrated into the broader display language, rather than retrofitted around it. This required dedicated concept work and stakeholder alignment that might otherwise have been deprioritised under schedule pressure.
- 04
Aligning Stakeholders Across Functions
A significant part of the UX lead role involved active coordination between software, management, function development, and sales — groups with legitimately different priorities. Rather than treating this as a communication overhead, it was built into the design process: decisions were made with input from relevant stakeholders and documented in ways that each function could use. This slowed some individual decisions but prevented larger misalignments later in development.
The Solution
The project delivered the UX and UI design for the complete digital driver workplace across MAN's new truck generation. This included the digital instrument cluster, driver assistance and ADAS interfaces, highly automated driving displays, vehicle error message frameworks, and the driver app. Concept documentation was produced to a level of detail sufficient to drive software implementation and supplier coordination, with the UX lead maintaining oversight across all display domains through to delivery.
The Results
The digital driver workplace shipped as part of MAN's new truck generation — a large-scale, safety-relevant product used by professional drivers across commercial operations. The project's design work was recognised with a Red Dot Design Award, one of the most widely recognised distinctions in product and communication design, reflecting both the quality of the visual and interaction design and its coherence as a system.
Beyond the award, the outcome demonstrated that a unified UX lead approach can hold design intent across a complex, multi-stakeholder automotive programme — from early concept through to supplier implementation — without the experience fragmenting under organisational pressure.